Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
East Carolina
Deacons Get Past East Carolina, 34-16
9/20/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 20, 2003
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By JENNA FRYER
AP Sports Writer
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Cory Randolph threw a 79-yard touchdown pass to Jason Anderson to lead Wake Forest to a 34-16 victory over winless East Carolina on Saturday night.
Chris Barclay, D'Angelo Bryant and Willie Idlette ran for one touchdown each and Ryan Plackemeir kicked a pair of field goals to help the Demon Deacons (3-1) bounce back from their first loss of the season.
Wake Forest, which lost 16-10 to Purdue last week to drop out of the Top 25, wasn't spectacular but capitalized on almost every East Carolina mistake.
The Pirates (0-4) were error-prone from the start, turning the ball over five times and allowing Wake Forest to score two touchdowns in a span of 1:33 span of the third quarter.
It ruined what could have been a solid statistical day for East Carolina, which beat Wake Forest in total offense (391 yards) and time of possession (31:24).
The Pirates even pulled off a trick play, scoring on a fake field goal to keep the game close late in the third quarter.
Trailing 17-3, they lined up to attempt the field goal but holder Ryan Dougherty instead took the snap and scrambled 9 yards up in the middle for East Carolina's first touchdown of the game.
It cut Wake Forest's lead to 17-10 with 2:22 to play in the third.
The fake definitely got Wake Forest's attention.
On the first play of the next possession, Randolph found Anderson wide open along the left sideline for the third-longest play in school history.
Then East Carolina unraveled.
East Carolina quarterback Desmond Robinson threw his third interception of the game and Marcus McGruder returned it 35 yards to the Pirates 10. Two play later, Barclay scored on a 4-yard run that made it 31-10.
There was no recovering for the Pirates, who lost a fumble on the next possession to put Wake Forest at the East Carolina 35. The Deacons turned it into a 34-10 lead on Plackemeir's 28-yard field goal.
A week after struggling to just 65 yards rushing in the loss to Purdue, the Deacons set out early to move the ball on the ground against the worst run defense in Division I-A.
Wake started the game with a handoff to Barclay and continued it eight more times on its opening drive before Idlette scored on a 5-yard reverse to give the Deacons a 7-0 lead.
By the time Bryant scored on a 2-yard run with 18 seconds left in the half - putting Wake up 17-3 - the Deacons had doubled their rushing title from a week ago by churning out 131 yards in the first half.
Wake Forest finished with 193 yards rushing and Barclay led the charge with 55 yards on 17 carries. In four losses this season, East Carolina has allowed 1,138 yards rushing.
Randolph finished 7-for-14 for 131 yards and Anderson had three catches for 95 yards.
If not for the three interceptions, Robinson would not have had a bad night. He finished 22-for-32 for 190 yards. Terrance Cooper was his favorite target with eight catches for 61 yards.
