WINSTON-SALEM – Mitch Griffis went through spring practices completing somewhere between 75-80% of his passes, which coach Dave Clawson said is the highest his Wake Forest program has ever had during the spring.

So Griffis starting Saturday’s spring game at Truist Field 0-for-4 on a couple of three-and-outs wasn’t representative of what he’d been doing for the past month.

Completing 19 of the next 25 throws is where you saw Griffis leave the jitters behind.

“Usually after the first play, the jitters go away,” Griffis said. “But it’s definitely nice to get the first first down because the jitters go away for the game.”

Griffis and the first-team offense didn’t have a first down until its third possession, when he hit Taylor Morin for an 11-yard pass on the first play.

It was the 49-yard pass to Donavon Greene on third-and-9, though, that really seemed to open things up for Griffis and the offense. That strong catch in one-on-one coverage against DaShawn Jones was reminiscent of so many other contested catches made by Deacons receivers in recent seasons and two plays later, Greene was rewarded with a 13-yard touchdown catch.

“After, you know, we started catching some balls, it seems like everyone on the field got more comfortable,” Greene said.

Greene only had three of those catches — those two, plus a 50-yarder on the next possession that set up a Morin one-handed snag — but they went for 111 yards. Griffis was working with a half-stacked deck of receivers, but Wesley Grimes stepped up with 10 catches for 157 yards.

The format for Wake’s spring game was close to a real game; the first-team offense and second-team defense comprised the White Team, and the second-team offense and first-team defense were the Black Team. The first half was close to a real game, too, lasting about an hour and a half with media timeouts (but no replay reviews).

Griffis threw for 315 yards and the pair of touchdowns to Greene and Morin. Wake’s new starting QB was sacked six times, though that always comes with a caveat in spring games that the QBs are down by touch.

“I think what he did against the starting defense, considering who was down, it’s what we’ve seen all spring,” Clawson said of Griffis. “It’s the first time other people have seen it. But that was kind of how most of his spring went.”

Another aspect that’s been on display throughout spring practices and came to public light Saturday came a few hours before the spring game began.

Griffis was one of five Deacons named a captain, along with Michael Jurgens, Chase Jones (both were captains last year, Jurgens will be a third-year captain), Malik Mustapha and Morin.

Griffis made it clear how appreciative he was of being voted a captain by his peers.

“It’s honestly an honor and probably the coolest accomplishment I’ve had in my life,” he said. “Being named a captain and voted by my peers is something I truly don’t take lightly. It’s really an honor and it’s the biggest responsibility I have in my life.

“It’s kind of surreal saying it, it’s something I dreamed about.”

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Here were some other observations from Wake’s spring game:

Wake’s depth at receiver was on full display, both in quantity of plays made Saturday and quality of players who weren’t suited up.

Jahmal Banks, Ke’Shawn Williams and Walker Merrill all project to be in Wake’s 2-deep at receiver positions and none of them played Saturday. Banks hasn’t participated much this spring, while Williams and Merrill are more-recent developments.

That’s not to mention Horatio Fields, who looked primed to be a contributor last spring before a torn ACL in the summer robbed him of the season. He’s still recovering from the injury.

“We’ve got a lot of guys hurt that we’re definitely going to use in the fall,” Greene said. “It’s never good to be hurt … but we have a lot of guys who need to be developed.”

While Grimes had a massive day, it's also worth noting six-catch days by early enrollee Deuce Alexander (72 yards and a late touchdown), Jaydn Girard (51 yards) and Aalijah Kelly (39 yards).

Wake’s starting running back and his most-explosive backup were also missing.

Justice Ellison and Demond Claiborne were both sidelined, which led to Tate Carney playing most of the reps with the first-team offense. Carney had four carries for seven yards.

On the other side, Will Towns had seven carries for 106 yards, most of which came on an 81-yard touchdown run on a third-and-10 run that he bounced outside. Early enrollee Drew Pickett was the more-consistent runner, with 10 carries for 54 yards.

“Demond we think is going to be a two-month injury, we think we’ll have him by mid-June,” Clawson said. “Justice, if we had a game today, probably would’ve gutted it out and played.”

On a day that felt like Wake’s offensive units, first- and second-teams, had a larger share of the impressive plays, the first touchdown of the day was scored by the defense.

Jaylen Hudson had a strip-sack against Michael Kern on the second-team offense’s first possession, and the ball was scooped by cornerback Zamari Stevenson and returned 78 yards for a touchdown.

For Hudson, the encouragement there is a former linebacker who’s moved to defensive end is finding some success at his new position. For Stevenson, the second-year cornerback is fighting for a place in the rotation at what might be the most-open position on the defense.

“I was excited for Zamari, he made a nice play,” Jones said. “And I think it was Jaylen who stripped him, so that was good to see.”

The secret is out about Davaughn Patterson.

Wake Forest feels great about its depth at safety, with returning starters Chelen Garnes and Mustapha, plus quality backups in AJ Williams and Brendon Harris. At nickel, Evan Slocum and Nick Andersen have looked solid.

Patterson is going to force his way into the conversation, though.

“The mid-year freshman that really stuck out was Davaughn Patterson,” Clawson said. “I don’t think we’re going to be able to redshirt him, he’s a good player.”