Halftime: Wake Forest leads Syracuse 24-21
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Following an offensive back-and-forth of a first half, Wake Forest took a slim 24-21 lead into the locker room. Quarterback Sam Hartman tossed three touchdowns, all of which went to A.T. Perry.
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.
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 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 will receive the kick out of the half.
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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.