
Wake Forest Edges Utah State in Shootout
8/31/2019 12:30:00 AM | Football
Jamie Newman threw for 401 yards as the Deacons staged a late comeback to win, 38-35
The two teams combined for 73 points, 53 first downs, 1,175 total offense yards, including 817 yards passing in a see-saw matchup that did not disappoint. Jamie Newman exceeded 400 yards passing and threw for three touchdowns without an interception.
How It Happened:
Wake Forest set the tone with a methodical opening drive that lasted just over three minutes and eight plays. Newman hit Sage Surratt for a 22-yard touchdown as the Demon Deacons took an early lead. Utah State responded with a quick drive of its own as the Aggies tied it up two minutes later.
Nick Sciba connected on a 21-yard field goal at the end of the first quarter putting the Deacs up 10-7. Early into the second quarter, the Aggies took their first lead of the game with a 27-yard touchdown.
Scotty Washington caught an acrobatic 9-yard touchdown pass midway through the frame as Wake Forest took a 17-14 lead. With less than a minute left in the half, Utah State tacked on a 17-yard touchdown catch that was confirmed on video replay as the Aggies held a 21-17 advantage heading into halftime.
Newman called his own number on a 1-yard touchdown to cap off a 14-play drive as Wake Forest took a 24-21 lead early in the third quarter. The Aggies continued the back-and-forth scoring with a 56-yard scamper by Devin Thompkins to make it a 27-24 game in favor of the Aggies.
Utah State kept Wake Forest from scoring on a goal line stand late in the third however Amari Henderson intercepted a Jordan Love pass on the Utah State 8-yard line. Christian Beal-Smith powered his way to the end zone on the ensuing play as Wake Forest took a 31-28 lead. At the start of the fourth quarter, the Aggies scored on a four-yard rush making it a 35-31 game in favor of the visitors.
Wake Forest eventually scored the winning touchdown on a six-play, 1:11 drive that resulted in a highlight-reel catch from Kendall Hinton on fourth down. After being stopped on three-straight plays, Newman found Hinton in the corner of the end zone. The Deacon defense stalled Utah State in the last minute before Justin Strnad intercepted a pass to ensure the 38-35 win for Wake Forest.
Key Plays:
Late in the fourth quarter, Surratt stretched the field for a 70-yard catch to the Utah State 1-yard line. The play was initially ruled a touchdown but overturned after officials reviewed the play and called Surratt down at the 1-yard line. The Deacs then converted on fourth down after forcing the Aggies to use all three timeouts and more than 45 seconds of clock.
Strnad's interception of Utah State quarterback Jordan Love with 17 seconds left sealed a potential Utah State desperation rally.
Stat Leaders:
Quarterback Jamie Newman completed 34-of-47 passes for 401 yards, three passing touchdowns, and one rushing score. Cade Carney finished with 105 yards while Beal-Smith added 38 yards and a score. Sage Surratt led both teams with 158 yards and a touchdown reception.
Strnad not only sealed the victory with an interception but led the team with 12 tackles. Essang Bassey and Nasir Greer had seven stops each. Henderson and Trey Rucker both recorded an interception.
Next Up:
Wake Forest will travel to Rice to face the Owls on Friday, Sept. 6 at 8:00 EDT. The game will be televised on the CBS Sports Network.
Notes:
• The two teams combined for 73 points, 53 first downs, 1,175 total offense yards, including 817 yards passing.The game took 3:39 to play. Wake Forest ran 105 offensive plays, Utah State 79. The Deacs converted 13-of-24 third downs and 2-of-5 fourth down attempts.The 105 offensive plays ties a school record set against Boston College a year ago.
• With two-yard TD catch with 1:08 remaining, WR Kendall Hinton becomes the first Deacon to score a touchdown in five different seasons and only sixth Deacon with a career rushing, passing and receiving touchdown.
• Cade Carney ran for a team-high 105 yards on 25 carries and moves past Larry Russell (1969-71) into 13th place on Wake's all-time rushing list with 1,931 yards. Carney now has six career 100-yard games rushing.
• Jamie Newman threw for three touchdowns, including the game-winner to Kendall Hinton with 1:08 left to play and set career-highs in yards passing (401), completions (34), and pass attempts (47). Newman's 401 yards passing is the ninth-highest in school history, has thrown for 200 yards or more in four of his five career starts and at least one TD pass in five straight games.
• Sage Surratt had seven catches for a career-high 158 and one touchdown. Surratt has a TD reception in three straight games. In his two career season openers (Tulane in 2018), Surratt has 18 catches for 308 yards and one TD.
• Nick Sciba has made all 55 PATs in his career and is 20-23 in career field goal attempts, including the last 12 in a row.
• Christian Beal-Smith's third quarter touchdown was the first in his career.
• Amari Henderson's interception was the fourth of his career pick, and resulted in his first career interception return yard … his first three were all zero yards returns.
• Wake Forest starting QBs have thrown for 200 yards or more in 21 of the last 24 games.
• Scotty Washington's second quarter TD reception was the seventh of his career.
• Wake Forest has scored in 13 straight quarters dating back to last year.
• Steve Claude set career-high in receptions (6) and receiving yards (70).
• True freshman Trey Rucker had his first career pick
• Dave Clawson improves to 29-35 in his sixth year at Wake Forest and 119-115 in his 20th year as a head coach. Clawson moves into a tie for third with Bill Dooley (1987-92) for career victories at Wake Forest. Only Jim Grobe (2001-13) and Peahead Walker (I937-50) have more as each recorded 77 wins.
• Over the last three years, Wake Forest is 12-3 vs. non-conference opponents. Two of those losses were to No. 8 Notre Dame in 2018 and No. 3 Notre Dame in 2017
• Dom Maggio is second in career punts with 222.
• Wake Forest is now 15-11 under Clawson in one-score games (8 points or fewer), including an 11-5 mark over the last three seasons.
Next up: Wake Forest travels to play Rice in Houston on Friday, Sept. 6 at 8 pm EDT on CBS Sports Network. The Demon Deacons return home on Friday, Sept. 13 and will host Big Four rival North Carolina in a non-conference match-up on ESPN starting at 6 pm EDT. Tickets for the North Carolina game are available at HERE.
Team Stats

