![\"Wake](\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/08\/IMG_0028-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe Wake Forest game against Elon was exactly what we thought it would be. Over at halftime. Wake Forest rolled Elon 37-17\u00a0 in the home opener for the Demon Deacons. We also got a lot of people missing the game.<\/p>\n
The game was billed as a sellout, and surely it was. It\u2019s just that only about half the people who bought a ticket showed up at Allegacy Stadium. Couple that with Spectrum subscribers losing all ESPN products, including the ACC Network around 8:30pm and there was a lot of football missed by many. With the game seemingly out of hand at the half. The crowd that was conservative in attendance was downright sparse after that early part of the third quarter. Wake had given them all they needed to see.<\/p>\n
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Elon went three and out in its first drive. It was the norm for much of the first half. The Demon Deacons took quick advantage. Mitch Griffis<\/a>, going in just his second career start threw a 21-yard pass to Wesley Grimes<\/a> in the left side of the end zone. The defensive breakdown by Elon was so bad, that the only way Grimes could have been more open was if he and Griffis were playing catch by themselves.<\/p>\n Elon\u2019s offense did not stall out so much as it was snuffed out. Jacob Roberts<\/strong> sacked Phoenix quarterback Matthew Downing<\/strong> for a nine-yard loss and Elon was a three-and-out offense again.<\/p>\n Matthew Dennis<\/strong> added a 34-yard field goal to extend the Wake lead to 10-0 near the end of the first quarter.<\/p>\n Was it lopsided? Wake had 148 yards of first-quarter offense. Elon had -3. The Demon Deacons had seven first downs. The Phoenix had none.<\/p>\n Wake Forest tacked on another touchdown in the second quarter. Under pressure, Griffis found Jahmal Banks<\/strong> in the end zone. Banks, while having one arm held down still managed to cradle the ball into his body with his free hand for the 33-yard touchdown and the 17-0 lead. Griffis said after the game he was confident Banks could make the catch. \u201cThere\u2019s no 50-50 balls with Jahmal,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s all 90-10.\u201d<\/p>\n Elon made a change at quarterback and had a viable offense for the lone time in the first half as a result. Justin Allen<\/strong> came in and led a 78-yard drive that was aided by a pass interference call on Wake\u2019s Demarcus Rankin<\/strong>. But the drive ended the way the other Elon drives ended in the first half, with no points. Rankin made up for his mistake with an interception in the end zone killing Elon\u2019s best offense of the half.<\/p>\n Wake ended the half with 252 yards of offense compared to 66 for Elon. And Elon\u2019s number included the 78-yard non-scoring drive. Yeah, you do the math.<\/p>\n But as dominant as the half was, Wake went stale in the third quarter. They got all the way down to the Elon 11-yard line before the drive stalled out and they settled for a Dennis 29-yard field goal for the 27-0 lead.<\/p>\n And if you keep giving teams life, sooner or later they will capitalize. The one remaining high-end element from last year\u2019s Elon offense is thousand-yard rusher Jalen Hampton<\/strong>. He got in his shot with a 49-yard burst up the middle. There was not a defender within reach for the last 15 yards, and Elon had its first score at 27-7.<\/p>\n Wake\u2019s offense was going nowhere in the quarter, except in the opposite direction. Griffis threw an interception to Caleb Cushion<\/strong> who returned it 47 yards for a touchdown. All of a sudden, the crowd that left was missing a game that was closer than it should have been at 27-14.<\/p>\n Wake got another field goal from Dennis, this one from 29 yards for the 30-14 lead at the end of the third quarter.<\/p>\nDominated Phoenix<\/h3>\n
Different Half, Different Story<\/h3>\n