Wake Forest Falls at Virginia Tech, 30-13

BLACKSBURG, VA -- Despite a standout defensive effort by the Demon Deacons that included three three-and-outs, one turnover forced and four tackles-for-loss, the Wake Forest football team dropped its road contest at Virginia Tech on Saturday afternoon, 30-13.

Individually, the top highlight of the game came in the second quarter when running back Demond Claiborne returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown. The return TD marked the Deacs first since Ja'Sir Taylor's 99-yard touchdown in a 42-10 victory over Old Dominion in 2021.

The Demon Deacons (3-3, 0-3 ACC) defense was individually led by senior Chelen Garnes and junior Malik Mustapha as they each tallied eight tackles and a half-sack. Junior Caelen Carson recorded a forced fumble and recovery for the aforementioned turnover.

Offensively, redshirt junior quarterback Michael Kern and redshirt sophomore Mitch Griffis combined for 243 yards passing and 22 completions on the day. They targeted redshirt junior Taylor Morin 10 times and he caught seven passes for 86 yards as he moved into the top-10 in program history for career receptions.

Kicker Matthew Dennis continued his excellent season as he converted field goal attempts from 28 and 34 yards, respectively. He has now hit 13 field goals this fall, which ranks tied for second in the country.

The loss marked Wake Forest's first contest against a program from the state of Virginia since 2019. Wake Forest previously had a streak of seven-straight wins, including multiple wins over UVA and a win over Virginia Tech in 2020.

Wake Forest will look to rebound next week when it returns home for the first time since Sept. 23 as the Demon Deacons welcome Pittsburgh to Allegacy Stadium for Homecoming Weekend and a 3:30 p.m. kickoff on ACC Network.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Wake Forest won the toss and deferred its option to the second half.
Tyler Black booted the opening kickoff into the back of the end zone as the Hokies opened the contest at the 25-yard line.
After four non-scoring drives to start the game, the first quarter ended with the two teams deadlocked at 0-0.
- Wake Forest was able to hold Virginia Tech to an early field goal attempt for 38 yards, which missed wide left.
QB Michael Kern relieved Mitch Griffis under-center for the Deacs at the 12:38 mark in the second quarter.
- After two first-downs, the redshirt junior quarterback fumbled on a sack and gave the Virginia Tech offense the ball on their own 49-yard line.
The Virginia Tech offense struck first on a 3-yard rush from Bhayshul Tuten with 10:42 left in the second quarter.
One possession later, Virginia Tech connected on a 37-yard field goal with 4:23 left in the first half.
Undaunted, RB Demond Claiborne put the first touchdown on the board for the Deacs with a 96-yard kickoff return which made the score, 10-7.
VT answered quickly as Kyron Drones threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to Jaylin Lane to give the Hokies a 17-7 lead.
Prior to the half, Matthew Dennis hit a 28-yard field goal to cut the Virginia Tech lead to 17-10 with 20 seconds left.
On a Virginia Tech drive that started from their own 25 yard-line at the 13:41 minute mark, junior defensive back Caelen Carson forced a fumble and recovered the ball on the Wake Forest 31-yard line to get the Deacs the ball back.
Following a few punts and a turnover on downs, Virginia Tech extended its lead to double-digits (20-10) with a 26-yard field goal with 49 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Demon Deacons answered with a Matthew Dennis 33-yard field goal with 12:37 left in the game.
VT got those points back on their next possession with a 36-yard field goal to extend its lead, 23-13.
Hokies QB Kyron Drones secured the win for Virginia Tech with a TD pass to Jaylin Lane with 2:47 remaining in the game.
Wake Forest fell to Virginia Tech, 30-13.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT
With a game-high seven receptions in the game, Taylor Morin has moved up the receptions chart in program history. His 148 currently ranks tied for 12th in school history, leaving him just one shy of the top 10:

CAREER RECEPTION LEADERS
Years Receptions
1. Michael Campanaro 2010-13 229
2. Desmond Clark 1995-98 216
3. Ricky Proehl 1986-89 188
4. Jammie Deese 1996-99 184
5. Cam Serigne 2014-17 174
6. A.T. Perry 2018-22 171
7. Chris Givens 2009-11 163
8. Thabiti Davis 1994-97 161
9. James Brim 1983-86 153
10. Taylor Morin 2019-Pres. 148
T11. John Henry Mills 1988-92 142
Greg Dortch 2017-18 142
13. Wayne Baumgardner 1978-81 141
14. Kenneth Moore 2004-07 139
15. Todd Dixon 1990-93 134
- Morin's seven receptions tied the second-most in his career.