USU 0, WF 7
WF - Surratt, S 22 yd pass from Newman, J (Sciba, N kick) 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:06

USU 7, WF 7
USU - BRIGHT, Gerold 7 yd run (EBERLE, Dominik kick), 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:31

USU 7, WF 10
WF - Sciba, N 21 yd field goal 10 plays, 77 yards, TOP 3:10

USU 14, WF 10
USU - NATHAN, Jordan 27 yd pass from LOVE, Jordan (EBERLE, Dominik kick) 5 plays, 90 yards, TOP 1:16

USU 14, WF 17
WF - Washington, S 9 yd pass from Newman, J (Sciba, N kick) 7 plays, 44 yards, TOP 2:13

USU 21, WF 17
USU - MARINER, Siaosi 17 yd pass from LOVE, Jordan (EBERLE, Dominik kick) 7 plays, 80 yards, TOP 1:42

USU 21, WF 24
WF - Newman, J 1 yd run (Sciba, N kick), 14 plays, 65 yards, TOP 4:26

USU 28, WF 24
USU - THOMPKINS, D. 56 yd pass from LOVE, Jordan (EBERLE, Dominik kick) 2 plays, 73 yards, TOP 0:33

USU 28, WF 31
WF - Beal-Smith, C 12 yd run (Sciba, N kick), 1 plays, 12 yards, TOP 0:06

USU 35, WF 31
USU - WARREN, Jaylen 4 yd run (EBERLE, Dominik kick), 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:58

USU 35, WF 38
WF - Hinton, K 2 yd pass from Newman, J (Sciba, N kick) 6 plays, 89 yards, TOP 1:11