Wake Forest football walk-on freshman earns scholarship after 3 interceptions vs VT

Nobody with Wake Forest’s football program is short on words to describe freshman walk-on safety Nick Andersen.

“Nick, that’s my homeboy. He’s a hell of a player. Walk-on but we treat him like a starter, we treat him like a scholarship player. If anybody on the team deserves a scholarship on the roster, it’s Nick,” redshirt senior Boogie Basham said.

“He is an absolute dog. For him to be a walk-on on a Division-I level and do what he did these last couple of games, especially today, that just shows you that if you put in the time and dedication into anything, you can make anything happen,” redshirt senior Sulaiman Kamara said.

Indeed, the Demon Deacons have found a rallying point in their season with back-to-back wins and at the center of it is Andersen, a freshman whose offer list consisted of three FCS programs — two of which (Butler and Columbia) don’t offer athletic scholarships.

Andersen was a key contributor a week ago and his star turn in Saturday’s 23-16 win against No. 19 Virginia Tech saw him haul in three interceptions — the first time a Wake Forest player has had three in a game since 1987.

Wake Forest vs VT: Clawson says Andersen earned scholarship

The scholarship, coach Dave Clawson said, will be coming in a couple of months. In the post-game celebration, Andersen was picked up by his teammates while they made a simple demand.

“They were calling him Rudy and they were chanting, ‘Scholl-y, scholl-y,’ so I think we’ll definitely be taking care of that next semester,” Clawson said.

In the meantime, the Demon Deacons notched their first win against a ranked team in nearly two years. They did so without projected starting safeties Nasir Greer and Luke Masterson, both out with injuries, and they did so by stifling a Hokies offense that was averaging 42 points per game.

“It’s really all in the week’s preparation,” Andersen said. “We’re watching film, countless hours of film, and then on the practice field we’re intense and we’re treating every day like it was a Saturday game day.

“And that’s why when we’re called upon to be in position to make a play, we’re making plays.”

Andersen started for the first time last week against Virginia and had nine tackles and two pass break-ups.

Turns out, that was just an appetizer for what came Saturday. Andersen had a game-high 11 tackles against the Hokies.

“That kid is a warrior, he battled all game and I have no words to say how proud I am of him,” quarterback Sam Hartman said. “He’s really a walk-on freshman who showed up four months ago and is out there making plays against a ranked team.”

Wake Forest football: Andersen was a preferred walk-on

The Clinton, Va., native couldn’t pick which of his three interceptions was his favorite. The first one might have been the most-acrobatic, a diving catch in the Demon Deacons’ end zone at the end of the first half. The second one seemed like the most-important — Virginia Tech’s first drive of the second half was extended by a fake punt, but three plays later Andersen nabbed Hendon Hooker’s throw down the seam.

The third one required the least effort, it’s fair to say: Andersen caught Hendon Hooker’s overthrow in the middle of the field during the game’s final seconds.

Three interceptions in a little more than 30 minutes of game time – in Clawson’s previous six seasons, there have only been two players to record more than three interceptions in a season.

“He came to our camp in high school. He wasn’t really heavily recruited but we liked him and we offered him a preferred walk-on spot, and fortunately for us, he took it,” Clawson said. “He had some scholarships at lower levels, but that tells you what type of competitor he is. He wanted to play football in the ACC and in the Power 5, and we’re certainly glad he did that.”

Andersen’s “sholl-y”-chanting teammates clearly agree.

This story was originally published October 25, 2020 at 9:20 AM.