Courtesy GoDeacs.com
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Wake Forest football team picked up its second victory of the 2021 season, defeating Norfolk State 41-16 Saturday afternoon at Truist Field.
The Demon Deacons (2-0) relied on a balanced offensive attack to control the non-conference matchup with the Spartans (0-2), notching 252 yards through the air and 161 yards on the ground.
For the second-straight game, Wake Forest’s special teams made an impact as Rondell Bothroyd blocked and recovered a punt in the third quarter. The redshirt sophomore end also registered a sack, his first since the 2019 season.
Nine Wake Forest receivers caught a pass, led by Jaquarii Roberson with four catches for 97 yards and a touchdown. Donald Stewart also snagged four catches, tallying a career-high 61 yards.
Sam Hartman finished the game 17-of-25 with 244 yards and a passing touchdown after opening the game a perfect seven-of-seven, the best start of his career.
On the ground, the Deacs found the end zone a total of four times, highlighted by Christain Turner’s first multi-touchdown game of his career. Christian Beal-Smith and Hartman also added rushing touchdowns.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Norfolk State took an early 3-0 lead after connecting on a 41-yard field goal on the opening drive of the game.
Following a successful third-down conversion by the Spartans, Rondell Bothroyd registered a sack for a loss of nine yards and kept Norfolk State out of the end zone.
The Demon Deacons responded as Sam Hartman powered his way into the end zone from the four-yard line to give Wake Forest a 7-3 advantage with 6:37 remaining in the first quarter.
Christian Beal-Smith set the tone with a pair of big plays on the ground during the Deacs’ first offensive series, toting the rock for runs of 11 yards and 25 yards.
Wake Forest’s defense came out and forced a punt on Norfolk State’s next series. With 14:04 remaining in the second quarter, the Deacs marched right down the field, increasing their lead to 14-3 with a 10-play, 63-yard drive. Beal-Smith capped off the drive with a four-yard rushing touchdown.
Hartman was a perfect four-of-four on the drive, completing passes to Beal-Smith, Jaquarii Roberson and Taylor Morin. The Charlotte, N.C. native completed his first seven passes in his 21st start, the best perfect start in his career.
The Demon Deacon defense forced its second-straight punt, highlighted by a pair of tackles from Luke Masterson and a third-down pass breakup by Caelen Carson.
Taylor Morin returned the ensuing punt 11 yards. An illegal formation penalty tacked on five yards as the Deacs began their next drive at their own 28.
The Deacs increased their lead to 21-3 with 4:35 remaining in the second quarter thanks to Christain Turner’s first career touchdown as a Demon Deacon.
Hartman completed back-to-back passes for 14 yards (Ke’Shawn Williams) and 11 yards (Donald Stewart). Hartman and Stewart also connected on a 24-yard completion on first and ten, pushing the Deacs into the redzone.
Norfolk State cut into Wake Forest’s lead with a 10-yard passing touchdown, but missed the extra point as the Deacs possessed a 21-9 lead with just over a minute remaining in the half.
Nick Sciba connected on a 46-yard field with 18 seconds remaining to give Wake Forest a 24-9 halftime lead.
Beginning on their own 27, the Deacs traveled 46 yards on eight plays over the next 47 seconds to notch the 15-point advantage after the opening 30 minutes of play.
Hartman completed a trio of passes in a row to push the Deacs into Norfolk State territory.
On the first offensive play of the second half, Hartman found Roberson for a 64-yard touchdown, increasing their lead to 31-9 just 13 seconds into the third period.
The touchdown marked Roberson’s sixth-straight game with a receiving score and moved Hartman into seventh-place all-time for passing touchdowns in Wake Forest history.
Dating back to last season, Hartman has thrown at least one touchdown pass in six straight games.
Nick Sciba notched his second field goal of the contest on Wake Forest’s second drive of the third quarter, putting the Deacs up 34-9.
Hartman scrambled for 23 yards on 4th and 6 to keep the drive alive.
With seven minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Deacs regained the ball at their own 29 after Rondell Bothroyd blocked a Norfolk State punt, recovering the ball as well.
Following the forced turnover, Turner took a direct snap and rushed up the middle for a seven-yard touchdown, his second of the game as the Deacs jumped out to a 41-9 lead.
After a rushing attempt on first down, Hartman completed passes to Turner (six yards) and Williams (16 yards) to get the Deacs deep in Spartan territory.
Following a Wake Forest interception, Norfolk State found the end zone for the second time of the game to cut into the Deacs’ lead (41-15) with 6:24 remaining in the contest.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Nick Sciba could not only be on his way to becoming the best kicker in program history, but potentially the best kicker in the history of the ACC and NCAA. Sciba connected on his first two field goals of the season on Saturday afternoon with makes of 46 and 22 yards, respectively. Those made field goals mark his 13th and 14th-straight successful try, which is the second-longest active streak in the NCAA.
In his career, Sciba owns a .894 field goal percentage (59-of-66), which ranks third in NCAA history, first in ACC history (min. 50 att.) and is a Wake Forest program record.
Redshirt junior wide receiver Jaquarii Roberson caught a touchdown for the sixth-straight game with a 64-yard touchdown catch from Sam Hartman in the opening drive of the second half.
The streak is second-longest in school history, matching Wake Forest great Desmond Clark (1998) and the longest since Sage Surratt, who tallied a TD catch in eight-straight contests between 2018-19. Over his last six games, Roberson has a total of nine touchdown receptions, tied for the highest total in a six-game stretch in the Dave Clawson era along with Surratt.
Consecutive Games with Receiving TD (Wake Forest)
Sage Surratt – 8
Jaquarii Roberson – 6
Desmond Clark – 6
STAGGERING STATISTICS
For the first time in the Dave Clawson era, Wake Forest has rushed for six rushing touchdowns in the first two games of the season.
Christian Beal-Smith leads the Deacs with three rushing touchdowns. Followed by Christian Turner with two and Sam Hartman with one. Of the six touchdowns, four rushing touchdowns were scored against Norfolk State.
The last time Wake Forest accomplished this mark was in 2010 when the Deacons rushed for nine touchdowns in their first two games to start the year.
Wake Forest’s offense has scored the ball on 12 (10 touchdowns, 2 field goals) of 18 drives (66%) that quarterback Sam Hartman has engineered. Hartman has yet to commit an interception or fumble on any of those possessions.
FROM COACH CLAWSON
“I want to thank our students and fans for turning out. I give Norfolk State a lot of credit, they played really well. We’re happy we won. The offensive effort was extremely efficient. Everytime we got the ball we moved it down the field and scored. They had a great strategy of playing keep-away. They snapped the ball with five seconds left on the play clock for most plays. They did a great job of converting on third downs. If you look at the time of possession, that’s what they had to do in order to stay in the game.
“We got the win, were able to play a lot of players, and we emptied the bench with about five minutes left in the third quarter. We won and were able to stay healthy. Obviously, the challenge of the season is to be able to take a big step forward a week from right now against Florida State. We are where we need to be. When the schedule comes out, you look at it and say ‘Hey, we have to get those first two.’ We did that and from now on it’s going to be a heavyweight fight every single week.
“I’m glad we won. We still have a lot of things to clean up. Overall, I think it was a solid effort.”
UP NEXT
The Demon Deacons welcome Florida State for their conference opener on Saturday, Sept. 18 at 3:30 p.m. on ABC or ESPN.
Wake Forest then heads on the road for their first away game of the 2021 season versus Virginia on Friday, Sept. 24 at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN2.
