WINSTON-SALEM – Consider business handled with Wake Forest’s 44-10 season-opening win over visiting VMI on Thursday night at Truist Field.

We even got a few answers on the new aspects of the Deacons.

Mitch Griffis looked at times like a quarterback making his first start, and at other times looked like the promising future of the position at Wake Forest. It amounted to completing 21 of 29 passes for 288 yards and three touchdowns.

Griffis’ 23-yard touchdown pass to Taylor Morin wasn’t the first of his career – that connection scored in the opener against Clemson two years ago – but it’ll be the prettiest of his career for a while. Griffis scrambled to his right and threw a dime to a diving Morin on the side of the end zone.

Also, at least one game in, so much for Justice Ellison being far ahead of the rest of Wake’s running backs.

Fifth-year running back Christian Turner had a career-high 100 yards on 13 carries, scoring the first touchdown of the game on a 35-yard he-wasn’t-down-yet type of run, and adding a 1-yard touchdown plunge in the third quarter.

Ellison had a solid opening game, with 80 yards on 13 carries. Those two handled every series at running back until the fourth quarter, when Wake’s lead was four touchdowns.

Defensively, well, things looked better – as long as you acknowledge this was against an FCS opponent.

The Deacons were more than doubling-up VMI in yardage, 474-234, with about 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, which is when the third-teamers entered on both sides of the ball.

Isaiah Wingfield and JJ Roberts had two pass break-ups apiece, while Rondell Bothroyd had one of the Deacons’ two sacks – which also included a forced fumble and fumble recovery by the fifth-year defensive end.

Wake’s first points of the season came on Matthew Dennis’ first career field goal, a 33-yard kick that snuck inside the uprights. He made two more field goals, of 31 and 33 yards, later in the first half.

There isn’t a shortage of things to work on for the Deacons, either.

A holding penalty against DeVonte Gordon negated a touchdown catch by Turner in the first half, and a roughing the passer call against Dion Bergan Jr. negated a pick-6 by Wingfield in the second half.

There were also two bad snaps in special teams situations – one of them on a PAT, the other on a punt.

The special teams things can be ironed out; the penalties are what will bother coach Dave Clawson, who’s touted Wake’s positioning as one of the least-penalized teams in the country for the past several seasons.