Wake Forest fails to close out game in 34-31 loss to Duke
In their final regular-season game of 2022, Wake Forest fell in a heartbreaking 37-34 loss to Duke. The defeat marks the Deacs’ fourth in their last five games, giving the team a 7-5 record going into bowl season.
The loss is another instance of where Wake Forest has stumbled throughout the season. Aside from the blowout at Louisville, the Deacs have dropped the close games — the ones they found ways to win during last year’s special season that took the team to the ACC Championship.
READ: Key Stats from Wake Forest's 34-31 loss to Duke
“[It’s] our inability to win close games or inability to execute in the fourth quarter,” Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson said after the game. “Last year, those were games we won. We take pride in winning close games. This year, all these one-score games, we lost all of them. You gotta put that on the head coach. The difference between us being 7-5 and 10-2 or 11-1 is all these close games.”
Leading by four late in the fourth quarter, Wake Forest appeared to have made the play that would get them over the edge and into the win column. On fourth down, cornerback Jermal Martin Jr. intercepted Riley Leonard in one-on-one coverage, coming away with a ball that could have easily gone the other way for a touchdown.
READ: Live Updates: Wake Forest Football vs Duke
But, with a chance to close out the game, Wake Forest couldn’t execute. On third-and-short, Sam Hartman was sacked, and the Deacs were forced to punt.
“Taylor [Morin] was open,” Hartman said. “We’ve run that play a million times, and we just didn't execute there. It's on me. [It’s] really frustrating being a fifth-year senior and not executing those situations.”
“You had to make two first downs,” Clawson added. “We made one. That's the game. Four-minute offense, the game's on the line. You have to make two first downs and you win the football game. And we didn't.”
Duke took advantage of the extra opportunity. All it took was three plays. After a roughing the passer penalty, Leonard found Jalon Calhoun for 30 yards. On the next play, Leonard hit a streaking Sahmir Hagans for a 20-yard touchdown that proved to be the game winner.
Leonard finished the game with 391 yards and four touchdowns. Other than the Martin interception, the sophomore quarterback was able to target the Wake Forest secondary as a means of moving the ball down the field.
“Our play on the perimeter all season has been a problem,” Clawson said. “It's been our Achilles heel all year. It was a problem in the Clemson game. And now, [in] game 12 against Duke, it's a problem. When it doesn't get fixed, that is on me.”
A bright spot for Wake Forest on the night was the team’s passing game. Hartman completed 26 passes for 347 yards and three touchdowns. While all three scores from Hartman were well-thrown, his final touchdown was his best. On a drive that gave Wake Forest the lead, Hartman found Donavon Greene on a 33-yard arching ball to move the ball into the red zone. Then, from eight yards out, he threaded the needle through multiple defenders to hit Perry on a crossing route through the end zone.
With the three touchdowns, Hartman tied Tajh Boyd at the No. 1 spot for career passing touchdowns in the ACC, but that meant little to him in the wake of the loss.
“Probably 55, 60, if I make it that far,” Hartman responded when asked if the record will matter to him at some point. “I’ll show my kids when I’m old.”
Now, at 7-5, Wake Forest is left with a bowl game to try and finish the season on a high note. Between now and then, though, there’s time to pause. And to Clawson, it’s severely needed by both the team and himself.
“I think we just have to give them a break,” he said. “This has been a really challenging year in a lot of ways. I'm tired. I'm probably as tired as I've ever been at the end of the season. I think our football team is tired.”
This season is the same length as any before. In fact, unlike last year, when Wake Forest made the ACC Championship, the team has an extra week off before the bowl game. Yet, there’s something that has made these few months weigh heavier on the shoulders of Clawson and others.
“We came into this year with all these expectations,” Clawson said. “We had so many guys back. I don't know, in terms of how I managed this team in the spring and fall camp, looking back, [if that] was the best way. You have to be self critical and look in the mirror and say ‘if I had it over, what would I do differently?’ And I think there's situations I would have handled differently.”
And though the expectations were not met this year, there’s still one game remaining on the schedule. For many players, there are more seasons left to be played.
“It feels good when everything's going your way,” sophomore running back Justice Ellison said. “But when it's not going your way, you gotta be able to pick up the rifle and keep on plugging. Because it's going to come our way again. Best believe that. It's gonna come our way again.”
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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.