Demon Deacons Fall in Back-And-Forth Battle at Syracuse, 35-31

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Despite touchdowns scored by sophomore Wesley Grimes and junior Justice Ellison, junior Jahmal Banks, Wake Forest football dropped its regular season finale at Syracuse 35-31 on Saturday afternoon inside the JMA Dome. The game marked the Deacs fourth contest at the Orange in the last five seasons.

The Demon Deacons (4-8, 1-7 ACC) finished their 2023 season with a competitive effort on the road. In addition to the players who scored that were mentioned earlier, redshirt junior quarterback Michael Kern was back under-center for the Demon Deacons in his second-career start and went 17-of-24, throwing career-best 261 yards and three touchdowns while also adding 30 more yards on the ground. His top target at Syracuse on Saturday was redshirt junior wideout Taylor Morin as he tallied a career-high 140 yards on seven catches and finished with a career-best 176 total yards that included a clutch 34-yard punt return in the fourth quarter.

Grimes finished the game with three catches with two going for touchdowns. Banks added seven catches for 90 yards and a touchdown, finishing the season with a team-high 59 receptions.

Defensively, the Deacs were led by junior Malik Mustapaha with career-high 13 tackles and sophomore Nick Andersen as he recorded his fifth-career interception and first of the season in the third quarter.

In his first-career start as Wake Forest's kicker, rookie Tyler Black went 1-for-2 with his first career made field goal from 36 yards. Additionally, he handled the kickoff duties for the Deacs on Saturday and he registered five touchbacks on field kickoff attempts.

