Wake Forest Athletics
Demon Deacons Fall to Tar Heels, 49-24
10/29/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 29, 2011
Final Stats | Final Stats
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Postgame Audio: Jim Grobe | Tanner Price | Zach Thompson
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - Turnovers plagued the Demon Deacons, who were unable to stop UNC's rushing game in the Tar Heels 49-24 victory on Saturday in Chapel Hill.
Wake Forest's Price threw for 146 yards before being pulled early in the fourth quarter. Chris Givens, ranked fourth nationally with 127 yards receiving per game, finished with six catches for 42 yards.
Brandon Pendergrass ran for 99 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries to lead Wake Forest.
North Carolina (6-3, 2-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) took advantage of an uncharacteristic line of mistakes from the normally sure-handed Demon Deacons (5-3, 4-2). Wake Forest had five turnovers - three on interceptions thrown by Tanner Price - after committing just five all season coming into Saturday, and the Tar Heels converted four of those into touchdowns.
It all led to a huge day for the UNC offense, which had a season-high 562 total yards and its best scoring output in seven years. It was also North Carolina's most points in an ACC game in a decade.
UNC's redshirt freshman Giovani Bernard scored three touchdowns and had his sixth 100-yard rushing performance of his career. Bernard ran for 154 yards on 27 carries, while his short TD catch in the opening quarter was his first career scoring reception. He reached the 100-yard mark on a 4-yard carry early in the fourth, then broke off a 54-yard run late to finish 1 yard shy of matching his season-high. He also moved within 35 yards of becoming the first Tar Heel to run for 1,000 yards in a season since Jonathan Linton did it in Mack Brown's final season in 1997.
Bryn Renner completed 21 of 28 passes for a career-high 338 yards and three touchdowns, while top receiver Dwight Jones had six catches for 138 yards. Fellow wideout Erik Highsmith added his first two-TD performance, scoring on a 4-yard catch in the opening quarter and on a diving 38-yard grab early in the fourth that blew the game open.
UNC forced turnovers on Wake Forest's first two possessions and jumped to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. The Tar Heels led 21-17 late in the third before turning it into a rout, getting a short touchdown run from Ryan Houston and Bernard's second 4-yard scoring run to push the lead to 35-17 less than a minute into the fourth.
