Five Takeaways from Wake Forest's 45-35 win over Syracuse
Wake Forest ended their home season with a nice 45-35 win over Syracuse, and were led by several players who walked for Senior Night.
Read below for our takeaways from the victory.
Sam Hartman made his final game at Truist Field one of his best
In the last home game of his collegiate career, Hartman was exceptional, completing 30 of his 43 passes for 331 yards and four touchdowns. The scores were each perfect passes — Hartman hit Perry on a well-timed ball that caught him right as he turned. He also had several beautiful arching passes to the back corners of the end zone.
READ: Wake Forest ends losing streak with 45-35 Senior Night victory over Syracuse
Even more critical for Hartman — the dreaded mistake never came. Other than a self-recovered fourth-down fumble at the Syracuse five-yard line, Hartman completely avoided errors, especially the late game ones that hurt most. And, after throwing seven interceptions over the three-game losing streak, he didn’t record one in the victory on Saturday.
A.T. Perry haunted Syracuse for a second-straight year
Of Hartman’s four touchdowns, three went to Perry. The redshirt junior used his 6’5” frame to perfection to create space against the Syracuse secondary, especially in the red zone.
The same thing happened last year — Perry caught three balls in the overtime win over the Orange, all of which were for touchdowns. His final catch was the acrobatic game-winner. This time around, Perry did more than just catch touchdowns — he was Hartman’s favorite target, corralling 10 passes for 119 yards.
Saturday was a monumental night for Perry in the record books as well. His three touchdowns allowed him to pass Ricky Proehl for most in Wake Forest history.
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The Wake Forest rushing attack was key
In past losses, other than against North Carolina, Wake Forest has struggled on the ground — they only netted 17 yards at NC State. In the win over Syracuse, the Deacs’ running back room posted 160 yards, with Hartman adding 52. Those rushes kept the Orange on their heels and forced them to do more than just commit to passes.
Leading by just three points in the third quarter, Christian Turner carried the ball six times for 31 yards on a key touchdown drive. Then, in the fourth quarter, the offense entrusted Quinton Cooley to run on four-straight plays to punch it into the end zone. While the story of the night was Hartman, he was significantly aided by his running backs to keep drives alive and push the ball down the field.
Wake Forest started slow again, but responded well
As with the losses during the three-game losing streak — Wake Forest went down 13-0 to Louisville and 14-0 to North Carolina — the Deacs allowed Syracuse to jump out to a 21-10 lead.
READ: Key Stats from Wake Forest's 45-35 win over Syracuse
The biggest difference, though, was the offense got the ball moving without scoring a touchdown. Despite not reaching the end zone until the third series of the game, Wake Forest’s first two drives went for 14 and eight plays respectively. Having the confidence on offense right from the first series on allowed the team to heat up quicker than previous games. And once Wake Forest started scoring, they didn’t stop.
The secondary is Wake Forest’s weakness, but even they came up big
Down starting safety Malik Mustapha and starting cornerback Caelen Carson, quarterback Garrett Shrader (324 yards) had his way with Wake Forest for most of the game. Nine of Shrader’s completions were for more than 15 yards. Five were for more than 30. It’s hard to win games when an opponent is able to rely on the deep ball.
But, in the second half, the Deacons’ secondary made an impact doing something they haven’t done before in conference play. Brendon Harris’ interception was the first ACC pick for Wake Forest this season, and the touchdown return was the final nail in Syracuse’s coffin.
It’s a nice moment for the team, but in order to win against Duke and in the bowl game, these problems in coverage will need to be addressed.
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Essex is the lead football writer and a managing editor for Deacons Daily. Essex served as the Sports Editor for the Old Gold & Black for two years, in addition to roles as a beat and feature writer.