Saturday's game brings the Demon Deacons 2023 season to close. Stay tuned to GoDeacs.com and Wake Forest' social media platforms for ticket information and more news and notes ahead of the 2024 season.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Syracuse won the toss and deferred its option to the second half.
After forcing Wake Forest into a punt, the Orange took their opening drive 75-yards over 11 plays with Garrett Shrader hitting Damien Alford on a 35-yard reception to jump out to a 7-0 advantage with 7:08 left in the opening quarter.
Wake Forest answered quickly with a four-play 75-yard drive capped by a 16-yard touchdown pass from Michael Kern to Wesley Grimes.
- The touchdown reception was the third of the season for Grimes and the fourth of his career for the sophomore wideout.
- The touchdown pass was set up by a 48-yard reception from Michael Kern to Taylor Morin tying the second longest reception of Morin's career.
Syracuse retook the lead on their second drive of the game with a 1-yard rushing touchdown from Shrader to make it 14-7 with 10:59 left in the second quarter.
Tyler Black connected on his first career field-goal attempt with a 36-yard attempt that snuck inside the right upright to trim the Wake deficit to 14-10 with 5:30 left in the first half.
Coming up with his 17th tackle-for-loss of the season, Jasheen Davis moved into a tie for third during the Dave Clawson era with a three-yard TFL on Shrader in the second quarter.
With 14 seconds remaining in the second quarter and Syracuse with the ball on the Wake one-yard line, redshirt freshman Jamare Glasker came up with a huge stop right at the goal line to deny Syracuse right before the half and keep the game at 14-10 headed into the locker room.
Syracuse extended its lead with a 47-yard touchdown pass out of halftime to make it 21-10 in favor of the Orange.
The Demon Deacons cut into the Syracuse lead with a 12-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a two-yard rushing touchdown by Justice Ellison for the 15th of his career to make it 21-17 Syracuse with 7:32 left in the third quarter of action.
- With three receptions on the drive, wideout Taylor Morin moved into a tie for eighth with 161 receptions over his storied Wake Forest career.
Sophomore defensive back Nick Andersen recorded his fifth-career interception and his first of the 2023 season in the third quarter to set up the Wake offense with a short field, but Black's 38-yard field goal attempt went wide left.
Syracuse made it 28-17 with a 13-yard touchdown reception with 14:23 left in the game.
Wake Forest quickly responded with a two-play, 75-yard drive to cut the lead down to 28-25 with 13:38 left.
- Michale Kern found Taylor Morin for a 58-yard reception on the first play of the drive and then hit Jahmel Banks on a 16-yard touchdown pass to trim the lead to five.
- The Deacs successfully converted the two-point attempt with Kern escaping trouble in the pocket and finding Wesley Grimes to cut the Orange lead to just three.
With 10:24 left, Garrett Shrader found Umari Hatcher for his third touchdown pass of the contest to push the Syracuse lead back to 10 at 35-25.
Michael Kern and the Wake offense answered once again, as Kern went 3-for-3 passing for 31 yards, finding Wesley Grimes on a nine-yard strike for his third passing touchdown of the afternoon to cut the deficit to 35-31.
- Tate Carney set the Deacs up with a 23-yard rush that was aided by a Syracuse personal foul penalty to put Wake just outside the redzone.
Wake Forest fell to Syracuse, 35-31.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Jasheen Davis posted a breakout season in 2022, leading the Demon Deacon defense with new career highs in tackles-for-loss (14.0) and sacks (7.0) to go along with 33.0 defensive stops. Davis' 14.0 tackles-for-loss were tied for fifth in the ACC, while Davis sat tied for seventh in sacks.
- His 14.0 tackles for loss in a single season ranked just outside of the top 10 in program history as noted above, but it sits fifth in the Clawson era:
  - Tackles for Loss Since 2014:
    - 1. Marquel Lee (2016) 20.0
    - 2. Boogie Basham (2019) 18.0
    - 3. Duke Ejiofor (2016) 17.0
    - T4. Duke Ejiofor (2017) 16.5
    - T4. Rondell Bothroyd (2021) 16.5
    - T4. Jasheen Davis (2022) 14.0
Davis recorded his third-career forced fumble and fumble recovery on Duke's second possession of the football game in the first quarter.
- The Duke game marked the first time he recorded a forced fumble since Sept. 17, 2022 against Liberty.
Overall for the 2023 season, Jasheen Davis has recorded 49 tackles, ranking 10th nationally with 17.0 tackle-for-loss and ranking 25th nationally with 7.5 sacks.
- Davis has recorded at least 0.5 tackles-for-loss in the 20 of his last 21 games.
- Over his last 17 games dating back to last season, Davis has collected 29.5 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks.
- With 7.5 sacks through 12 games in 2023, Davis has now tallied 20.0 sacks in his career and that ranks fifth in program history
  - 1. Mike McCrary (1989-92) 30
  - 2. Calvin Pace (1999-02) 29
  - 3. Duke Ejiofor (2014-17) 23.5
  - 4. Carlos Basham, Jr. (2017-20) 20.5
  - 5. Jasheen Davis (2020-Present) 20
  - 6. Bryan Ray (1997-00) 19
  - 7. Nikita Whitlock (2010-13) 18.5
  - 8. Rondell Bothroyd (2018-22) 16.5
  - 9. James Parker (1976-79) 15
  - Fred Robbins (1996-99) 15
  - 11. Kyle Wilber (2008-11) 13.5
  - 12. Rudy Thompson (1989-92) 13
  - 13. Matt Robinson (2004-05, 07-08) 12.5
  - Boo Robinson (2006-09) 12.5
- Additionally, Davis has 38.5 tackles for loss and needs just 0.5 tackles for loss to break move to ninth in program history:
  - 1. Calvin Pace (1999-02) 54
  - 2. Nikita Whitlock (2010-13) 49
  - 3. Mike McCrary (1989-92) 46
  - 4. Aaron Curry (2005-08) 45.5
  - 5. Fred Robbins (1996-98) 44
  - 6. Duke Ejiofor (2014-17) 43
  - 7. Marquel Lee (2013-16) 42
  - 8. Nate Bolling (1998-01) 40
  - 9. Bryan Ray (1997-00) 39
  - 10. Jasheen Davis (2019-Pres.) 38.5
- With at least 14.0 tackle for loss in back-to-back season, Davis is just outside of the top 10 in program history for a single season and is tied for third in the Clawson era:
  - 1. Marquel Lee (2016) 20.0
  - 2. Boogie Basham (2019) 18.0
  - T-3. Jasheen Davis (2023) 17.0
  - T-3. Duke Ejiofor (2016) 17.0
  - 4. Duke Ejiofor (2017) 16.5
  - 5. Rondell Bothroyd (2021) 16.5
  - 7. Jasheen Davis (2022) 14.0
- Additionally, Davis is 13th in the FBS and third in the ACC with 29 QB hurries.
  - 1. Ashton Gillote (Louisville) - 43
  - T-2. Laiatu Latu (UCLA) - 39
  - T-2. Bralen Trice (Washington) - 39
  - T-4. Xavier Carlton (Cal) - 38
  - T-4. Kamarion Rucker (North Carolina) - 38
  - T-6. B.J. Green II (Arizona St.) - 34
  - T-6. Caiden Woullard (Miami OH) - 34
  - T-6. Elijah Roberts (SMU) - 34
  - T-6. Mohamed Kamara (Colorado State) - 34
  - T-6. Gabriel Murphy (UCLA) - 34
  - 11. Brian Ugwu (Miami OH) - 32
  - 12. Jalen Green (JMU) - 31
  - 13. Jasheen Davis (Wake) - 30

STAGGERING STATISTICS

With seven receptions in the game, Taylor Morin has moved up the receptions chart in program history. His 163 currently ranks tied for seventh in school history. He entered the top 10 with seven receptions against Virginia Tech on Oct. 14th:
- 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
T-7. Chris Givens 2009-11 163
T-7. Taylor Morin 2019-Pres. 163
8. Thabiti Davis 1994-97 161
10. James Brim 1983-86 153
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

After pulling in a career-best nine touchdowns during the 2022 season, which ranked 19th nationally and fourth in the ACC, Morin entered the season already ranked in the top 10 in school history in receiving touchdowns.

