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Duke's Mayo Bowl: Jake Dickert gets mayonnaise bath after Wake Forest victory

ns_headshot_2024-clearby: Nick Schultz01/03/26NickSchultz_7

After the final non-College Football Playoff game of Bowl Season, a tradition like no other awaited. The traditional mayonnaise bath followed for the winning coach as Wake Forest took on Mississippi State in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

Things got interesting in the second half, but the Demon Deacons eventually came away with the win. That not only sent them to their ninth win of the season, but also meant first-year coach Jake Dickert would receive the mayonnaise bath.

The mayonnaise bath tradition began in 2021, one year after Duke’s Mayo took over the naming rights to the bowl game in 2020. The winning coach gets the honor of having five gallons of mayonnaise dumped on their head during the postgame celebration. This year, it was Dickert – and his kids – who had the honor.

Shane Beamer took the inaugural seat for the mayonnaise bath after South Carolina took down North Carolina. Maryland coach Mike Locksley then took part in the tradition in 2022 and former West Virginia coach Neal Brown did so in 2023.

In 2024, Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck celebrated in typical fashion as he had mayonnaise dumped on his head with Flava Flav as a special guest Duke’s Mayo Bowl mascot. Now, Dickert gets to follow in that line after Wake Forest got the 43-29 win.

How it happened: Wake Forest wins Duke’s Mayo Bowl

The Duke’s Mayo Bowl got off to a thrilling start after Mississippi State jumped out to an early 3-0 lead. Koredell Bartley took the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, and the Wake Forest ran a successful trick play for the two-point conversion to make it an 8-3 ballgame.

Mississippi State then added another field goal to make it 8-6 before the Demon Deacons offense struck again. Robby Ashford found Kamrean Johnson for a 14-yard touchdown to put Wake Forest back up 15-6, and State added another field goal just before half to cut it to 15-9 heading into halftime.

Then, Ashford made a big play. Jack Foley broke free behind the defense, and the Wake Forest quarterback dropped it in a bucket for what became a 64-yard touchdown. That extended the Demon Deacons’ lead to 23-9 on their first possession of the second half after yet another two-point conversion, and it grew to 30-12 at one point.

But the Bulldogs didn’t go away quietly. Kamario Taylor punched in a 1-yard score to make it 30-20 and SanFrisco Magee hauled in a 42-yard touchdown pass to cut it to 30-27 with 10:17 in the fourth quarter.

Wake Forest then looked like it would go up two scores after Ashford scored another touchdown, but Mississippi State blocked the extra point and ran it all the way back. That gave the Bulldogs two points, keeping it a one-score game at 36-29 with 4:07 to go.

However, Wake Forest went on to seal it. Ashford got Ty Clark on a shovel pass, and he took it 62 yards for a touchdown to go up 43-29 with 2:15 left. That held as the final after Mississippi State’s drive stalled, but not before Taylor suffered a scary injury.