2006 ACC Championship Game
Wake Forest defeated Georgia Tech by a 9–6 score to win its first ACC football championship since 1970 and its second in school history.
Wake Forest, the Atlantic Division representative, earned a 10–2 record behind redshirt freshman quarterback Riley Skinner, who won the ACC's rookie of the year award.
After Tech quarterback Reggie Ball threw a critical interception, Wake Forest was able to tie the game, then take a 9–6 lead.
By virtue of its victory, Wake Forest earned its first ACC football championship since 1970 and was awarded a bid to the 2007 Orange Bowl.
[3] With the addition of Boston College, the ACC consisted of 12 teams, allowing it to hold a conference championship game under NCAA rules.
Though the Yellow Jackets lost 14–10, they took an early 10–0 lead over heavily favored Notre Dame until the Fighting Irish scored 14 unanswered points to win the game.
16 Yellow Jackets were upset by the unranked Bulldogs, who intercepted Tech quarterback Reggie Ball twice and held him to just 42 passing yards in the game.
[12] Wake Forest began the 2006 season on September 2 with a home game against Big East conference opponent Syracuse.
[22] On the day after Johnson earned ACC POY honors, he was named to the Rivals.com All-America team, an annual selection of the best players at each position in the United States.
[27][28][29] After suffering a game-losing fumble against the Bulldogs,[26] commentators questioned how well Ball would recover from the setback before the ACC Championship Game.
[35] In the days before the ACC championship, Choice was named to the second-team All-ACC team,[24] and was considered to be a threat on offense against Wake Forest.
[38] Vallos had been considered for the Lombardi Award and Outland Trophy and won first-team Associated Press All-America honors after the championship game.
[39] Center Steve Justice started all 14 games during Wake Forest's 2006 season, and participated in 98 percent of the Deacons' offensive plays.
On the first play of the game, Tech running back Tashard Choice attempted a rush, but was stopped for a loss of one yard.
Subsequent plays allowed Tech to penetrate the Wake Forest red zone, but there, the Demon Deacons' defense stiffened.
After the Yellow Jackets punted the ball away, Wake Forest continued to have the increased offensive success they had shown in their previous drive.
Toward the end of the drive, Wake Forest was assisted by a 10-yard penalty against the Yellow Jackets, which drove them inside Georgia Tech's red zone.
[61] With time in the half virtually exhausted, Georgia Tech elected to run down the clock and take the game into halftime tied, 3–3.
[62] Georgia Tech's first possession of the half was slightly more successful than Wake Forest's, as the Yellow Jackets drove inside the Deacons' 30-yard line on several passes from Reggie Ball.
[62] Both Wake Forest and Georgia Tech mounted several drives into the other's territory, but were either stopped outside field goal range or attempted to convert a fourth down rather than kick the ball.
[62] At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Georgia Tech was in possession of the ball, deep inside Wake Forest territory.
On Tech's first play after the punt, however, Reggie Ball's pass was intercepted, allowing Wake Forest another chance on offense.
The play turned the momentum of the game in favor of Wake Forest, who proceeded to move the ball with slightly more effectiveness.
With time running down, Georgia Tech had a chance for a game-winning score if it could sustain a drive into Wake Forest territory from its own 20-yard line.
Riley Skinner completed his first four passes of the drive, including a long 45-yard strike to Willie Idlette for the longest play of the game.
Sam Swank kicked a 22-yard field goal to give the Deacons a 9–6 lead, but Georgia Tech still had time for one final drive.
[63] After receiving the Wake Forest kickoff, however, Georgia Tech's hopes were quickly deflated by three plays that resulted in negative yardage or no gain.
Georgia Tech was forced into its final punt of the game, and Wake Forest received the ball and ran out the remaining time on the clock.
[67] Eight different players carried the ball for Wake Forest, with Kenneth Moore and Willie Idlette picking up the majority of the yardage.
[71] Following the game, Wake Forest earned an automatic bid to the 2007 Orange Bowl as a reward for its status as ACC champion.
