WINSTON-SALEM – Welcome back to one Deacon who finished last season injured and another who never played because of an injury.

And, well, welcome to Wake Forest starting quarterback Hank Bachmeier.

The transfer threw three touchdowns after entering on the Deacons’ fourth possession of the game. Two of those touchdowns were in the third quarter, when Wake Forest pulled away from North Carolina A&T to open the season with a 45-13 win over the Aggies on Thursday night at Allegacy Stadium.

Demond Claiborne scored Wake’s first touchdown of the night after missing the last two games of last season, and Donavon Greene’s touchdown gave the Deacons a 14-10 lead in the second quarter — Greene missed all of last season with a knee injury.

Wake’s breathing room didn’t come until the third quarter. After its defense stopped the opening drive, Taylor Morin returned a punt 73 yards for a touchdown — it was the 65th punt return of his career and first score.

On the Deacons’ next possession, Bachmeier connected with Morin for a 50-yard catch-and-run, and then with Horatio Fields for a 5-yard touchdown.

That’s how Wake’s tenuous start had some drama removed. When Bachmeier engineered a nine-play, 90-yard drive — still in the third quarter, mind you — and capped it with a 4-yard touchdown strike to Deuce Alexander, the score was 38-10 and the competitive portion of this game was over.

Bachmeier completed 19 of 29 passes for 265 yards and those three scores. After a fall camp competition that saw no separation, the transfer by way of Boise State and Louisiana Tech showed the parts of his skillset that make him an appealing choice going forward (arm talent, quick release) without the parts that kept him from winning the job (turnovers).

Michael Kern got the nod as Wake’s starting quarterback and was 5-for-8 for 57 yards in three possessions. The second of those was the Deacons’ first score, a quick-strike drive of 55 yards that ended with Claiborne’s 7-yard touchdown. Kern threw passes of 17 and 20 yards to Morin on that drive.

Bachmeier took the other three possessions of the first half, on which the Deacons got one touchdown and a final-seconds field goal to take a 17-10 lead to halftime.

Bachmeier’s first touchdown pass was on a screen to Greene, on which the sixth-year wide receiver squeezed through a couple of tackle attempts and hit the accelerator toward Deacon Hill.

Claiborne finished with 135 yards on 17 carries, the second 100-yard game of the junior’s career. Morin had 100 yards on six catches, and Tate Carney added a touchdown run late.

Wake’s defense left some things to be desired in the first half. After each team had four possessions, N.C. A&T had the two most-impressive drives — an 11-play, 80-yard drive that ended with Kenji Christian’s 21-yard touchdown run, and then a 15-play, 71-yard drive that only stalled because of a snap that sailed over the head of quarterback Kevin White Jr.

On N.C. A&T’s first two possessions of the second half, sacks derailed the Aggies’ chance to stay within striking distance; the first by Jasheen Davis, the second by Kevin Pointer.