WINSTON-SALEM – This one was as stress-free as last year’s game between Wake Forest and Army was stressful for the Deacons.
No. 15 Wake Forest ran through Army for a 45-10 win on Saturday night at Truist Field.
The Deacons (5-1) scored touchdowns on five of their first six possessions, while their defense forced two turnovers and got a fourth-down stop in the first half to stifle an offense it couldn’t stop in last season’s 70-56 track meet.
It was evident early that this game wasn’t going to approach the levels of absurdity that last season’s did – though, Army completing a 47-yard pass on the second play of the game cast a least a little doubt.
Wake Forest was led by Justice Ellison’s 96 yards on 11 carries, with Christian Turner pounding in two touchdowns.
A.T. Perry had 118 yards on five catches, including a 26-yard touchdown on the first drive of the second half that effectively put this game on ice, it felt like.
If that one didn’t end it, Turner’s second score with a few minutes left in the third quarter certainly sealed Wake’s 11th straight win in the month of October.
Wake’s halftime lead was 21-0 behind short touchdown runs by its top three running backs – Turner, Ellison and Quinton Cooley, in the order that they scored.
The Deacons’ yardage advantage in the first half wasn’t that decisive – 251-194 – but a lost fumble on Army’s first possession, a failed fourth-down attempt, and an interception at the end of the first half spelled out Wake’s three-touchdown lead.
Chase Jones was credited with forcing and recovering the fumble; Dylan Hazen had the interception in the closing seconds.
Wake Forest scored touchdowns on three of its four full possessions of the first half – running it to 12 touchdowns on 14 full possessions against Army in the last three halves of football, combined with last season’s shootout.
While all three of Wake’s running backs got into the end zone in the first half, it was Ellison who had the bulk of the yards. A week after his first career 100-yard game, he had 10 carries for 88 yards in the first half; on the drive that he scored, he had runs for 18, 14 and 15 yards.
