It turns out that when you are Wake Forest and you return most of your offense, and you open against VMI, it doesn’t matter who your starting quarterback is. Mitch Griffis had a commendable first career start as the Demon Deacons roll VMI 44-10 at Truist Field Thursday night.
The Demon Deacons Roll VMI 44-10
Griffis made all the throws he needed to, added in a few high-quality ones, and had very few errors in the win. The third-year sophomore went 21 of 29 for 288 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions in place of Sam Hartman. He used every bit of the diversity in his receiving arsenal, completing passes to six different Demon Deacons while playing three-and-a-half quarters in the blowout win.
The only suspense coming into the game was how Griffis would play and what the newly revamped Wake Forest defense would look like. Playing FCS level VMI may not offer a lot of long-term answers, but it was good enough for week one. The Wake defense held the Keydets to 222 total yards on the night, while the Demon Deacons’ offense rolled up 506 yards.
Up Early
Any suspense beyond those two questions ended pretty early. VMI went three and out on its first drive and that was that for the night. Really. We’re not being overly dramatic here. Matthew Dennis kicked a 32-yard field goal to cap a nine-play 49-yard Wake Forest drive and put the Demon Deacons up 3-0 after their first drive.
On Wake’s second drive, running back Christian Turner drove straight up into a pile at the line of scrimmage. In a flash, he had put his hand on the ground to keep his balance and was on the other side of the pile with nothing but an open field in front of him. The 35-yard touchdown run put Wake up 10-0 in the first quarter.
Turner’s backfield mate, Justice Ellison was not to be outdone. On Wake Forest’s next drive, he sprinted 45 yards to the VMI 29-yard line. Three plays later, Griffis rolled to his right and threw on the run. Taylor Morin made a diving grab in the end zone going towards the sideline for the touchdown. The lead was 17-0 and we were just getting to the end of the first quarter.
After the game, Morin talked about the throw from his first-time starting quarterback. “I wasn’t sure where Mitch was going to put the ball,” he said. “But, he just put it in the only place that he could and it was a perfect ball.”
Edging Out More
The second quarter was left to the field goal kickers, but even at that, the edge went to Wake Forest. Dennis added field goals of 31 and 33 yards for the Demon Deacons. VMI got a 42-yarder from Jerry Rice at the end of the half to make it 20-3.
The Demon Deacons decided advantage was clear in the halftime stats. Wake had 295 total yards of offense to 143 for VMI. The Wake defense also held VMI quarterback Seth Morgan to 10 of 20 passing for only 76 yards.
Putting The Game Away
Wake Forest tacked on another easy touchdown early in the third quarter. A shanked VMI punt gave the Demon Deacons the ball at the Keydets 43-yard line. A 24-yard run by Turner along the right-side line gave Wake the ball at the VMI 14-yard line. Three plays later, it was Turner plowing up the middle of the scrum for a touchdown from half a yard out. Wake’s lead was now 30-3.
What should have put the Demon Deacons into cruise control instead led to sloppiness and a lack of discipline? Wake committed three penalties, giving up 35 yards in the process, on VMI’s next drive. This would have cost Wake against a good team. But this was VMI and the Keydets could not convert Wake’s generosity into any points and had to punt.
Wake took over on its own eight-yard line, up 27 points, with the starters still in, and went three and out. The lack of production cost the Demon Deacons this time. VMI took a chunk out of the top hat with an eight-play 60-yard touchdown drive. Backup quarterback Collin Ironside connected with Grant Swinehart for a 34-yard touchdown down the right sideline. While Wake’s lead was still 30-10 with a couple of minutes left in the third quarter, the product on the field had become as lethargic as the mood of the couple thousand fans that were left in the stands.
Griffis Steps Up
Griffis responded like a leader is supposed. And this is his team now, for the next few weeks, and at some point, later down the road. He engineered a quick strike scoring drive where he was three of four passes for all 62 yards. On the final play of the drive, he dropped straight back and found a wide-open Blake Whiteheart at the VMI 11-yard line. The throw was on the money and in stride for the tight end who took it the rest of the way in for the touchdown.
Even with the success, Wake shot itself in the foot. Up 36-10 late in the third quarter after the touchdown, head coach Dave Clawson decided to go for the two-point conversion. Griffis ran up the middle for the score. But Sean Maginn was called for holding. Wake settled for the kick on the PAT and the 37-10 lead at the end of three.
Wake was penalized seven times for 70 yards. Against a better team, it would have mattered.
Griffis, still in in the fourth quarter, put up another touchdown early in the period, completing a 14-yard pass to Jahmal Banks to expand the lead to 44-10.
Michael Kern came in at quarterback at that point for mop-up duty.
Clawson And The Penalties
After the game, Clawson was pleased for all of a moment before he brought up the penalties. “Anytime you find a way to win, you’ve got to be happy with the effort,” Clawson said. Then he went on to the penalties. “I’m proud of the win, but I thought we were really sloppy.” He added, “To me, the penalties were awful.” He pointed out the five holding penalties and how they took away touchdowns, and a roughing the passer that cost them a pick-six by Isaiah Wingfield. “There was a lot of lack of discipline penalties we had tonight.”
Wake has game officials at every practice. The players may need to prepare for the calls to tighten up on them next week. “I’m not sure what we’re paying them, [the officials],” Clawson joked. “Maybe it needs to be more for them to throw some more flags in practice.”
On the upside, no one was denying the performance of Griffis in his first start. He acknowledged that he was nervous when the game began. “The first few plays didn’t feel real,” he said after the game. “Then I got hit.” He said that brought his focus back into the game. Griffis also acknowledged the role Hartman played as a de-facto extra coach on the sidelines helping him throughout the game.
Clawson was upbeat about Griffis’ performance. “I thought Mitch played really well,” he said after the game. “I think we can win a lot of games with Mitch.”
A footnote to the game; It was Dave Clawson’s 100th game as head coach of the Demon Deacons. He is 52-48 in his 9th year.
The 1-0 Demon Deacons go on the road to Nashville next week to play Vanderbilt.
Main Image courtesy: Andy Mead/Wake Forest Athletics
