In the end, Bobby Petrino did Matt Colburn a huge favor by pulling his scholarship offer two days before National Signing Day in 2015.
Colburn's senior season was capped off by being named the state's Mr. Football and he earned the offensive MVP award for the 2014 Shrine Bowl. He had been a longtime Louisville pledge but the Monday before NSD, a Louisville assistant informed Colburn that the scholarship offer had been pulled in favor or a grayshirt which means Colburn could not join the program until the following January.
After plenty of private venting, Colburn and head coach Tom Knotts went to work to find Colburn a suitable landing spot. Winston-Salem was his new destination and Plan B has worked out just fine.
After leading the Demon Deacons in rushing for the past two seasons, he has continued to pace the Wake Forest rushing attack. Earlier this season, he became the 12th player in Wake Forest history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a career.
Against Louisville this past Saturday, Colburn rushed for a career-high 243 yards and three touchdowns as Wake Forest defeated Petrino and company 56-35. For his efforts, he was named the ACC Co-Running Back of the Week.