Wake Forest rides special teams, defense to upset
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Special teams and an attacking defense that forced three turnovers can be the formula to notch a ranked win on the road. That was Wake Forest’s formula Saturday night.
Wake Forest dealt Virginia its first ACC loss with a 16-9 result Saturday night at Scott Stadium.
The Deacons (6-3, 3-3 ACC) are bowl-eligible after back-to-back 4-8 seasons in the last two years. They notched the program’s first road win since a 2022 game at No. 11 Florida State.
Wake Forest got its only touchdown on a special teams play and got field goals of 40, 49 and 50 yards from Connor Calvert.
Virginia (8-2, 5-1) drove 58 yards on its first possession of the second half but settled for a field goal, which made it a 10-9 game.
The Deacons pushed their lead back to four when Connor Calvert made his second 50-yard field goal in three weeks — though, this one wasn’t as dramatic as the game-winner to beat SMU. That came after Nuer Gatkuoth had a strip-sack, and Dylan Hazen recovered the fumble near midfield.
Calvert added another field goal to extend Wake’s lead after a near-10-minute drive in the fourth quarter. Hazen created another turnover.
Virginia had the ball at Wake’s 5-yard line with a fourth down throw to the end zone in the final seconds. It was knocked away by Lardarius Webb Jr.
Wake Forest didn’t have much offensive rhythm in the first half. It went into halftime with a 10-6 lead because of one big special teams play and a forced turnover.
In the last two minutes of the first half, Carlos Hernandez fielded a punt on the bounce and returned it 88 yards for a touchdown. Hernandez looked like he was catching it to avoid a field-position nightmare but blocks created a seam in the middle, and he cut to the right with a convoy on the way to the end zone.
On UVA’s next possession, defensive tackle Dallas Afalava knocked the ball out of a scrambling Daniel Kaelin’s hands and Langston Hardy pounced on it. After Wake’s offense stalled, Connor Calvert added a 40-yard field goal.
Virginia quarterback Chandler Morris was knocked out of the game midway through the second quarter. As he was sliding, he was crunched by two Deacons. Cornerback Travon West was penalized for the hit.
Kaelin broke a 54-yard run on third-and-1 shortly after entering. But the Cavaliers settled on that drive for a 22-yard field goal that made it 6-0.
That’s how Wake’s last 10 points of the first half sent the Deacons to the locker room with a lead.
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