Deacons fall flat against N.C. State
Wake Forest goes first five drives of game without a first down
WINSTON-SALEM – N.C. State had three touchdowns before Wake Forest had a first down and that’s about all you need to know to have an idea of how the Deacons’ final home game of the season went.
N.C. State cruised in a 26-6 win over the host Deacons on Saturday, continuing the Wolfpack’s second-half surge with a third straight win and sending Wake Forest further spiraling.
The Deacons (4-6, 1-6 ACC) have lost six of their last seven games and have zero margin for error if they’re going to be bowl-eligible for an eighth straight year.
Based on Saturday’s performance, it’s hard to see Wake Forest standing much of a chance at Notre Dame next weekend.
Wake’s first five possessions were three-and-outs. Two of them started with false starts. Two of them had third-down sacks on which it appeared Mitch Griffis wanted to pull the trigger on a throw but didn’t.
The fourth one is when Michael Kern entered; he got 1 yard from a screen pass and his third-and-long pass went through the hands on a leaping Taylor Morin.
Kern, playing for the first time in a month, moved the ball in the second half and finished 14 of 26 for 137 yards. He threw a 19-yard touchdown to freshman slot receiver Deuce Alexander — though he was picked off on a 2-point conversion attempt that was returned for the final two points of the game.
Kern threw another interception earlier in the second half. Griffis was 2-for-3 with 19 yards and was sacked three times in his three drives. He appeared to suffer a knee injury on the first play of the game, though coach Dave Clawson reportedly said that was not the reason he was replaced.
N.C. State (7-3, 4-2) had its dramatic QB week conclude with Brennan Armstrong playing his best game of the season. He was 12-for-17 for 111 yards and a touchdown, along with 96 rushing yards on 15 carries, scoring once via air and ground.
KC Concepcion took a reverse 65 yards on N.C. State’s first play, which came after Wake’s game-opening three-and-out. The Wolfpack scored two plays later when Armstrong threw to Julian Gray for a 20-yard touchdown, with Caelen Carson late coming over in coverage.
Armstrong punched in a 1-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal early in the second quarter, and it was 21-0 with 8:07 before halftime when Delbert Mims III plunged in from 1 yard out — that coming one play after Armstrong ran for 38 yards on third-and-2.
EXTRA POINTS: Horatio Fields had his first three catches of the season for Wake Forest, gaining 31 yards. Ke’Shawn Williams led the Deacons in catches with five (for 25 yards). … Demond Claiborne was Wake’s leading rusher with 12 yards on eight carries. He left the game in the second half with an injury. … This is the first time since a 52-3 loss at Clemson in 2019 that Wake Forest failed to score double-digit points. It’s also the fewest first downs (eight) that Wake Forest has had since that late-season game at Clemson (had five that day in 2019).