Wake Forest finally ended its three-game losing streak Saturday on the strength of four Sam Hartman touchdown passes, and a rare turnover by the defense. The Demon Deacons win a game of numbers over Syracuse, 45-35, and get back on the winning side of the ledger for the first time in a month.
As Wake has done through much of the season, they started slow and had to play from behind. This week though Wake Forest blunted its own mistakes, took advantage of errors by the Orange, and found the high-powered offense they had earlier in the season.
Hartman And Perry Put Up Numbers
As Hartman played his last home game at Truist Field that was generously only half full at kickoff, he engineered an offense that put up 543 yards of offense. The four touchdown passes gave him 104 for his career. He is three shy of the all-time ACC record held by Clemson’s Tajh Boyd.
It was also a night of big numbers for receiver A.T. Perry. He became the school’s all-time leading receiver for touchdowns passing Ricky Proehl. Perry finished with 119 yards on 10 catches to go with the touchdowns.
Even when Wake opened a big lead in the second half, there was little comfort for head coach Dave Clawson. “It’s going to be 3 or 4 am before I fall asleep. I’m wired. That was not a relaxing game in any way,” Clawson laughingly said after the game.
Getting Behind Early, Again
As usual, Wake fell behind early. Syracuse quarterback Garrett Shrader engineered an 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Running back Sean Tucker sprinted as wide to the front pylon as he could manage while still staying in bounds for the touchdown.
Wake answered with a 33-yard field goal by Matthew Dennis at the end of a 14-play, 60-yard drive. The personnel numbers started to drop for Wake on the ensuing kickoff. Kicker Ivan Mora had to make the touchdown-saving tackle on the return. He came off the field wobbly and was taken straight to the locker room. Zach Murphy handled the kickoffs for the rest of the night. Later, the numbers dropped even more. They would lose receivers Donavon Greene and Jahmal Banks for much of the second half. The status of all three of them going forward is TBD.
Wake Forest put up a touchdown drive of its own. Hartman connected with Perry who was streaking across the middle of the end zone towards the right sideline for a 12-yard touchdown and a 10-3 lead. It didn’t last long.
Shrader connected with Damien Alford on a 43-yard pass over the middle that the receiver took down to the two-yard line. From there, Tucker sprinted to the far edge of the end zone for the touchdown and the Orange were back up in front 14-10.
The lead grew to 21-10 on a Syracuse gadget play. Shrader pitched the ball to running back LeQuint Allen who then pulled up and threw it 33 yards into the end zone to a wide-open Devaughn Cooper. Syracuse had covered 94 yards in just four plays and 1:47 off the clock. Wake Forest had a big hole to climb out of for yet another week.
This Time Wake Has Answer
Unlike the previous three weeks, Wake had answers for the deficit. Hartman hit Perry on a fade route on the left side of the end zone for a 27-yard touchdown pass to shrink the Syracuse lead to 21-17.
And then the defense got in its first significant contribution of the night. Syracuse’s Mario Escobar returned the kickoff 35 yards to the Wake 45-yard line to start the Orange drive. But after a run play for a small gain, Wake’s A.J. Williams sacked Shrader for a 12-yard loss. On the next play, it was a Jasheen Davis sack for another 11-yards. Syracuse attempted a 42-yard field goal by Andre Smyzt that fell about two yards short.
That gave Wake the ball to close out the half with one of the more bizarre sequences of plays they have put together this season. On first and 10 from his 47-yard line, Hartman wrapped up in the backfield. His arm was in motion, but not going directly forward, so when he lost the ball and it was bouncing forward, it was called a fumble. Justice Ellison recovered the ball and picked up eight yards.
Four plays later, at the Syracuse 23-yard line, Hartman was again going down and close to being ruled in the grasp. But he managed to fling the ball out to Ellison at the last moment for a seven-yard gain. Two plays later, it was Hartman throwing a rope to Perry, between two defenders, for a 10-yard touchdown pass. Wake went into the halftime locker room with a 24-21 lead and some momentum for the first time in recent memory.
Momentum
“It was really big,” Clawson said after the game of that closing touchdown in the first half. “Because it gave us the lead at halftime. And then you start with the ball in the second half, and it gives you a chance to build on it.”
It actually took the second possession of the half before Wake Forest built on it. The Demon Deacons went to a heavy dose of Christian Turner rushing yards. The running back picked up 31 yards on five carries on the drive. That led to another Hartman touchdown pass. This one went to Ke’Shawn Williams on a line drive of a throw to the back of the end zone. The lead was now 31-21 Wake Forest and the Demon Deacons had scored 21 unanswered points going back to the second quarter.
That string of unanswered points grew to 35 with two fourth-quarter touchdowns. Quinton Cooley had a four-yard touchdown run up the middle to finish off a scoring drive that started at the end of the third quarter to make it 38-21.
Defense Has A Number To Contribute
And then another notable number reared its head. Syracuse’s Tucker was intercepted by Brendon Harris who returned it 36-yards for the pick-six. The Wake lead was now 45-21 in the fourth quarter. The number everyone took note of was one. This was the first turnover caused by the Wake Forest that held up since the win over Army was back on October 8th. Wake caused two turnovers in the Louisville game but fumbled them right back to the Cardinals on the same play.
But on Saturday, the defense was contributing with its one turnover. The running game chipped in with 212 yards from four runners, including 52 yards from Hartman.
The game got closer late than what Clawson was comfortable with. Shrader completed a 13-yard pass to Allen at the Wake 28-yard line. Throw in some missed tackles along the left sideline, and A.J. Williams giving a shove instead of tackling, and the play went 41 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 45-28.
On its next drive, Shrader drove Syracuse 80 yards in just five plays, burning just 1:26 off the clock. He sprinted out eight yards to the right for the touchdown and Wake’s lead was down to 45-35.
But the Demon Deacons were able to grind out the clock for much of the remaining 5:12 to hold on for the win.
A Win To Leave Home With
After the game, Hartman said the win erased the stigma of the three-game losing streak. “I mean, it’s huge. You feel like you’ve got a black mark on you when you lose three in a row,” he said. He added, “Any ACC win is a big win.”
Hartman got emotional when talking about his last game at Truist Field. But he did walk away with more than the win. After taking a knee to end the game, Hartman and center Michael Jurgens hugged on the field. Hartman kept the game ball. “They’ll dock me a couple of Gatorades or something,” Hartman joked in response to keeping the ball. He said it was the first time in his Wake career he had gotten a game ball, so he was not letting go of it.
Wake Forest moves to 7-4 overall and 3-4 in conference play. They close out the regular next week at Duke, in a game that will have a large impact on their bowl destination.
We will have more post-game analysis, including some regarding Hartman’s last home game at Wake Forest, on Monday.