CAREER RECEIVING TOUCHDOWNS

1. A.T. Perry (2018-22) 28
2. Ricky Proehl (1986-89) 25
3. Todd Dixon (1990-93) 22
4. Cam Serigne (2014-17) 21
Red O'Quinn (1946-49) 21
Chris Givens (2009-11) 21
7. Desmond Clark (1995-98) 20
8. Kenny Duckett (1978-81) 19
Taylor Morin (2019-Pres.) 19
10. Greg Dortch (2017-18) 17
Jaquarii Roberson (2017-21) 17

With his performance against Notre Dame in Week 12 of the 2023 season, Morin moved into the top 10 in program history in receiving yard, passing Cam Serigne with a five-yard reception in the third quarter:

CAREER RECEIVING YARDS
1. Ricky Proehl (1986-89) 2,949
2. Desmond Clark (1995-98) 2,834
3. A.T. Perry (2018-22) 2,662
4. Michael Campanaro (2010-13) 2,506
5. Chris Givens (2009-11) 2,473
6. Wayne Baumgardner (1978-81) 2,431
7. Jammie Deese (1996-99) 2,348
8. Todd Dixon (1990-93) 2,300
- 9. Taylor Morin (2019-Pres.) 2,218
10. Jaquarii Roberson (2017-21) 2,158
11. Cam Serigne (2014-17) 2,075
12. Jason Anderson (2001-04) 2,066
13. James Brim (1983-86) 2,040

FROM COACH CLAWSON
"It was another disappointing result. Certainly, I want to give a lot of credit to Syracuse. They were tough, they were physical and we had a hard time all day getting off the field. They made one more play at the end than we did. Coach Campanile had a good plan. We are certainly disappointed with the result and we are disappointed with our record this season, but I would say that our guys fought until the end. We came up a play short, but there were some positives. We certainly executed on offense today better than we have in a long time. We had a really hard time getting a stop. We got really thin at the corner position and gave up a lot of big plays that really hurt us."

UP NEXT
Stay tuned to GoDeacs.com and Wake Forest' social media platforms for ticket information and more news and notes ahead of the 2024 season.

