Well, okay then.

As I was sitting in the stands as the third quarter started, I joked that I hoped someone taught Jay Davis to play quarterback during halftime. Apparently, some one did.

What happened in the third quarter was one of the fastest shifts in momentum I've ever witnessed. We come out, run a few plays, everybody's ho-hum (still down 14-0, after all), and them Jay Davis hits Sterling Hicks for an unbelievable 57-yard touchdown pass. He faked the handoff to TA, rolled to his right, stepped up in the pocket and fired a pass that barely eluded the hands of the WFU defensive back responsible for Hicks. Sterling used some nice moves and a good block to make it into the endzone. On Wake's ensuing offensive possession, they went backwards, and Carter-Finley went nuts. We got the ball back at Wake's 40, then proceeded to go backwards ourselves. On 3rd-and-31 (that's right), Davis spotted Tramain Hall over the middle and hit him for another miraculous 50+ yard pass play. TA capped that one off shortly thereafter.

Wake got the ball back and went backwards again. Our offense took advantage again, this time with a more methodical drive down the field. Twenty one points in the 3rd. Considering how the Pack's offense looked in the first half, this outburst was nearly unimaginable. Jay Davis looked like a brand new quarterback ... it's inexplicable, really.

So, long story short we blew some chances to end it in regulation but took it in OT after WFU's kicker donked a FG attempt off one of the uprights. Good guys win. Good guys 3-1 (2-0). There was much rejoicing.

Jay Davis' line: 16-21, 228 yds, 1 TD
Finally, finally we got to see our athletes at WR make some plays down the field. Davis finally relaxed (or something) and realized that his team has a bunch of talented guys who can catch the ball and are usually open. Likely the coaches showed him some photos at halftime, because Davis attacked the middle of the field with a purpose in the second half. When Wake blitzed, Davis usually found his man. The long conversion to Hall was a beauty over the middle.

Here's a microcosm for Jay's day: in the first quarter, he's throwing in a two WR set. The slot guy (T. Hall) runs a five yard out and is wide open; the other reciever (B. Clark, IIRC) runs about a ten yard buttonhook and is blanketed by the zone defense. Jay forces it to Clark, narrowly avoiding a pick. In the second half, in that same formation, Jay checks off of Clark and hits Hall near the sideline for an important first down.

Hopefully it is apparent to everyone now that Davis is going to be the guy this year. Stone just ain't ready (and you don't need to see his INT to realize that...). All we need from Jay is the solid performance he gave in the second half today ... he doesn't need to be Rivers; just mistake-free. And he was. While I am disheartened by the low number of takeaways we've had this season, at least we are lowering our giveaways from one game to the next. I hope the defense can use its aggressiveness to cause a few more mistakes by the opposing offense. But even if it doesn't, the defense is plenty good without the takeaways, thank you very much.

On to UNC-CH...