Game Summary: Wake Forest defeats Syracuse 45-35
Behind a career day for quarterback Sam Hartman, Wake Forest coasted in the second half to a 45-35 victory. Hartman completed 30 of his 43 passes for 331 yards and four touchdowns.
Read below for a summary of the victory.
First Quarter:
In the first drive of the game, Syracuse hit Wake Forest with a balanced attack led by quarterback Garrett Shrader and running back Sean Tucker. Shrader completed two critical third-down passes to keep the drive alive, and Tucker pitched in with a 13-yard run. To open the scoring, Tucker took the direct snap in the wildcat and scampered into the end zone for the touchdown.
The Demon Deacons leaned on their rushing attack to begin the game — Wake Forest handed the ball off to Justice Ellison on five of their first six plays from scrimmage for 37 yards. Hartman successfully found Taylor Morin to break one third down, but on the next, Morin couldn’t complete the easy catch. Matthew Dennis hit the 33-yard kick to get the Deacs on the board.
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One penalty proved to dismantle Syracuse’s second drive of the game. A rather blatant holding penalty turned a 45-yard touchdown pass into a 10-yard loss, forcing the Orange to punt. Freshman Max von Marbung’s brilliant effort pinned Wake Forest at the one.
After earning three first downs, Wake Forest’s offense sputtered again from a second mistake from their receivers. On third down, Ke’Shawn Williams let a nicely placed Hartman pass slide through his hands, forcing the Deacs to punt.
After a three-and-out, von Marbung shanked his second punt of the night for just 17 yards, giving Wake Forest great field position leading into the second quarter.
Second Quarter:
What was originally good field position got even better on a unnecessary roughness penalty by Ja’Had Carter, who suplexed Morin to the turf after a catch. From there, Hartman hit Perry with a perfect pass in the back corner of the end zone. The play was upheld on review, giving Wake Forest their first lead of the game.
After two runs — one by Shrader for 10 yards, the next by Tucker for 12 — Shrader uncorked a perfect 43-yard pass to Damian Alford to reach the goal line. On the following play, Tucker scampered around the right edge for his second score of the game.
Trailing by four, Hartman put together a nice drive for Wake Forest, marching down to the Syracuse five-yard line with three completions for 56 yards. But, on fourth-and-one, Hartman fumbled the snap and couldn’t reach the line to gain, giving the ball back to the Orange.
Following a 44-yard pass from Shrader and two big runs by Tucker, head coach Dino Babers broke out a trick play. On a pitch-and-pass, Syracuse caught Wake Forest on their heels. Backup running back LeQuint Allen found a wide-open Devaughn Cooper for the touchdown, extending their lead to 11.
Hartman immediately put Wake Forest back into the game with a nine-yard pass and 18-yard scramble. Inside Syracuse territory, he found Perry in stride for his second touchdown of the game.
After a 30-yard competition to Trebor Pena that got Syracuse to the 11-yard line, the Wake Forest defense stepped up with two-straight sacks for a loss of 23 yards. Those plays proved to be decisive — kicker Andre Szmyt could not hit the 52-yarder into the wind.
At the end of the first half, Wake Forest found a way to get points on the board, something they have struggled to do at this point of the game during the losing streak. With seconds left on the clock, Hartman found Perry turning at just the right time in the front corner of the end zone. With the lead, the Deacs successfully went two-for-one, as they were set to receive the kick out of the half.
Third Quarter:
After two quick 11-yard completions to open the half, a five-yard sack derailed Wake Forest’s opening drive, forcing them to punt to the Syracuse 15.
Following an 11-yard run by Tucker to open their first drive of the second half, Allen was not prepared for the next snap from the wildcat. After the fumble recovery for a 13-yard loss, Syracuse was forced to punt.
READ: Halftime - Wake Forest leads Syracuse 24-21
Leading by three, Wake Forest pushed the ball down the field with the legs of Christian Turner. Turner gained 31 yards on six carries. After a third-down pass interference penalty that kept the drive alive, Hartman threw a 50-50 ball into the end zone — Ke’Shawn Williams fought the defender for positioning in the air and caught the pass for a fantastic touchdown.
Fourth Quarter:
After forcing a Syracuse punt, the Wake Forest offense drove the football with several solid passes from Hartman — he completed four balls for 40 yards to reach the red zone. Once there, running back Quinton Cooley took over. He rushed four-straight times for 17 yards, with the final carry taking him into the end zone, giving the Deacs a 17-point lead.
Just two plays later, Wake Forest was back in the end zone. On a forced pass by Shrader, Vanderbilt transfer Brendon Harris jumped the route and rumbled 36 yards for the score.
Trailing by 24, Shrader completed three-straight passes of 10, 18 and 41 yards, the final of which took Cuse back into the end zone.
After Wake Forest burned four minutes of clock with runs, Syracuse kept things interesting with a 25-yard completion from Shrader and 39-yard run by Tucker. Shrader then kept the ball himself and hustled in for the touchdown, reducing the Orange’s deficit to 10.
Syracuse's ran out the remainder of the clock and missed a kick on their final drive.
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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.