Bulldogs' Ballard helps sink Deacons

The infamous cowbells of the Mississippi State fans had little-to-nothing to do with the Bulldogs' 23-17 victory over Wake Forest on Friday in the Music City Bowl.

The bell cow of the Bulldogs' offense, Vick Ballard, was a different story.

Ballard, a 5-foot-11, 215-pound senior running back, broke touchdown runs of 72 and 60 yards on the way to a career-high 180 yards on 14 carries.

"That was the difference, really,'' coach Jim Grobe of Wake Forest said. "I thought overall we played a pretty good defensive football game except for big plays.

"Give them credit. When we didn't gap out well defensively, they took advantage of it.''

Quarterback Chris Relf also burned the Deacons' defense with a 31-yard touchdown pass to Arceto Clark with 12:41 left in the second quarter, and the Bulldogs led for the remainder of the game.

Wake Forest closed its season 6-7 with its six losses in the final eight games. Mississippi State ended 7-6.

The Deacons' loss wasn't limited to the grass surface of LP Field, where 55,208 fans showed up for the first meeting between the two teams.

Afterward, Chris Givens —Wake Forest's record-breaking junior receiver — said he had decided to give up his final season of eligibility to make himself available for the NFL draft.

"Just right now, it's the best decision for me,'' Givens said. "I really have just been praying about it, and going over all the pros and cons of everything.

"And it's just the best decision for me right now.''

Givens, who caught nine passes Friday for 54 yards, said an NFL evaluation he requested projected he would be drafted in the third round. He closed his career with a breakout season, during which he caught 83 passes for a school-record 1,330 yards and nine touchdowns.

"I definitely wanted to walk away with a W,'' Givens said. "But it is what it is.

"I went out and played my hardest … and at the end of the day, that's all you can ask for.''

Wake Forest dominated the time of possession by controlling the ball for almost 36 of the game's 60 minutes, but that was mainly because the Bulldogs wasted little time scoring.

The Deacons took a 7-0 lead on a 14-yard touchdown run by Brandon Pendergrass (73 yards on 24 carries). But three plays later, Ballard sliced through the line and ran untouched 60 yards for a tying touchdown.

Mississippi State's second scoring drive lasted only two plays, with Relf connecting with Clark for a lead that remained at 13-7 when Derek DePasquale missed the extra point.

DePasquale's 33-yard field goal midway through the second quarter extended the lead to 16-7, and allowed the Bulldogs to weather Wake Forest's touchdown drive at the outset of the third quarter and keep the lead.

Ballard applied the backbreaking play early in the fourth quarter, capping a three-play drive by cutting back to his right and outrunning the pursuit for a 72-yard touchdown and a 23-14 lead.

Ballard closed his senior season with 1,189 yards and 10 touchdowns.

"He's a really good player; a big strong running back,'' senior linebacker Kyle Wilber of Wake Forest said. "We messed up and didn't get the right assignments and the right gaps, and he is a player who can take advantage of it.''

The Deacons had three more possessions, but could not overcome an off night from Tanner Price, who finished with 24 completions on 46 attempts for 214 yards. Michael Campanaro caught 10 passes for 128 yards, but fell on his back in the end zone on a long pass that landed incomplete as the Deacons' bench was arguing for an interference call.

Campanaro said afterward he should have battled the defender for the ball.

Wake Forest drove to the Mississippi State 21 with around four minutes remaining, but Price was sacked on third down, and the Deacons settled for a 46-yard field goal from Jimmy Newman that cut the gap to 23-17.

But on Wake Forest's final possession of the season, Price threw incomplete to Terence Davis three consecutive times and the Bulldogs were able to run out the clock.

"I definitely missed some throws tonight and I wasn't real happy with the way I played all the time,'' Price said. "I wish I could go back and capitalize and play better.''