No. 21 Wake Forest Earns Road Win at No. 22 Florida State

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — The No. 21-ranked Wake Forest football team captured its third-straight win over Florida State on Saturday afternoon, 31-21. The victory over the No. 22-ranked Seminoles (4-1, 2-1 ACC) marked the Demon Deacons (4-1, 1-1 ACC) third-straight season with a win over a ranked opponent. 

Offensively, Wake Forest put on a show inside Doak Campbell Stadium on Saturday. Wake Forest outgained Florida State, highlighted by 171 yards on the ground. Additionally, the Deacs scored 28 unanswered points from the end of the first quarter until the halfway point of the third. 

The 31 points scored in Tallahassee mark the fourth occasion in program history that the Deacs have posted 30-plus points on the Noles. 

Individually, redshirt junior Sam Hartman moved into the top five in Atlantic Coast Conference history in career passing yardage. He currently has 10,462 yards and ranks fifth in league lore following today’s game. Sophomore running back Justice Ellison recorded a career-high 114 yards on the ground today and redshirt junior wideout A.T. Perry hauled in his 20th career touchdown pass in the second quarter, which ranks tied for sixth in program history. 

Defensively, the Deacs forced one turnover on Saturday while tallying six tackles for loss and just four successful third-down conversions. Over the course of the current three-game winning streak against FSU, the Wake Forest defense has forced nine turnovers. 

Saturday’s win marked the Demon Deacons 10th-straight victory during the month of October as Wake Forest went a perfect 4-0 during this month each of the last two years. Prior to 2020, Wake Forest had not gone undefeated in the month of October since 2007.

The Deacs return to Truist Field a week from today on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 7:30 p.m. vs. Army. The game is sold out, which marks the first time since 2011 that Wake Forest has had three-straight home sellouts. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• After Wake Forest won the toss and deferred its choice to the second half, Florida State drove right down the field on a six-play, 83-yard touchdown drive to take the early lead, 7-0. 
• The Deacs were forced to punt on their opening drive of the game, but Wake Forest’s defense stiffened up and forced the Seminoles into a three-and-out.
  • On the first play of FSU’s second drive of the game, graduate student Kobie Turner forced the second fumble of his season, but the Noles were able to recover the loose ball.
• After receiving the ball with 9:19 remaining in the opening quarter, redshirt junior quarterback Sam Hartman engineered a 13-play, 84 yard touchdown drive that spanned 4:54.
  • During the drive Hartman moved into the top five in ACC history for passing yards. 
  • Redshirt junior tailback Christian Turner scored the touchdown on the drive on a one-yard run on fourth-and-goal. The score was Turner’s third of the season and first since Week 1 vs. VMI. 
• With 4:18 remaining in the first quarter and score knotted at seven apiece, Wake Forest’s defense got off the field again with just one first down allowed. 
• Wake Forest’s offense started its next possession on its own 10-yard line and marched down the field as the possession lasted until 12:59 remaining in the half.
  • During the drive, Wake Forest drew a defensive pass interference penalty on the Noles and a 35-yard run by sophomore Justice Ellison. 
  • Hartman capped off the drive with a four-yard touchdown pass to redshirt junior wide receiver A.T. Perry that gave Wake Forest the lead over FSU, 14-7. 
• On its first play on its next possession, LB Jaylen Hudson forced FSU QB Jordan Travis to fumble the football and it was recovered by linebacker Chase Jones. 
  •  Following a Hartman 17-yard completion to Turner to get the Demon Deacons in the red zone, the Charlotte, N.C. product tossed a 20-yard touchdown pass to Donavon Greene on third down from the 20-yard line. 
  • Wake Forest led FSU 21-7 with 11:15 remaining in the second quarter. 
• The Demon Deacon defense once again forced a Florida State punt on the ensuing drive as Wake Forest regained possession at their own 20-yard line with 9:09 left in the first half. 
  • After allowing a 10-yard rush on the opening play of the drive, Wake Forest’s defense stuffed the Seminoles on the next three plays. 
  • On 1st and 10, Kobie Turner notched a defensive stop for a loss of three yards.  
• Wake Forest embarked on a 15-play, 53-yard drive that lasted 5:15 minutes, their longest of the first half, but a missed 44-yard field goal gave Florida State possession of the ball on their own 26-yard line with 3:54 left in the half. 
• The Demon Deacon responded with a huge defensive stop of their own to end the half as Wake Forest held a 21-7 lead at the halftime break. 
  • With Florida State on Wake Forest’s 11-yard line, Turner notched another huge tackle-for-loss on 2nd and 8. The Deacs forced an incompletion on the next play. 
  • The Seminoles missed a 29-yard field goal to give the Deacs the ball back with 43 seconds remaining. 
  • The Deacs outgained Florida 267-192 in the opening 30 minutes, highlighted by Wake Forest’s 199 rushing yards. Additionally, Wake Forest was 7-11 on third down, while holding the Seminoles to just two third-down conversions. 
• The Deacs added their fourth-straight unanswered scoring drive to open the second half as Ellison found the end zone from 12 yards out, increasing its lead to 28-7 with 12:18 left in the third. 
  • Wake Forest traveled 75 yards in just 2:42 minutes as Hartman connected with Perry in back-to-back plays for a total of 33 yards through the air. 
  • Ellison began the second half with a 9-yard rush and reeled in a 10-yard pass from Hartman prior to his rushing score. 
• Florida State drove down the field with a 10-play, 85-yard touchdown drive with 7:03 left in the third quarter. Gavin Holmes intercepted a pass to the end zone on the ensuing two-point conversion to keep Wake Forest’s lead at 15 (28-13). 
• The Seminoles returned a Wake Forest punt 34 yards to the Demon Deacons’ own 33-yard line. Wake Forest’s defense once again came up big and forced a punt of their own, highlighted by a tackle-for-loss by Kendron Wayman and a 3rd-down sack by Jasheen Davis. The Deacs regained possession with its 28-13 at their own 13 with less than a minute remaining in the third.  
• A Florida State 4-yard touchdown pass cut Wake Forest’s lead to 28-21 with 9:32 remaining. 
  • The Seminoles converted its two-point conversion try. 
• A 27-yard field goal from Matthew Dennis pushed Wake Forest’s lead back to double-digits (31-21) with 2:55 remaining. 
  • The Deacs engineered a 18-play drive that lasted 6:37 of game play. 
  • Ke’Shawn Williams was huge throughout the drive, notching a 13-yard catch on 3rd and 6 before reeling in a 4-yard reception on 4th and 3. 
• The Demon Deacon defense secured the ranked road victory as the Seminoles missed a 55-yard field goal with 1:18 remaining in the game. 

IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Wake Forest controlled the running game throughout Saturday’s game as the Deacs outgained Florida State 171-112 on the ground in the conference win. Sophomore running back Justice Ellison led the way with a career-high 114 yards and one touchdown on 18 carriers. 

Down the stretch, Wake Forest relied on redshirt junior Christian Turner heavily as the Buford, Ga. native carried the rock 12 times during the Deacs’ 18-play, 66-yard drive to clinch the victory. 

Overall, Turner tallied a game-high 20 carries for 64 yards. 

STAGGERING STATISTICS
Saturday marked the Demon Deacons third-straight win over Florida State. This is the first time Wake Forest has defeated the Seminoles in three-straight contests since 2006-08. 

Saturday marked the Demon Deacons fourth win in school history at Doak Campbell Stadium and first since Sept. 20, 2008.

Wake Forest has scored 30+ points on four occasions against Florida State. In every instance, the Deacs have won. 

• Wake Forest 31, Florida State 21 (Oct. 1, 2022)
• Wake Forest 35, Florida State 14 (Sept. 18, 2021) 
• Wake Forest 35, Florida State 30 (Oct. 8, 2011) 
• Wake Forest 30, Florida State  0 (Nov. 11, 2006) 

With the win on Saturday, this marks the third-straight season that the Demon Deacons have defeated a ranked opponent:

• This is the fourth time in program history that the Demon Deacons have had a ranked win in three-straight years and the second time it has happened in the Coach Clawson era:
  • Dec. 1, 1945 at No. 16 Clemson in Clemson, S.C. (13-6); Oct. 26, 1946 at No. 4 Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn. (19-6); Oct. 11, 1947 at No. 19 North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C. (19-7)
  • Nov. 4, 2006 vs. No. 16 Boston College at Truist Field (21-14); Dec. 2, 2006 vs. No. 22 Georgia Tech in  Jacksonville, Fla. (9-6); Oct. 11, 2007 vs. No. 21 Florida State at Truist Field (24-21); Sept. 20, 2008 at No. 24 Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla. (12-3)
  • Dec. 27, 2016 vs. No. 23 Temple in Annapolis, Md. (34-26); Nov. 18, 2017 vs. No. 25 NC State at Truist Field (30-24); Nov. 8, 2018 at No. 14 NC State in Raleigh, N.C. (27-23)
  • Oct. 24, 2020 vs. No. 19 Virginia Tech at Truist Field (23-16); Nov. 13, 2021 vs. No. 16 NC State at Truist Field (45-42); Sept. 30, 2022 at No. 23 Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla. (31-21)
    • Additionally, the six ranked wins in a seven-year period mark the most in program history over that time period.

FROM COACH CLAWSON
“That was a great, gutty, incredible team win. Thanks to all our staff and players for their hard work, especially after last week’s game. Last week was a soul crusher and I certainly had concerns with our ability to get them back. They just put in a great week of work and prepared and came down here expecting to win. 

“We played really good complementary football. The defense had some great stops in the first half. We jumped out to a big lead. That last drive by the offense was just huge. They’re within seven points and we get the football back and convert third downs and convert fourth downs and drain the clock and then Matt Dennis to hit a field goal like that and then our defense gets a stop. Thanks to all the fans who traveled here. I certainly want to thank Florida State for their ability to get this game played. We really wanted to come down here in the worst way. We’re also very appreciative of the pilots of Delta that were able to get us here safely. I have a lot of respect for Florida State. I have a lot of respect for Mike Norvell. They’re a very improved football team and we played really well. We were fortunate to win. Any team could have won that game but we made plays.”

UP NEXT
The Deacs return to Truist Field a week from today on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 7:30 p.m. vs. Army. The game is sold out, which marks the first time since 2011 that Wake Forest has had three-straight home sellouts. 

Following an open date on Oct. 15, Wake Forest will host Boston College on Saturday, Oct. 22. While Wake Forest will learn the kickoff time for that contest on Oct. 10, fans can purchase tickets now.