WINSTON-SALEM – The first half featured highlights for Wake Forest and Virginia alike; the third quarter was all Wake Forest; the fourth quarter was all Virginia.

Right up until the Deacons were driving and fumbled away their chance to win.

Virginia beat Wake Forest 31-30 on Saturday night in the ACC opener, overcoming the Deacons’ two-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter and surviving in the final minutes because of a lost fumble by Taylor Morin in the final minutes.

After the Cavaliers (2-0, 1-0 ACC) took a one-point lead with 2:07 left, Hank Bachmeier moved the Deacons across midfield with a 20-yard pass to Morin. But UVA’s Malcolm Greene stripped the sixth-year slot receiver, and Antonio Clary dove on the ball while Donavon Greene was trying to pick up the loose ball and run with it.

Wake Forest (1-1, 0-1) got a defensive stop and one more chance, starting at its 5 with 57 seconds left and no timeouts, but only reached its 38 before needing to play the lateral game.

The game ended with the ball in Greene’s hands, tackled near Wake’s sideline.

It was the sourest of endings, given how much Wake Forest seemed to take control of the game.

Wake Forest enveloped 7:20 of the third quarter with the opening drive, going 75 yards on 14 plays. It featured two fourth-and-1 conversions on UVA’s side of the 50 — both converted with 5-yard runs by Demond Claiborne — and ended with Bachmeier’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Greene, who fell backward across the goal line.

The Deacons tacked on Matthew Dennis’ 26-yard field goal to make it a 30-17 lead with 2:10 left in the third quarter. When their defense forced a three-and-out on the ensuing possession, it seemed like the Deacons had wrested all the control they needed to win the ACC opener.

Ehh … not so much.

Virginia made it a one-score game again with a seven-play, 66-yard drive early in the fourth quarter. Anthony Colandrea was 5-for-5 for 68 yards and a touchdown on that drive — the Cavaliers motored through a holding penalty and Wake’s secondary.

Wake Forest picked up a couple of first downs on the following possession, but Bachmeier was sacked on fourth down near midfield. That was the precursor for UVA’s 12-play, 56-yard grind of a drive that ended with Grady Brosterhous’ 1-yard sneak for a touchdown.

Will Bettridge’s extra point proved to be the game-winner.

The first half didn’t lack fireworks.

There was a blocked punt by Wake Forest, an interception that had Deacons defensive tackle Kevin Pointer rumbling toward UVA’s end zone, and eight plays between these teams that went for at least 20 yards.

Wake Forest led 20-17 at halftime. It was a 17-3 lead; UVA struck for touchdowns on back-to-back drives of 68 and 75 yards, both of the scores going to tight end Tyler Neville.

The Deacons started the game about as well as could have been drawn up. They forced a three-and-out on the game’s opening possession, and then went 71 yards on five plays — the chunk being a 31-yard catch-and-run by tight end Harry Lodge — for a touchdown. Claiborne scored that one from 17 yards out, slicing up the middle and looking like he was moving at a different speed than UVA’s defense.

Claiborne punched in a 2-yard touchdown run after Pointer’s interception put the Deacons at the 9-yard line.