Fast Start, Big Plays Lead Deacs Past Owls, 56-24

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Wake Forest offense scored early and scored often Saturday (Sept. 29), as the Demon Deacons cruised past Rice, 56-24, on Family Weekend.

The Demon Deacon (3-2, 0-1 ACC) offense exploded in the opening 30 minutes of play, taking a 42-3 lead into the halftime break. The 42 points are a single-half record under head coach Dave Clawson while the 21 points in the first quarter are tied for the second-most in a single quarter in the Clawson era.

Greg Dortch tied his own school record for touchdown receptions in a game (4) and finished the day with 163 receiving yards. Cade Carney had his first multi-touchdown day since September 10, 2016, while Matt Colburn II became the 12th player in program history to surpass 2,000 career rushing yards to pace the offense. Quarterback Sam Hartman finished the day 15-of-17 for 241 yards and four touchdown passes. The freshman signal caller completed his final 12 attempts before yielding the quarterback duties to Kendall Hinton in the second half.

Wake Forest recorded a pair of defensive touchdowns against Rice (1-4, 0-1 C-USA), returning two interceptions to the end zone. It marked the first game with two defensive scores for Wake Forest since Nov. 22, 2008 against Boston College. Luke Masterson fell one tackle shy of matching his career high with eight stops while Justin Strnad and Demetrius Kemp added seven tackles each.

The Deacs stormed out to a 28-0 lead as Dortch and Carney traded touchdowns through the first 17 minutes. After punting on their first drive, the Deacs scored touchdowns on their next six, sparked by a 54-yard pass from Hartman to Dortch less than five minutes into the game to make it 7-0 in favor of the Deacs. Carney rushed on six of Wake Forest's seven plays on the next drive for 31 yards, capped off by a 1-yard touchdown run as the lead grew to 14-0.

Hartman was the featured Deacon on the next drive, completing all four pass attempts on a seven-play, 61-yard drive, connecting with Dortch for a 10-yard touchdown to push the lead to 21-0. Masterson had the first interception of his career and returned it 43 yards, setting up a short field and an eventual 1-yard TD plunge from Carney.

Following a Rice field goal, Hartman and Dortch again connected, this time for a 38-yard touchdown to push the lead to 35-3 with 8:10 left in the second quarter. Wake Forest responded with another score when Zeek Rodney forced a fumble and Essang Bassey returned it 51 yards for a touchdown, extending the advantage to 42-3 at the break.

After trading punts to open the second half, Rice found the end zone for the first time Saturday afternoon as Shawn Stankavage connected with Austin Walter for an eight-yard touchdown pass.

Big plays by Dortch and Jack Freudethal set the Deacs up for their next scoring drive. Hartman found Dortch for a gain of 25 before hitting Freudenthal down the sideline for 42 yards on the very next play. Two plays later, Hartman connected with Dortch for the fourth time of the afternoon to extend the lead to 49-10.

The defense stepped up for its second score of the afternoon with Chuck Wade, Jr. intercepting Stankavage and returning it 60 yards to the end zone midway through the third quarter.

Rice added a pair of touchdowns on a 38-yard rush by Austin Walter and a 3-yard pass from Stankavage to Aaron Cephus to cap the scoring at 56-24 in favor of the Demon Deacons.

Hot from the Start

Wake Forest led Rice 21-0 after the first quarter of play Saturday, marking the second-highest scoring quarter for the Demon Deacons under Coach Clawson
On Nov. 11, 2017 the Deacs scored 24 in the fourth-quarter in a win at Syracuse
The 42 first-half points scored against the Owls mark a program record for most points in a single half during Clawson's tenure.
The 56 points are a BB&T Field record, surpassing the previous record of 54, set against Duke on Oct. 22, 2011.

Defense Twice as Nice

The Wake Forest defense recorded a pair of defensive scores Saturday, returning a fumble and an interception to the end zone.
Essang Bassey had a 51-yard fumble recovery (his second-career defensive score) while Chuck Wade, Jr. had a 60-yard interception return.
It was the first time since Nov. 22, 2008 against Boston College in which the Deacs had two defensive scores. Kevin Patterson and Kyle Wilber each returned fumbles for scores.

Colburn Tops 2,000

With his first carry Saturday, Matt Colburn II became the 12th player in program history to rush for 2,000 yards or more.
He ended the day with 34 rushing yards, giving him 2,031 career rushing yards in 41 career games.
The last player to reach 2,000 career rushing yards was Josh Harris who finished with 2,230 career yards.

Multi-Score Carney

Cade Carney had a pair of touchdown runs, scoring from one yard out in the first and second quarter.
It was his first multi-touchdown game since his second game as a Demon Deacon, Sept. 10, 2016 at Duke. Against the Blue Devils, Carney had three touchdown runs.

Dortch Matching Dortch

Wide receiver Greg Dortch tied his own school record Saturday with four touchdown receptions against Rice.
Dortch had TD receptions of 54, 10, 38 and 4 yards, all from Sam Hartman
The 54-yard touchdown was the longest reception of Dortch's career and the longest pass for Hartman this season.

Next Event

Team Stats

Kenneth Dicks III

Kendall Hinton

Players Mentioned

Essang Bassey

Cade Carney

Matt Colburn II

Greg Dortch

Sam Hartman

Kendall Hinton

Demetrius Kemp

Luke Masterson

Zeek Rodney

Justin Strnad

Players Mentioned

Essang Bassey

Cade Carney

Matt Colburn II

Greg Dortch

Sam Hartman

Kendall Hinton

Demetrius Kemp

Luke Masterson

Zeek Rodney

Justin Strnad

Wake Forest Athletics