Wake Forest University
Georgia Tech
Wake Forest Falls at Georgia Tech 38-24
10/21/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeFB)
ATLANTA, Ga. – Wake Forest returned to action following a bye week and suffered a 38-24 loss at Georgia Tech Saturday night at Bobby Dodd Stadium. The Demon Deacons fell to 4-3 (1-3 ACC) with the loss, while the Yellow Jackets improved to 4-2 (3-1 ACC).
Two players returning from injury led the Demon Deacon offense. Quarterback John Wolford, who missed the game at Clemson, threw for 252 yards and a pair of touchdowns and running back Cade Carney, who missed the last two games, rushed for a season-high 92 yards. Greg Dortch made eight catches for a career-high 125 yards, his second 100-yard receiving game of the season.
On defense, Grant Dawson led the Demon Deacons with a career-high 12 tackles. Duke Ejiofor had six tackles, including tying a career-high with three sacks.
Georgia Tech took the opening kickoff and mounted a 15-play, eight-minute drive, but the Wake Forest defense held in the red zone and allowed just a 22-yard field goal from Brenton King. In the final seconds of the first quarter, the Deacs took a 7-3 lead on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Wolford to Scotty Washington.
Early in the second quarter, the Yellow Jackets retook the lead after another long drive. Jerry Howard's 2-yard run gave Georgia Tech a 10-7 advantage. Wake Forest came back on the ensuing drive with Wolford's second touchdown throw, a 15-yard pass to Tabari Hines for a 14-10 lead. After forcing their first three-and-out of the night, the Deacs drove down the field again, capped by a 1-yard run by Wolford to make the score 21-10 with just over a minute in the half. On the final play of the half, King's 42-yard field goal cut the Wake Forest lead to 21-13 at the break.
On Georgia Tech's first play of the second half, the Yellow Jackets struck for a touchdown. Taquon Marshall had a 49-yard run, but the 2-point conversion failed to keep the Wake Forest in the lead at 21-19. Midway through the third quarter, a 29-yard field goal from Mike Weaver pushed the Deacon advantage to 24-19. Georgia Tech retook the lead, 25-24, on a 42-yard touchdown run from Qua Searcy, as the Yellow Jackets again failed on a 2-point conversion. The Yellow Jackets took that one-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Early in the fourth quarter, Georgia Tech's KirVonte Benson had an 11-yard touchdown run, but the extra point was blocked by Paris Black to keep the score at 31-24. A 70-yard touchdown run by Marshall late in the game extended the Yellow Jacket lead to the final margin of 38-24.
Wake Forest returns home next week to play Louisville. Kickoff at BB&T Field is 12:20 p.m.
