Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte a long time coming for Wake Forest tight end
As tight end Eni Falayi heads to his first bowl game of his career for Wake Forest, he couldn’t help but smile when asked what he’s looking forward to the most.
“The perks,” he said.
The Demon Deacons (8-4) will head to the Duke’s Mayo Bowl at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte for a Jan. 2 game against Mississippi State (5-7) and Falayi is heading into new territory. He’ll be playing in his final college and first bowl game, so he’s hoping to make it count.
Falayi came to Winston-Salem after a season at Utah Tech, which finished 1-11 last season. Before that, he spent three seasons at UMass and never sniffed a bowl game. In fact, in his previous four seasons in college football, his teams’ combined record was 6-41.
With eight wins this season for the Demon Deacons, Falayi enjoyed so much winning he was nearly spoiled.
“It’s been great,” Falayi said. “I kind of really get to see what playing for each other looks like. The defense plays for offense, and it’s just really been great to see us coming along.”
The Demon Deacons have a chance to win their ninth game for just the fourth time in school history.
And while a lot of players have opted out, Falayi said he wasn’t going to miss a chance for the bowl experience.
As for winning, the locker rooms after games have been something he’ll never forget.
“You get to the locker room now (after games) and we’re celebrating,” Falayi said. “We’re used to it, so it’s definitely a different feeling than what I was used to.”
Since arriving at Wake Forest to play for coach Jake Dickert, Falayi says it’s been a great experience.
“Almost every day, I kind of look back at the journey,” he said. “It’s kind of good to see where I came from. And now, we’re at a place where everything’s going pretty good.”
He is playing this season as a graduate student after earning his degree in communications from Utah Tech last spring.
Thanks to a reduction in personnel among the wide receivers as Chris Barnes and Micah Mays are in the portal, Falayi could see more balls thrown his way. He was primarily a blocking tight end but did have 14 catches for 145 yards and one touchdown.
Others who have gone into the portal include fellow tight end Harry Lodge and wide receivers Reginald Vick, EJ Reid and Ben Grice.
“Just the culture,” Falayi said about what’s been the biggest surprise. “I feel like Coach Dickert has really instilled a good mindset and everybody on the team feels like we’re all on one page.
“We’re all one heartbeat.”
Falayi, who is a sturdy 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, feels good about possibly playing more football at the pro level after the bowl game.
He says he’s healthy after a long season and is just trying to keep his body in good shape as he chases his dream of pro football. “I still feel like I got a lot of football left, so I’m going to try and keep this thing going,” Falayi said.
Falayi said since he arrived in college, he’s relied on his work ethic, and no matter how many wins his teams were getting, he never wavered in his commitment to get better. The fact that he’s been a part of a winning program for the first time has been a plus.
“It wasn’t really too big of an adjustment,” Falayi said about coming to Wake Forest. “It was just about getting acclimated to the new play calls and players and new names, but it’s been good. It’s all been a great journey.”
While the narrative around the country has been about why the bowl games don’t matter anymore, Falayi shook his head.
“We have Mississippi State next in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, so that’s a big game to us,” he said. “So, all of that outside noise doesn’t really make a difference in this building.”