Barnes and Claiborne Earn ACC Weekly Honors after 39-14 Win at Oregon State
10/13/2025 1:55:00 PM | Football
Wake Forest, who traveled over 2,700 miles, became one of just four teams to win this season when traveling 3-plus time zones.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Wake Forest running back Demond Claiborne and wide receiver Chris Barnes have earned ACC Weekly Honors following a dominant showing in the Demon Deacons' 39-14 victory at Oregon State on Saturday.
Claiborne earned ACC Running Back of the Week and Barnes was named the ACC Rookie of the Week. This is Claiborne's second ACC honor this season as he was also named running back of the week after the win over Western Carolina.
On Saturday in Corvallis, the Demon Deacons recorded over 450 yards of total offense with a balanced effort including 270 passing yards and 198 rushing yards.
Wake Forest, who traveled over 2,700 miles, became one of just four teams to win this season when traveling 3-plus time zones.
Additionally over the last two seasons, Wake Forest is the only east coast team with multiple wins on the west coast. The rest of east coast teams are 8-16 when traveling west 3-plus time zones. Also going from Eastern to Pacific, Wake Forest became just the only team to have multiple wins in the last two seasons.
Running Back of the Week – Demond Claiborne
CFP Era Career Total TDs
All-Time Rushing TDs
Single-Season Rushing Yards since 2005
Rookie of the Week – Chris Barnes
Claiborne, Barnes and the rest of the Wake Forest football team return to Allegacy Stadium against SMU on Saturday, Oct. 25 at Noon ET on The CW. Tickets can be purchased by clicking HERE.
Claiborne earned ACC Running Back of the Week and Barnes was named the ACC Rookie of the Week. This is Claiborne's second ACC honor this season as he was also named running back of the week after the win over Western Carolina.
On Saturday in Corvallis, the Demon Deacons recorded over 450 yards of total offense with a balanced effort including 270 passing yards and 198 rushing yards.
Wake Forest, who traveled over 2,700 miles, became one of just four teams to win this season when traveling 3-plus time zones.
Additionally over the last two seasons, Wake Forest is the only east coast team with multiple wins on the west coast. The rest of east coast teams are 8-16 when traveling west 3-plus time zones. Also going from Eastern to Pacific, Wake Forest became just the only team to have multiple wins in the last two seasons.
Running Back of the Week – Demond Claiborne
- On Saturday in Corvallis, the Demon Deacons recorded over 450 yards of total offense, as senior running back Demond Claiborne led the way for Wake Forest with a rushing touchdown in his fifth-straight game. The Aylett, Va., native finished the afternoon with 144 yards on the ground on 16 carries, averaging 8.0 yards per attempt.
- He accounted for five explosive plays on Saturday at Oregon State for the Wake Forest offense.
- 20-yard rush by Demond Claiborne (1st Quarter)
- 11-yard rush by Demond Claiborne (2nd Quarter)
- 16-yard rush by Demond Claiborne (2nd Quarter)
- 21-yard reception by Demond Claiborne from Deshawn Purdie (3rd Quarter)
- 66-yard rushing touchdown by Demond Claiborne (4th Quarter)
- With a 66-yard rushing touchdown by Claiborne in the fourth quarter, the Deacs have produced a rushing score in 49 of their last 56 games dating back to Dec. 12, 2020 at Louisville. The only games during this run without a rushing score were in Week 4 vs. Clemson in 2022, Week three at Old Dominion in 2023, week eight at Virginia Tech, week 11 vs. NC State, week three against Ole Miss in 2024, week 9 at Stanford and week 13 at Miami.
- In the last 26 games, Claiborne has had 100 or more all-purpose yards 17 times. Additionally, he has done so in six of the last nine games:
- Oct. 11, 2025 at Oregon State - 170 APR (144 RUSH, 26 RCV)
- Sept. 27, 2025 vs. GT - 128 APR (119 RUSH, 9 RCV)
- Sept. 6, 2025 vs WCU- 191 APR (193 RUSH, -2 RCV, 0 KR)
- Nov. 30, 2024 vs Duke- 116 APR (67 RUSH, 4 RCV, 45 KR)
- Nov. 23, 2024 at Miami- 191 APR (62 RUSH, 14 RCV, 115 KR)
- Nov. 17, 2024 at North Carolina - 123 APR (95 RUSH, 28 RCV)
- Nov 8, 2024 vs. Cal - 172 APR (113 RUSH, 51 RCV, 8 KR)
- Oct 26, 2024 at Stanford- 204 APR (127 RUSH, 10 RCV, 15 KR)
- Oct. 5, 2024 vs. NC State - 144 APR (136 RUSH, 8 RCV)
- Sept. 28, 2024 vs. Louisiana - 117 APR (94 RUSH, 10 RCV, 13 KR)
- Sept. 7, 2024 vs. UVA - 128 APR (86 RUSH, 14, RCV, 28 KR)
- Aug. 29, 2024 vs. NC A&T - 172 APR (135 RUSH, 37 KR)
- Nov. 2, 2023 at Duke - 139 APR (81 RUSH, 58 KR)
- Oct. 21, 2023 vs. Pitt - 137 APR (96 RUSH, 22 RCV, 19 KR)
- Oct. 14, 2023 at Virginia Tech- 100 APR (4 RUSH, 96 KR)
- Sept. 9, 2023 vs. Vandy - 165 APR (165 RUSH)
- Claiborne registered his eighth rushing touchdown of the season with a 66-yard rush in the fourth quarter.
