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1980 Wake Forest

5–⁠6 (2–⁠4 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by John Mackovic.

Schedule and results

Wake Forest in 1980, game by game: lost vs. Virginia Tech 7–16; won vs. The Citadel 24–7; won at NC State 27–7; won at William & Mary 27–7; lost vs. No. 8 North Carolina 9–27; lost at Maryland 10–11; lost vs. Virginia 21–24; lost vs. Clemson 33–35; won at Duke 27–24; lost at No. 14 South Carolina 38–39; won vs. App State 28–16+20−18Lost 7–16 vs. Virginia Tech-9Virginia TechWon 24–7 vs. The Citadel+17The CitadelWon 27–7 at NC State+20NC StateWon 27–7 at William & Mary+20William & MaryLost 9–27 vs. No. 8 North Carolina-18No. 8 North CarolinaLost 10–11 at Maryland-1MarylandLost 21–24 vs. Virginia-3VirginiaLost 33–35 vs. Clemson-2ClemsonWon 27–24 at Duke+3DukeLost 38–39 at No. 14 South Carolina-1No. 14 South CarolinaWon 28–16 vs. App State+12App State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 6vsVirginia TechL 7–⁠1660%
Sep 20vsThe CitadelW 24–⁠759%
Sep 27atNC StateW 27–⁠724%
Oct 4atWilliam & MaryW 27–⁠765%
Oct 11vs8North CarolinaL 9–⁠2742%
Oct 18atMarylandL 10–⁠1138%
Oct 25vsVirginiaL 21–⁠2469%
Nov 1vsClemsonL 33–⁠3549%
Nov 8atDukeW 27–⁠2452%
Nov 15at14South CarolinaL 38–⁠3924%
Nov 22vsApp StateW 28–⁠1661%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat App State 28–⁠16; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 31st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 119 on file).

Record
5–⁠6
Conference
2–⁠4 tied for 4th in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
251–⁠213
Coach
John Mackovic
Elo
1509 +35 this season
SP+ rating
10.5 No. 34 of 133; offense No. 37, defense No. 46
SRS
7.6 No. 37 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Ed Zaunbrecher
Captains
Bill Ard, Carlos Bradley and Jay Venuto

All-ACC

3 first team

First team

  • Billy ArdOGAP
  • Jay VenutoQBAP
  • Carlos BradleyLBAP

From Wikipedia’s 1980 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1980 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
North Carolina6–⁠011–⁠110
Maryland5–⁠18–⁠4
NC State3–⁠36–⁠5
Clemson2–⁠46–⁠5
Wake Forest2–⁠45–⁠6
Virginia2–⁠44–⁠7
Duke1–⁠52–⁠9

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.