Have a day Wake Forest! The Deacs walked into Blacksburg against a rising VT team and came away with their first ACC win of the season by a score of 30-23.
The game started off pretty sloppily for both
teams. The Deacs had 3 pre-snap penalties in the first 8 minutes of the game and QB Robby Ashford was overthrowing his receivers on pretty much every throw. The Deacs had a golden opportunity on their 2nd drive of the game after Dallas Afalava intercepted Kyron Drones at the 13-yard line–Wake went 3 plays for -3 yards and kicked a field goal to take a 3-0 lead. After a 3 and out on their next possession, the Deacs booted a 23-yard punt that gifted VT the ball at the Wake 43 and resulted in a Marcellus Hawkins touchdown 8 plays later. The Deacs could not get out of their own way in the 1st quarter.
Wake turned things around in the 2nd quarter, in part due to some drive-saving late hit penalties from the Hokies. Wake opened the quarter with a 9-play, 75 yard drive that resulted in a 3-yard Demond Claiborne TD run to give Wake a 10-7 lead.
The Hokies responded with a quick touchdown drive spurred by a 43-yard Terion Stewart run to retake the lead at 14-10. Wake answered right back, with a 7-play, 55 yard touchdown drive that ended with a Ty Clark III touchdown. The Deacs got creative on offense, starting the drive with a 26 yard pass to Eni Falayi on a double reverse flea-flicker.
Arguably the most important part of the game occurred on the next VT drive, where the Hokies went 3-and-out in 1 minute to give Wake the ball back near mid-field with 1:33 left in the half. Virginia Tech had some terrible clock management, throwing an incomplete pass on 2nd down and running out of bounds on 3rd down to ensure Wake had plenty of time left on the clock to score. The Deacs took advantage–Ashford hit TE Eni Falayi for an 11-yard touchdown to give the Deacs a 24-14 lead heading into the half.
Not only did Wake stop VT from doubling up scores at the end of the half and start of the 2nd, but the Deacs were able to score twice themselves–that touchdown ended up having a pretty significant effect on the outcome of the game since Wake ended up winning by 7 points. The Deacs outscored the Hokies 21-7 in the 2nd quarter, but unfortunately, lost Demond Claiborne to injury in the process.
After the teams exchanged a few field goals to start the 2nd half, the Deacs found themselves backed up at their own 3 yard line clinging to a 27-20 lead. For some reason, Wake made the decision to attempt to throw the ball twice in that situation, leading to a 1 yard scramble and an interception by Isaiah Brown-Murray on a tipped Ashford pass that gave the Hokies the ball on the 4-yard line.
I know Claiborne was out of the game, but Wake throwing the ball on 1st and 2nd down in the shadow of their own goal line–especially with Ashford’s accuracy struggles–could have been a costly error. Thankfully, the Wake Forest defense was able to hold VT to a field goal after a 15-yard penalty on former Deac Donavon Greene.
The story was almost the same as the past two games for the Deacs. Wake once again really failed to do very much in the 2nd half–the Deacs scored just 6 points and, other than a Sawyer Racanelli 62-yard catch and run, they really didn’t move the ball very well at all until their final drive of the game. That final drive was massively important, as Wake was able to take 6:30 off the clock on a 15 play, 59-yard drive that ended in a Conner Calvert field goal to give Wake a 30-23 lead. The Wake Forest defense stopped the potential Hokies game winning drive in just 4 plays, allowing VT to gain just 4 yards before forcing a turnover on downs. The Deacs kneeled out the clock and picked up their first ACC win of the season.
The offense may not have done much outside of the 2nd quarter, but the defense balled out the whole day. Wake Forest held the Hokies to just 263 total yards and only allowed VT to get into the endzone twice. The DBs were incredible today, holding Kyron Drones to just 14-28 passing for 111 yards–Karon Prunty and LaDarius Webb Jr. stood out with their lockdown defense and pass deflections. This is basically a 180 from Wake Forest defenses in the past that played soft “bend but don’t break” style coverages that allowed QBs to march right down the field with easy pitch and catches. If the Wake Forest defense continues to play this well, the Deacs should be able to win several more games this season despite an offense that only shows up for half of the game.
This is a significant win for Wake. It is not only Jake Dickert’s first ACC win and the program’s first win in Blacksburg since 1983, but it also makes the path to a bowl game fairly doable. Obviously, you never want to overlook any opponent, but Oregon State (0-5), UNC (2-3), and Delaware (3-2) are very winnable games that would get Wake to at least 6 wins on the year. Personally, I think 6 or more wins in year 1 would be considered a success for Jake Dickert.
Go Deacs!
