Wake Forest holds on, wins at Virginia Tech
BLACKSBURG, Va. – The third time was the charm for Wake Forest holding onto a second-half lead in an ACC game.
The Deacons beat Virginia Tech 30-23 on Saturday at Lane Stadium. It’s the first ACC win for coach Jake Dickert and a step in the right direction after losing second-half leads in each of the last two games. It also came for
Wake Forest (3-2, 1-2 ACC) took a lead into halftime for the third straight ACC game. It wasn’t pretty and it was without Demond Claiborne, ruled out at halftime with a left leg injury, but the Deacons made the plays that mattered most.
Virginia Tech (2-4, 1-1) kicked three field goals in the third quarter. That included settling for one on a possession that started on Wake’s 4-yard line, after Robby Ashford was picked off.
Hokies’ kicker John Love missed a 49-yarder in the fourth quarter when the Deacons led 27-23. Wake Forest took the ensuing drive 59 yards and, more importantly, melted 6:30 off the clock. Connor Calvert’s 27-yard field goal made it a seven-point lead.
Nick Andersen’s fourth-down PBU sealed the win on VT’s last possession.
Wake Forest scored two touchdowns in the last three minutes of the first half to take a 24-14 lead to halftime.
The first of those was sophomore running back Ty Clark III’s first career touchdown. He knifed in from 3 yards out. That drive featured a 26-yard pass to Eni Falayi on the first play and was extended by an unnecessary roughness call after a third-down stop.
The Deacons got the ball back on VT’s side of the 50-yard line with 1:39 left. Carlos Hernandez converted a fourth-and-2 with a 6-yard catch — good pick by Micah Mays Jr. freed him — and Mays had a 17-yard snag on the next play.
Falayi caught his first touchdown as a Deacon with Robby Ashford’s rifled-in pass from 11 yards out. That was 10 seconds before halftime.
This game flipped on the first play of the second quarter — with a whistle.
With VT up 7-3, Ashford threw wild high and his pass bounced off a defender’s helmet. But the Hokies were penalized for roughing the passer.
Four plays later, Demond Claiborne darted into the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown run on third-and-2. Carlos Hernandez had a 19-yard catch to accelerate that drive after the penalty.
Virginia Tech’s next play was a 43-yard run. Kyron Drones fired in a 9-yard touchdown pass to Takye Heath to put the Hokies back in front.
Wake’s strong end to the first half is how the Deacons took momentum to the second half.