- Claiborne also leads all Wake Forest running backs in career rushing touchdowns during the CFB Era and is now tied with AT Perry for the most overall touchdowns in the CFP Era:
| Rank | Name | Career Rushing Touchdowns | Games Played |
| 1. | Demond Claiborne (2022-Pres.) | 24 | 38 |
| 2. | Cade Carney (2016-19) | 21 | 42 |
| 3. | John Wolford (2015-17) | 19 | 35 |
| T4. | Sam Hartman (2019-22) | 17 | 48 |
| T4. | Kenneth Walker III (2019-20) | 17 | 20 |
| T6. | Matt Colburn II (2015-18) | 15 | 47 |
| T6. | Justice Ellison (2020-23) | 15 | 40 |
| 8. | Christian Beal-Smith (2019-21) | 14 | 30 |
| T9. | Kendall Hinton (2015-19) | 12 | 34 |
| T9. | Christian Turner (2021-22) | 12 | 26 |
CFP Era Career Total TDs
| Rank | Name | Career Total Touchdowns | Games Played |
| T1. | A.T. Perry (2019-22) | 28 | 42 |
| T1. | Demond Claiborne (2022-Pres.) | 28 | 38 |
| 3. | Taylor Morin (2019-24) | 22 | 61 |
| T4. | Cade Carney (2016-19) | 21 | 42 |
| T4. | Cam Serigne (2014-17) | 21 | 49 |
| T6. | Greg Dortch (2017-18) | 19 | 20 |
| T6. | John Wolford (2015-17) | 19 | 35 |
| T8. | Sam Hartman (2019-22) | 17 | 48 |
| T8. | Jaquarii Roberson (2019-21) | 17 | 31 |
| T8. | Kenneth Walker III (2019-20) | 17 | 20 |
- Also, Claiborne is fifth in program history in career rushing touchdowns and is now only five rushing touchdowns away from tying Larry Russell for fourth all-time following his touchdown against Oregon State:
All-Time Rushing TDs
| Rank | Name | Career Rushing Touchdowns |
| 1. | Chris Barclay (2002-05) | 40 |
| T2. | James McDougland (1976-79) | 30 |
| T2. | Michael Ramseur (1982-85) | 30 |
| 4. | Larry Russell (1969-71) | 29 |
| 5. | Demond Claiborne (2022-Pres.) | 24 |
| T6. | Tarence Williams (1999-02) | 22 |
| T6. | Josh Adams (2007-10) | 22 |
| T8. | John Polanski (1939-42) | 21 |
| T8. | Cade Carney (2016-19) | 21 |
| T10. | Brian Piccolo (1962-64) | 19 |
| T10. | Anthony Williams (1988-91) | 19 |
| T10. | Josh Harris (2010-13) | 19 |
| T10. | John Wolford (2014-17) | 19 |
- With his 66-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter, Claiborne has now rushed for touchdowns in five-straight games which marks longest consecutive-game scoring streak of his career.
- In 2024, Claiborne became the first Demon Deacon since 2018 to have 1,000 rushing yards in a single-season. He finished the season with the second-most rushing yards by a Deac in the last two decades:
Single-Season Rushing Yards since 2005
| Rank | Name | Single-Season Rushing Yards |
| 1. | Chris Barclay (2005) | 1,127 |
| 2. | Demond Claiborne (2024) | 1,048 |
| 3. | Cade Carney (2018) | 1,005 |
| 4. | Josh Adams (2007) | 953 |
| 5. | Matt Colburn II (2017) | 904 |
- Claiborne led Wake Forest's offense to a 25-point first half and the Deacs led by its largest margin (25-0) at intermission since Oct. 30, 2021 when Wake led Duke at half, 28-0.
- In addition to leading Wake Forest to a victory as the key member of Wake Forest's offensive attack, Wake Forest moved to 2-0 on the road for the second-straight season.
- Last season, the Deacs won their first three road games to start the season (2021 and 2006 were the only other 3-0 road starts since 2000.)
- Demon Deacons are now 5-2 on the road vs non-conference opponents since 2020.
- Since 2021, the Demon Deacons have started 2-0 or better on the road in four of the five seasons.
