WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Wake Forest football defeated No. 19 Virginia Tech 23-16 Saturday afternoon at Truist Field.
The Deacs and Hokies have only faced off six times since 1984, with Saturday’s contest being the 50th meeting in series history. This is also the first time since the 1970 ACC Championship season that Wake Forest has defeated Virginia and Virginia Tech in back-to-back weeks.
This is the Deacs first win over a ranked opponent since November 8, 2018, when they took down then-No. 14 NC State in Raleigh. Additionally, this is the first win over a ranked opponent at home since November 18, 2017, against then-No. 25 NC State.
Virginia Tech running back Kahlil Herbert entered Saturday’s contest as the nation’s leader in all-purpose yards, with 240.5 per game. The Wake defense held him to 87 all-purpose yards. Additionally, he came in averaging 148.0 yards per game and 9.7 yards a carry. Wake Forest’s defense limited him to just 64 yards (3.4 average) in the game.
The Deacs were led defensively by freshman walk-on Nick Andersen who recorded three interceptions for the first time since 1987 and led the team in tackles with 11. Senior defensive end Boogie Basham extended his streak of consecutive games with a tackle for loss to 23 in the fourth quarter. Basham also tallied nine tackles for the Deacs, along with Justin Williams and A.J. Williams.
Sam Hartman pushed his streak to 155 passes without being intercepted. He was 12/17 with a long of 36 and rushed nine yards for his first rushing touchdown of the season. He is closing in on the season record for consecutive passes without an interception that is currently held by Tanner Price from 2012. Price threw 166 passes without an interception that year. Price also holds the Wake Forest career record with 181 passes without a pick.
HOW IT HAPPENED
On the third play of the game, Christian Beal-Smith rushed for 58 yards to the Virginia Tech 25 to put the Deacs in scoring position
Sam Hartman rushed for a 9-yard touchdown to put the Deacs up 7-0 at the 9:31 mark
This is the third consecutive game Wake has scored a TD on their opening possession
Chase Monroe recorded his first-career sack in the first quarter to stop a Virginia Tech scoring drive
Christian Beal-Smith rushed for 26 yards to the Virginia Tech 31 to set up another score for the Deacs (3:48)
Deacs went up 10-0 on a 41-yard field goal by Sciba with 2:11 left to play in the first
The Hokies cut the deficit to 10-3 with a 28-yd field goal on their opening drive of the second quarter (11:39)
Tech tied the game with a 39-yard touchdown run with 8:40 remaining in the half
The Deacs went 75 yards in 7:09 to take the lead at the half with a six-yard rush for the touchdown by Kenneth Walker III (1:31)
Longest possession of the season for the Deacs
Nick Andersen recorded his first-career interception in the endzone for a touchback to close out the first half
With the interception the Deacs extend their streak of games with a forced turnover to 14
The Deacs opened the second half with a 46-yard field goal from Sciba to extend their lead 20-10 at the 12:23 mark in the third
Andersen recorded his second interception in the third to stop a Hokie scoring drive
The Hokies cut the deficit again to 20-13 with a 31-yard field goal at the 1:29 mark in the third
Sam Hartman connected with Donovan Greene for a 36-yard reception to put the Deacs in the red zone on their first drive of the fourth
Another field goal from Sciba extended the Deacs lead 23-13 with 11:05 left to play
The Hokies cut the deficit once again to 23-16 with a 55-yard field goal at the 2:38 mark
A third interception by Nick Andersen with 10 seconds left on the clock sealed the 23-16 victory for the Deacs
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Nick Andersen is the first player since Amari Henderson (Nov. 2, 2019 vs. NC State) to have a pair of interceptions in a single game and the first player to have three in a single game since A.J. Greene (Nov. 21, 1987 at Georgia Tech). The three interceptions were the first of the walk-on’s career. Wake Forest now has seven different players with an interception this season. Last season, the Deacs were one of six FBS schools with 10 or more players to intercept a pass.
He becomes the first true freshman in Wake Forest history to intercept three passes in a single game.
STAGGERING STATISTICS
Chase Monroe recorded his first-career sack in the first quarter to stop a VT scoring drive
Nick Andersen recorded his first-career interception in the endzone for a touchback to close out the first half
With the interception the Deacs extend their streak of games with a forced turnover to 14
Kenneth Walker III has rushed for a touchdown in every game except Clemson this season
Kicker Nick Sciba started the season 2-5, but has since made 8 straight since and three today.
Sciba is coming off the Virginia game where he finished 4-of-4 on field goals including a season long 44-yard field goal.
In his career, Sciba owns a .877 field goal percentage (50-of-57), which ranks second in ACC history and is a Wake Forest program record.
Defensive end Boogie Basham extended his streak of consecutive games with a tackle for loss to 23 in the fourth quarter. This is the longest streak in FBS by at least 10 games. Additionally, Basham has a sack in 12 of his last 14 games.
This is the second game of the season that Christian Beal-Smith has rushed for over 100 yards.
Wake Forest is now 9-0 under head coach Dave Clawson when the Deacs have a +3 or better turnover margin.
The Deacs now have a +11 turnover margin on the season, which is the best of the Dave Clawson era.
FROM COACH CLAWSON
“This was a really good night for Wake Forest football. I’m really proud of our whole football team, especially our guys on defense, who, a couple of weeks ago struggled out of the gate and have really worked hard, prepared hard and played good defense tonight against an exceptional offense. We do a good job of creating turnovers and we continued to do that tonight, which really helps us and gives us extra possessions. Obviously, Nick Andersen with three picks had a great game for us. I thought our offense was steady, consistently moving the football, and again, just another good team win. They’re an excellent special teams unit as well, and I thought we neutralized their return game for the most part. And the big story of the game is we had to stop the run and to hold Herbert to three or four yards a carry, when he was averaging ten a carry. Clearly, we had to do that and limit him, and we did a great job. So again, we sustained offensive drives, we created turnovers, we limited one of the best tailbacks in the country, and just really executed the game plan extremely well. It’s a great win for Wake Forest, and again thanks to our fans who came out, we miss our students and we hope we can get them back in a couple of weeks.”
UP NEXT
Wake Forest travels to Syracuse on Saturday, Oct. 31 to face the Orangemen. Kickoff is scheduled noon on ACC Network. In two career games vs SU, Sam Hartman has thrown for a combined 625 yards.
