Wake Forest walks it off against SMU
WINSTON-SALEM – Connor Calvert made a 50-yard field goal on the final play for Wake Forest to beat SMU 13-12 on Saturday at Allegacy Stadium.
The Deacons (5-2, 2-2 ACC) survived a game in which they turned the ball over five times. That included Demond Claiborne fumbling at the 6-yard line with less than two minutes left.
Wake Forest got the ball back with 12 seconds left at its 43-yard line. One pass, Deshawn Purdie’s 25-yarder to tight end Kamrean Johnson, and a spike set up Calvert’s game-winner. The redshirt freshman had missed from 55 yards at the end of the first half.
He cleared the crossbar by the narrowest of margins. The ball hit the upright and bounced forward onto the field, leading to SMU coaches and players pleading for a review.
“I knew going out there, 50-yarder, just trying to trust my swing and it’ll go in,” Calvert said.
It’s the first field goal of at least 50 yards for Wake Forest since Mike Weaver made one against Clemson in 2014. It’s Wake’s first final-play field goal since Weaver made one at Army for a 17-14 in 2015.
This is also Wake’s first home ACC win in two years. The last home league win also came in dramatic fashion — that was the 21-17 win against Pittsburgh with Santino Marucci’s final-seconds touchdown throw.
And for more history: It’s the first ACC regular-season loss for SMU (5-3, 3-1). The Mustangs went 8-0 last year, their first in the league, before losing to Clemson in the ACC title game — also on a walk-off field goal from long distance.
SMU took a 12-10 lead on Shaadie Clayton-Johnson’s 6-yard touchdown run with a couple of minutes left in the third quarter.
Dallas Afalava blocked the extra point, which proved to be one of the biggest plays of the game.
Viewers of this game will remember the end of the first half for all the wrong reasons.
Wake Forest faked a punt for a first down but it was nullified by an illegal formation. SMU went three-and-out, punting back to Wake Forest without a minute left.
Carlos Hernandez muffed it and SMU recovered. Two plays later, Kevin Jennings was picked off by Wake’s Karon Prunty. Two plays later, Purdie threw an interception off a deflected pass.
We weren’t finished with first-half turnovers there. SMU’s Jordan Hudson fumbled two plays after that, Davaughn Patterson ripping the ball out of his hands.
The Deacons ran two plays — both completed passes, hark! — and sent out Calvert for a 55-yard field goal. It had the distance but missed wide right.
Altogether, there were: Four turnovers, five offensive plays without a turnover and a missed field goal in the last minute of the first half.
The first points of the game were on a 25-yard field goal by Calvert. That was a possession that started from SMU’s 20-yard line, after a 9-yard punt.