- With that, head coach Jake Dickert is one of five Wake Forest coaches to start their Demon Deacon career 2-0 or better on the road and first since 1987:
- Bill Dooley in 1987 (2-0)
- Bill Tate in 1964 (2-0)
- Tom Rogers in 1951 (2-0)
- W.E. Sikes in 1892 (3-0-1)
- Additionally, Claiborne and his teammates helped Wake Forest, who traveled over 2,700 miles, become one of just four teams to win this season when traveling 3-plus time zones. Additionally over the last two seasons, Wake Forest is the only east coast team with multiple wins on the west coast. The rest of east coast teams are 8-16 when traveling west 3-plus time zones. Also going from Eastern to Pacific, Wake Forest became just the only team to have multiple wins in the last two seasons.
Rookie of the Week – Chris Barnes
- Six different Demon Deacons recorded a catch in Wake Forest's win over Oregon State but the Deacs were led by redshirt freshman Chris Barnes, who hauled in three passes for 102 yards and three touchdowns.
- Saturday marked the first time a Wake Forest wide receiver has recorded three receiving scores since AT Perry accomplished that feat against Syracuse in 2022.
- Barnes recorded 170 all-purpose yards against the Beavers on Saturday.
- He accounted for four explosive plays on Saturday at Oregon State for the Wake Forest offense.
- 32-yard kickoff return by Chris Barnes (1st Quarter)
- 36-yard touchdown reception by Chris Barnes from Deshawn Purdie (1st Quarter)
- 55-yard touchdown reception by Chris Barnes from Deshawn Purdie (3rd Quarter)
- 31-yard kickoff return by Chris Barnes (4th Quarter)
- In three of the last five games, Barnes has put up electric performances, with 178 All-Purpose against Western Carolina, 177 All-Purpose against NC State and 170 All-Purpose at Oregon State.
- After the Oregon State game, Barnes ranks 51st nationally and third in the ACC with 115.50 all-purpose yards per game:
- 2025 ACC All-Purpose Per Game
- Rk. Games AP Yards APR/G
- 1. Caullin Lacy (Louisville) 5 757 151.4
- 2. Hollywood Smothers (NCST) 6 817 136.2
- 3. Adam Randall (Clemson) 5 625 125.0
- 4. Chris Barnes (Wake) 6 693 115.5
- 5. Jacob De Jesus (Cal) 6 648 108.0
- 6. Kenny Johnson (Pitt) 5 528 105.6
- Barnes's 98-yard return against NC State is the second-longest play by a Demon Deacon in Allegacy Stadium history, trailing just Alphonso Smith's 100-yard interception return for a touchdown against Maryland in 2007.
- Additionally, it was the third-longest play in the College Football Playoff era (2014-Pres.):
- Rk Play
- 1. 100-yd kick return by Demond Claiborne at Miami (11/23/24)
- 2. 99-yd kick return by Ja'Sir Taylor vs. Old Dominion (9/3/21)
- 3. 98-yd kick return by Chris Barnes vs. NC State (9/11/25)
- T4. 96-yd kick return by Claiborne at Virginia Tech (10/14/23)
- T4. 96-yd kick return by Donavon Greene vs. Campbell (10/2/20)
- It also was the first time since John Polanski vs. Camp Davis on Oct. 20, 1941 that the Demon Deacons had returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown.
- Barnes led Wake Forest's offense to a 25-point first half and the Deacs led by its largest margin (25-0) at intermission since Oct. 30, 2021 when Wake led Duke at half, 28-0.
- In addition to leading Wake Forest to a victory as the key member of Wake Forest's offensive attack, Wake Forest moved to 2-0 on the road for the second-straight season.
- Last season, the Deacs won their first three road games to start the season (2021 and 2006 were the only other 3-0 road starts since 2000.)
- Demon Deacons are now 5-2 on the road vs non-conference opponents since 2020.
- Since 2021, the Demon Deacons have started 2-0 or better on the road in four of the five seasons.
- With that, head coach Jake Dickert is one of five Wake Forest coaches to start their Demon Deacon career 2-0 or better on the road and first since 1987:
- Bill Dooley in 1987 (2-0)
- Bill Tate in 1964 (2-0)
- Tom Rogers in 1951 (2-0)
- W.E. Sikes in 1892 (3-0-1)
- Additionally, Barnes and his teammates helped Wake Forest, who traveled over 2,700 miles, become one of just four teams to win this season when traveling 3-plus time zones. Additionally over the last two seasons, Wake Forest is the only east coast team with multiple wins on the west coast. The rest of east coast teams are 8-16 when traveling west 3-plus time zones. Also going from Eastern to Pacific, Wake Forest became just the only team to have multiple wins in the last two seasons.
Claiborne, Barnes and the rest of the Wake Forest football team return to Allegacy Stadium against SMU on Saturday, Oct. 25 at Noon ET on The CW. Tickets can be purchased by clicking HERE.
Players Mentioned
WR
/ Football
RB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
WR
/ Football
QB
/ FootballWake Forest Football Postgame Press Conference (Oct. 11, 2025)
Sunday, October 12
Wake Forest Football Highlights vs. Oregon State (Oct. 11, 2025)
Sunday, October 12
Demond Claiborne rushing touchdown
Saturday, October 11
Deshawn Purdie throws his 4th TD of the game
Saturday, October 11