2023 Season Highlights & Recap

Under the leadership of head coach Dave Clawson, Wake Forest has had historic success as a program.
- Since the start of the 2016 season, the Deacs have the second-most wins in the ACC not counting the COVID-shortened 2020 season:
  - 1. Clemson -- 83
  - 2. NC State- 54
  - 3. Wake Forest - 53
  - T4. Pitt - 50
  - T4. Miami- 50
- The Demon Deacons are in the winningest stretch of football in their program's history.
  - 1. 38 Wins (2017-21)
  - 2. 37 Wins (2018-22)
  - 3. 36 Wins (2004-08 & 2006-10)
  - 5. 35 Wins (2019-23)
  - 6. 34 Wins (2016-20)
  - 7. 33 Wins (2015-19)
  - 8. 31 Wins (1944-48)
  - 9. 30 Wins (1940-44)
- With record-setting crowds, multiple sellouts and the best student attendance in school history, playing at home over the past five seasons has given Wake Forest a huge edge. The Demon Deacons hold a 23-7 (.767) record in home contests since the start of the 2019 season which included a program-record 11-game winning streak spanning from the 2020 to 2022 seasons. The 76.7 percent win rate ranks second in the ACC during that time period:
  - Rank School Wins Losses Pct.
  - 1 Clemson 31 2 93.9
  - 2 NC State 26 7 78.8
  - 3 Wake 23 7 76.7
  - 4 Louisville 23 8 74.2
  - 5 N Carolina 23 9 71.9
  - 6 Florida St 22 10 68.8
  - 7 Virginia 20 11 64.5
  - 8 Pittsburgh 21 12 63.6
  - 9 Miami 20 12 62.5
- Best Fan Experience in North Carolina at Allegacy Stadium in 2023:
  - Wake Forest sold out its home opener for the first time since 2011 and the sellout marked the Deacs sixth since the 2021 season.
    - In front of a capacity crowd of 30,028 fans and nearly 4,000 students, the Demon Deacons downed the Elon Phoenix on Thursday night, 37-17.
  - Wake Forest sold out its second game of the season against Vanderbilt on Sept. 9, 2023. The game marked the Deacs seventh sellout since the 2021 season.
    - Wake Forest defeated Vandy, 36-20.
  - Wake Forest sold out its fourth game of the season and third home game when it hosted Georgia Tech.
  - The Demon Deacons recorded their ninth sellout since 2021 and fourth of the season when Florida State came to Winston-Salem on Oct. 28.
- Since 2016, the Demon Deacons have found a winning formula in one-score ball games, capturing three or more wins by one score in five of those seasons with a total of 21 wins in 38 such games. The Deacs hold the fourth-best winning percentage in those games since 2016 in the ACC:
  - Rank School Wins Losses Pct.
  - 1 Clemson 22 9 70.9
  - 2 NC State 23 16 59.0
  - 3 FSU 21 16 56.8
  - 4 Wake 21 17 55.3
  - 5 GT 17 14 54.8
All the aforementioned victories are due to having great players who perform well each week.
- The Deacs have totaled 48 All-ACC honors over the last four seasons, which ranks second in the old ACC Atlantic Division, trailing just Clemson.
- Additionally, the 48 honors is tied for the third most overall in the ACC since the 2019 season.
- The Atlantic Coast Conference will announce the 2023 league honors and awards this coming week.
One player that is sure to garner All-ACC honors this fall is junior defensive end Jasheen Davis as he has recorded at least 0.5 tackles-for-loss in the 20 of his last 21 games.
- Over the last two seasons, Davis has collected 30.0 tackles for loss and 14.5 sacks.
- With 7.5 sacks in 2023, Davis has now tallied 20.0 sacks in his career and that ranks fifth in program history:
  - Wake Forest Career Sacks
  - 1. Mike McCrary (1989-92) 30.0
  - 2. Calvin Pace (1999-02) 29.0
  - 3. Duke Ejiofor (2014-17) 23.5
  - 4. Carlos Basham, Jr. (2017-20) 20.5
  - 5. Jasheen Davis (2020-Present) 20.0
Offensively since the start of the 2017 season, Wake Forest's 198 touchdown passes are the most of any school in the ACC and that total is 13th nationally during that span. Additionally during that span, the Deacs 361 total touchdowns are the third-most in the ACC and 21st nationally.
- North Carolina (192) and Clemson (181) trail the Deacs in passing touchdowns during that span.
- The Tigers enter the final week of the regular season with 448 total touchdowns and the Tar Heels rank second with 366.
- Wake Forest's 94 touchdown passes from 2021-23 ranks eighth nationally in that time period and is seven more than any other ACC team (North Carolina, 87).
The Demon Deacons started three quarterbacks under-center during the 2023 season.
- Redshirt junior Michael Kern started the final two games of the season at Notre Dame and Syracuse. Over the course of those two contests, he went 28-of-44 for 342 yards and three touchdowns through the air with all three passing touchdowns coming against Syracuse and the longest completion of his career with a 59-yard strike to Taylor Morin in the fourth quarter against the Orange.
- Kern became the seventh starting QB in the Dave Clawson era:

Santino Marucci - Oct. 21, 2023 vs. Pitt:
- Marucci threw for 151 yards as he went 12-of-21 with one touchdown pass against Pitt inside Allegacy Stadium hitting redshirt junior Cameron Hite with just seven seconds remaining to earn a comeback 21-17 victory over Pitt to garner its first ACC win of the season on Homecoming Weekend.
Mitch Griffis - Sept. 1, 2022 vs. VMI:
- In Week 1 of the 2022 season, Griffis went 21-of-29 for 288 yards and three touchdowns against VMI. His 72.4 percent in a first career start is the second-best in school history and the best mark since 2006. Also, Griffis' three touchdown passes against VMI were the second most by a Wake Forest quarterback in his first career start.
Jamie Newman - Nov. 8, 2018 at No. 14 NC State:
- Newman led the Deacons to come-from-behind 27-23 win with game-winning 2-minute drill at No. 14 NC State. He hit TE Jack Freudenthal with a 32-yard pass with 30 seconds left to secure the win for Wake Forest. Overall, Newman completed 22-of-33 passes for 297 yards and three touchdowns and became third QB in school history to throw three TD passes in first career start, joining Keith West vs Vanderbilt (1990) and Norm Snead vs. Maryland (1958).
Sam Hartman - Aug. 30, 2018 at Tulane:
- Hartman had the best statistical debut in school history when he completed 31-of-51 passes for 378 yards (.608 completion percentage) and two touchdowns in an overtime win at Tulane in 2018 the season-opener. Hartman became the first Wake true freshman QB to win a season-opener. All his passing marks were school-bests for a true freshman in their first career start.
Kendall Hinton - Sept. 26, 2015 at Indiana:
- As a freshman, Hinton made his first career start vs. Indiana and had 245 passing yards and completed 19 passes with one touchdown. Hinton also rushed 22 times for 57 yards with two touchdowns.
John Wolford - Aug. 28, 2014 at ULM:
- Wolford became the first true freshman quarterback to start a season-opener in program history and he finished with 97 passing yards, five away from Solomon Everett's 1974 record of 102 for a true freshman in a debut. Wolford also became the first true freshman to complete better than 50 percent of his passes (12-of-22) in his first start.

