Demon Deacons Fall to No. 5 Ole Miss

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The Wake Forest football team (1-2, 0-1 ACC) dropped a 40-6 contest to No. 5 Ole Miss (3-0, 0-0 SEC) on Saturday evening inside Allegacy Stadium.

This game served as the centerpiece of Wake Forest University's Homecoming Weekend as the reunions and celebrations brought together a sellout crowd of 32,849 fans to witness this game. This was the 10th sellout crowd since the 2021 season and the student crowd on Saturday totaled 4,702, which is the highest on record in school history passing the 4,584 tally that attended Wake Forest's win over NC State on Nov. 13, 2021.

Saturday's game against the fifth-ranked Rebels, which was presented by Pepsi, saw 10 different Demon Deacons record a reception, led by redshirt senior wide receiver Taylor Morin's five catches for 77 yards. In the first quarter, Morin became the all-time leader for receptions in the Dave Clawson era. Redshirt senior quarterbacks Hank Bachmeier and Michael Kern finished the evening completing 24 attempts for 265 yards.

Defensively, the Deacs were led by junior safety Nick Andersen's 12 tackles (seven solo) while senior defensive tackle Bryce Ganious recorded his first sack of the season. As a team, the Deacs recorded a pair of turnovers: redshirt junior defensive lineman BJ Williams recording a fumble recovery in the first quarter and a third quarter interception by redshirt junior linebacker Dylan Hazen.

The Deacs will be idle next week with the first of two byes this season. Wake Forest is back in action in two weeks on Sept. 28 for its penultimate non-conference game of the season as Louisiana comes to town for "Family Weekend."

HOW IT HAPPENED

Ole Miss won the toss and elected to receive.
- The Rebels scored quickly (1:23) on their first drive with a five-play, 75-yard drive to take an early 7-0 lead.
On Wake Forest's first drive of the game, the Deacs recorded one first down prior to an Ivan Mora punt.
While Ole Miss would get near the red zone on its second drive, the Demon Deacons recovered a fumbled snap by the Rebels. Wake Forest defensive lineman BJ Williams recovered the loose pigskin.
Three plays later, Hank Bachmeier found wide receiver Donavon Greene for a 24-yard completion on 3rd-and-7. The connection would push Wake Forest into Ole Miss territory, as Matthew Dennis converted on a 42-yard field goal to make it 7-3.
Ole Miss took a 14-3 lead with 4:48 remaining in the first quarter from a two-play, 75-yard drive.
The Rebels pushed their lead to 20-3 late in the first quarter following a 63-yard drive in 1:56 of possession.
The Deacs held strong with a 1st-and-goal inside the 10-yard line on a 16-play drive, forcing Ole Miss into a 33-yard field goal as the Rebels led 23-3 with 4:44 remaining in the first half.
Wake Forest would add three more points just before the end of the second quarter, capping off a 13-play, 56 yard drive as the Deacs went into the locker room trailing 23-6.
- On the drive, Bachmeier was 7-for-8 highlighted by a pair of 20-yard completions to Taylor Morin including one on 4th-and-9.
Wake Forest forced its second turnover of the evening on Ole Miss' first drive of the third quarter, as the Deacs collapsed the pocket before Rebels quarterback Jaxon Dart threw an interception to linebacker Dylan Hazen at the Ole Miss 45-yard line.
- The Demon Deacons would drive down to the 4-yard line following the turnover, however, were unable to convert on a 4th-and-goal passing attempt.
On the ensuing drive, Ole Miss would add to its lead with an 11-play, 96-yard touchdown drive.
In the fourth quarter, Ole Miss converted on a 26-yard field goal and recorded a touchdown before defeating the Deacs 40-6.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Redshirt senior wideout Taylor Morin tallied five catches for 77 yards. His efforts on Saturday moved him into fifth in school history for career receiving yards:

CAREER RECEIVING YARDS LEADERS

Rank	Player	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.	Taylor Morin (2019-Pres.)	2,486
6.	Chris Givens (2009-11)	2,473
7.	Wayne Baumgardner (1978-81)	2,431
8.	Jammie Deese (1996-99)	2,348
9.	Todd Dixon (1990-93)	2,300
10.	Jaquarii Roberson (2017-21)	2,158

STAGGERING STATISTICS

Wake Forest University & Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium hosted 32,849 fans and 4,702 students for Homecoming on Saturday, Sept. 14.
- The total fan attendance for Wake's third game of the year marks the highest attendance since the Demon Deacons hosted 32,891 vs. Liberty on Sept. 17, 2022 and 38,699 on Sept. 24, 2022 against Clemson.
Following tonight's sellout crowd, Wake Forest Football has now had 10 sellouts since the 2021 season.
- 2024:
  - Sept. 13 vs. Ole Miss – 32,849
- 2023:
  - Aug. 31 vs. Elon – 30,028
  - Sept. 9 vs. Vanderbilt – 28,363
  - Sept. 23 vs. Georgia Tech – 31,865
  - Oct. 28 vs. FSU – 31,288
- 2022:
  - Sept. 17 vs. Liberty – 32,891
  - Sept. 24, vs. Clemson, 32,699
  - Oct. 8 vs. Army – 32,524
- 2021:
  - Oct. 30 vs. Duke – 31,613
  - Nov. 13 vs. NC State – 34,503
With tonight's student crowd of 4,702, Wake Forest had 85.9 percent of the student body inside Allegacy Stadium including the players on the football team and the members of the Spirit of the Old Gold & Black and Wake Forest Cheer & Spirit Squads.
- The student tally passes the Nov. 13, 2021 game against NC State when Allegacy Stadium hosted 4,584 for the highest recorded total in school history.

FROM COACH CLAWSON
"First off, I want to thank all the students and the fans for coming out, it was great to have a large Homecoming crowd. We played a really talented football team, you know Ole Miss is what everyone thinks they are. I thought our guys played really hard, but Ole Miss is well coached, they have a lot of resources and they use those resources very well to put together a top-five team. I thought our guys played really hard, but we're just not good enough to blow a coverage or have a personal foul. This team, all year, is going to have a really small margin of error and when you play a team as talented as that, you have to play almost perfect and hope that they're off. I don't think they played perfect, but they weren't off, and it is what it is."

UP NEXT
The Deacs will be idle next week with the first of two byes this season. Wake Forest is back in action in two weeks on Sept. 28 for its penultimate non-conference game of the season as Louisiana comes to town for "Family Weekend." The game is close to another sellout, so fans are encouraged to click here to get those tickets now. For questions or assistance, please contact the Wake Forest Ticket Office at 336-758-3322 ext. 1 or tix@wfu.edu. Regular office hours are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

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Team Stats

Hank Bachmeier

Michael Kern

Players Mentioned

Nick Andersen

Hank Bachmeier

Matthew Dennis

Bryce Ganious

Donavon Greene

Dylan Hazen

Michael Kern

Ivan Mora

Taylor Morin

BJ Williams

Wake Forest Athletics