Maybe these unconventional ways of winning are going to be Wake’s “thing” this season. The Demon Deacons topped North Carolina 28-12 Saturday night in Winston-Salem, using its own fumble for a touchdown, a flea flicker for a score, and a couple of blocked field goals. It’s rarely pretty, but it is proving to be effective as Wake moves to 7-3 on the season and 4-3 in ACC play with two weeks left in the regular season.
Wake’s offense was a mix of lukewarm and lucky. But the defense held UNC to just four field goals on the night.
Wake Forest’s Efforts Are More Than Enough
Whatever It Takes
The randomness on offense started early for Wake. On Wake’s first drive, quarterback Robby Ashford busted up the middle for nine yards to midfield. But he lowered his head and shoulder pads to take the contact, and he fumbled. But receiver Carlos Hernandez was there to pick it up, work his way to the left side of the field, and score from 50 yards out. “Sometimes in these games you just need the ball to bounce your way,” head coach Jake Dickert said after the game about Hernandez’s fumble recovery and score. “Carlos was there to obviously pick that one up.”
UNC’s answer was a 13-play drive that covered 58 yards and took 7:34 off the clock, but all the Tar Heels could manage out of it was a 40-yard field goal by Rece Verhroff to make it 7-3 in the first quarter.
The second quarter was a scoring repeat of the first. A 13-play drive covered 79 yards for Wake with Demond Claiborne blasting through a hole right up the middle to score the touchdown from 12 yards out. Claiborne finished with 98 yards on 23 carries for the night to go with the touchdown.
UNC Limited
Upon review, the convoy really was mostly receiver Sawyer Racanelli. The story of his blocking is already the stuff of local legend. After the game, the coach and players were giving him credit for blocking anywhere from four to eight players.
Big Wake Numbers
Ashford finished the game 15 for 25 passing for 191 yards and the touchdown. The offense as a whole rolled up 414 yards.
The Wake Forest lead was up to 21-9, and with UNC being unable to sustain drives, it put the game out of reach. The Wake defense, quickly becoming the identity of this year’s team, held UNC to only 257 yards of total offense. Even the field goals were not a given for UNC as Wake blocked two of them on the night. Nick Anderson had one, and Mateen Ibirogoba had one in the third quarter.
Verhoff added a 47-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to close the margin to 21-12. But Wake put the game away with a 5:21 drive that ended with Ashford running for the touchdown from two yards out for the 28-12 win.
Against A Big Four
This was Dickert’s first win against a Big Four opponent. He was fully aware of the meaning. “If you’re in the Triad, if you’re from Winston-Salem, you should be proud of this team. If you’re a Wake Forest alum, you should be really proud of this team,” he said after the game.
Dickert acknowledged after the game that he went in with the plan to play Ashford at quarterback for the entire game, after weeks of using both him and Purdie. “I thought Robby through the course of the Virginia game and obviously practice this week was going to give us the edge.”
Making A Little History
Dickert made a new name for himself with the win. He is only the second coach in Wake Forest football history to get to seven wins in his first season. Bill Dooley also did it in 1987, en route to a 7-4 season. This version of the Deacs has two more weeks of the regular season.
Last Word will have more postgame coverage of the game on Sunday.
Main Image: Wake Forest Athletics