Defensively, Wake Forest took a major step forward in 2023 in the second season of defensive coordinator's Brad Lambert scheme.
- Through 12 weeks, the Demon Deacons have been one of the best defenses in the country, receiving an overall grade of 87.4 from PFF which ranks 36th nationally. Additionally, PFF has the Deacs ranked in the top-50 in coverage (87.3), run defense (81.2), tackling (77.1) and pass rush (69.1).
- Wake Forest has been one of the best teams in the country in redzone defense as the Deacs are tied for 26th nationally with just 77.8 percent of opponent redzone trips resulting in a score. Additionally just 20 of the 37 opponent red zone tries (54.1 pct.) ended in a touchdown.
- The Wake Forest defense made a staple of getting off the field early in drives with 43 3-and-outs. Overall for the season, Wake Forest has forced its opponents into three-and-outs on 28.5 percent of opponents drives (43-of-142).
During the Dave Clawson era, Wake Forest has been the best team in the nation at converting field goals, connecting on 175-of-214 field goal attempts in the last 10 years (81.8 pct.) with the next closest being Utah at 81.4 percent.
- That margin has been even higher over the last five seasons since the start of the 2018 season:
  - Rk. Team FGM FGA FG PCT
  - 1. UNLV 78 91 85.7
  - 2. Wake Forest 107 125 85.6
  - 3. Miami (OH) 94 112 83.9
  - 4. Ohio State 84 101 83.2
  - 5. NC State 110 133 82.7
- With the help of punter Ivan Mora, the Demon Deacons have been elite this season in punt coverage, ranking 24th nationally with 4.44 yards allowed on opponent attempts this season. His 21 punts inside of the 20 ranked 19th nationally going into Week 13.
Another key part of the Demon Deacons success since 2016 has been the fact that they have had a low number of penalties over those seven years.
- The 2023 season was no different as Wake Forest ranks in the top 25 nationally in fewest penalties, fewest penalties per game and penalty yards. The Deacs lead the ACC in all three categories and ranks in the top 10 in the country in each category:
  - Team Penalties Pen. Yds Yds/G
  - 1 Michigan 32 283 25.7
  - 2 Minnesota 33 314 28.5
  - 3 FAU 38 355 32.3
  - 4 Air Force 39 322 26.8
  - 4 Iowa 39 346 28.8
  - 6 Army 43 415 37.7
  - T7 Baylor 44 297 27.0
  - T7 Boise State 44 389 35.4
  - 9 Wyoming 45 396 36.0
  - 10 Georgia 46 435 39.5
  - T-11 Wake Forest 49 466 38.8

Demon Deacons Fall in Back-And-Forth Battle at Syracuse, 35-31

Team Stats

Michael Kern

Players Mentioned

Nick Andersen

Jahmal Banks

Tyler Black

Rondell Bothroyd

Tate Carney

Jasheen Davis

Justice Ellison

Jamare Glasker

Mitch Griffis

Wesley Grimes

Sam Hartman

Cameron Hite

Michael Kern

Santino Marucci

Ivan Mora

Taylor Morin

A.T. Perry

Wake Forest Athletics

Demon Deacons Fall in Back-And-Forth Battle at Syracuse, 35-31

Related News

Team Stats

Game Leaders

Michael Kern

Players Mentioned

Nick Andersen

Jahmal Banks

Tyler Black

Rondell Bothroyd

Tate Carney

Jasheen Davis

Justice Ellison

Jamare Glasker

Mitch Griffis

Wesley Grimes

Sam Hartman

Cameron Hite

Michael Kern

Santino Marucci

Ivan Mora

Taylor Morin

A.T. Perry

Related Videos