STAGGERING STATISTICS
The Wake Forest defense has made a staple of getting off the field early in drives with 25 3-and-outs through six games this season. Overall for the season, Wake Forest has forced its opponents into three-and-outs on 33.8 percent of opponents drives (25-of-74). The Deacs have started every opening drive on defense with a 3-and-out except the Old Dominion game.

3-And-Out Tracking Chart:
- No. Against Drive Yds.
- 1 Elon 1st Drive 1 yard
- 2 Elon 2nd Drive -7 yards
- 3 Elon 3rd Drive -5 yards
- 4 Elon 4th Drive -8 yards
- 5 Elon 5th Drive -6 yards
- 6 Elon 7th Drive 7 yards
- 7 Elon 9th Drive 7 yards
- 8 Elon 11th Drive 4 yards
- 9 Vanderbilt 1st Drive 6 yards
- 10 ODU 2nd Drive -4 yards
- 11 ODU 4th Drive 2 yards
- 12 ODU 9th Drive -4 yards
- 13 ODU 10th Drive -11 yards
- 14 ODU 13th Drive -1 yard
- 15 GT 1st Drive 9 yards
- 16 GT 5th Drive 5 yards
- 17 GT 11th Drive 7 yards
- 18 Clemson 1st Drive 9 yards
- 19 Clemson 3rd Drive 3 yards
- 20 Clemson 5th Drive 6 yards
- 21 Clemson 9th Drive 9 yards
- 22 VT 1st Drive 4 yards
- 23 VT 2nd Drive 4 yards
- 24 VT 9th Drive 44 yards
- 25 VT 10th Drive 6 yards

FROM COACH CLAWSON
"Bad day at the office. Credit to Coach Pry and Virginia Tech. They kicked our butts and played a lot better than we did. They were more physical than us, they made more plays and less mistakes. Again, I thought our defense kept us in the game for a while. Obviously we had the kickoff return, but on offense it is really the same story. We get in the redzone, but we don't score touchdowns, and we give up a lot of sacks. Right now our short-yardage offense is awful. The amount of times we can't get a yard on third-and-one and fourth-and-one. Our pass protection gave up a few sacks in the back field again at the running back position. Right now offensively we are really struggling. It has been a long time since we have been in this position and it is not fun. We have to really take a hard look at what we are doing and who we are doing it with and give our guys a better chance at competing. We are not giving ourselves a chance in the redzone, with our short-yardage and the sacks. We don't make explosive plays and that has always been a key to our offense. We are not making those plays and at times we don't have the protection that holds up. Again, I'm 10 years into this and we aren't starting a program, we have a program and that was a bad performance."

UP NEXT
Wake Forest returns home for the first time since Sept. 23 when the Demon Deacons welcome Pittsburgh to Allegacy Stadium for Homecoming Weekend and a 3:30 p.m. kickoff on ACC Network.

Wake Forest Athletics continues to roll out unique ticket options, like the Bojangles 4-Pack, which includes a $20 gift card per account! This ticket option comes with four tickets on the east side of Allegacy Stadium and one LJVM Coliseum Lot parking pass. Based on high demand, 4-packs for the Pitt (Oct. 21) next weekend is the best value remaining for the 2023 season. At current prices ($99), fans can save a minimum of $66 with a single game 4-ticket pack which includes a parking pass.

Coach Dave Clawson's squad is an astounding 22-5 inside Allegacy Stadium since the start of the 2019 season and plays three of its next four games in Winston-Salem. With the remaining three contests expected to be sellouts, fans can purchase single-game tickets now for Pitt, Florida State (Oct. 28) and NC State (Nov. 11).

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Team Stats

Michael Kern

Mitch Griffis

Players Mentioned

Tyler Black

Caelen Carson

Demond Claiborne

Matthew Dennis

Chelen Garnes

Mitch Griffis

Michael Kern

Taylor Morin

Malik Mustapha

A.T. Perry

Wake Forest Athletics