Wake Forest Has a Day of Firsts

It was a big day of firsts for Wake Forest Saturday afternoon in the 39-14  win over Oregon State in Corvallis, Oregon. The Deacs improved to 4-2 with the win, to go with the 1-2 ACC record. Oregon State dropped to 0-7.

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Wake Forest got its first win against Oregon State, in what was the first time the two schools have ever played against each other. Deshawn Purdie got his first start as quarterback at Wake Forest. Receiver Chris Barnes got his first touchdown catch as a Demon Deacon. In fact, he got three of them. Jake Dickert got his first-ever win in Corvallis. He was 1-2 as the Washington State coach against Oregon State. The one win came in Pullman. Wake Forest got its first fourth-quarter touchdown of the season.

One first that Dickert is going to need to address during the upcoming bye week; It was the number one next to the third down conversions. Wake was only one of nine on the day.

Purdie started the game because Robby Ashford was not physically ready to go after getting banged up in the win at Virginia Tech last week. Purdie’s stats were not electrifying. He was 14 of 27 passing for 270 yards. But what he did have was four touchdown passes. Three of them went to Barnes, and one went to Micah Mays, Jr. Running back Demond Claiborne, whose status was questionable all week with injuries, added a fourth-quarter touchdown run of 66 yards. Wake totaled 423 yards of offense.

Controlling the Game Early

Wake took control early. On their first possession of the game, Purdie connected with Barnes right up the middle of the field for a 36-yard touchdown pass. The throw was perfectly placed over Barnes’ shoulders at the back of the end zone. Ty Clark took a direct snap on the point after play and ran it in for the two-point conversion and the 8-0 lead. Wake never let up from there.

Oregon State rotated quarterbacks with Maalik Murphy, the former Duke signal caller, and Gabarri Johnson. It mattered little which one was taking the snaps. The Wake Forest defensive line was a presence in the OSU backfield throughout the day. The two Beavers quarterbacks combined for a 19-42 passing afternoon for 175 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. They totaled 309 yards of offense, but 93 of that was in the fourth quarter, when the outcome was already determined.

Wake got its second score in the first quarter thanks to special teams. Oregon State’s Caleb Ojeda attempted a 47-yard field goal. It was blocked by B.J. Williams and picked up by Zamari Stevenson. He ran it back 75 yards for the apparent score. But Nick Anderson was called for holding on the return.

Purdie Connections

No worries for Wake on this day. Claiborne had a carry for no yards. And then Purdie connected with Mays, who was wide open behind the OSU secondary. He made the catch at the Beavers’ three-yard line and strolled in for the 52-yard touchdown and the 15-0 lead.

On the second possession of the second quarter, it was Purdie and Barnes again. This time it was for 11 yards up the middle, and it gave Wake the 22-0 first-half lead.

The Deacs added a 43-yard field goal from Connor Calvert just before halftime for a 25-0 lead at the intermission.

Dickert said after the game that he was not surprised at Purdie’s performance. It helped, he said, that they had told the second-year transfer from Charlotte earlier in the week that Ashford would not be ready to go, and he, Purdie, would be the starter. “I think it’s night and day,” Dickert said when comparing the days of game prep versus having to come in unexpectedly like he did last week against Virginia Tech. “He knew he was going to get his opportunity. And he didn’t have to do too much. He just had to go out there and be himself.

Wake had already doubled Oregon State’s yardage totals at halftime (258 to 128) in building its way to the three-score lead.

Closing It Out

On the second drive of the third quarter, it was Purdie to Barnes again. Wake took over on its own 45-yard line after an Oregon State punt. On the first play after the punt, Barnes was three yards behind the nearest defensive back, and Purdie laid it in right over the shoulder for the 55-yard touchdown. It was the 10^th scoring drive of the season that took two minutes or less for Wake Forest.

Oregon State scored its first points of the game on a 29-yard run up the middle from Cornell Hatcher, Jr. to make it 32-7 in the fourth quarter.

But then Wake had another of its firsts for the season, a fourth-quarter touchdown. Starting the drive on the Wake 34-yard line, Claiborne took the hand-off and hit the hole in the middle of the line. From there, it was a foot race that he was not going to lose on his way to a 66-yard touchdown run. The senior running back finished the game with 144 yards on 16 carries.

Oregon State added one more touchdown in the football equivalent of garbage time for the 39-14 final.

Defensive Line Factor

There is still a lot of cleanup work to do during the upcoming bye week. Wake was penalized 12 times for 111 yards. Dickert called many of them discipline penalties. With that and the lack of third-down production, there will be enough to work on during the off week.

After back-to-back road games, Wake returns home on October 25^th against SMU.

Last Word will have more post-game coverage of the win over Oregon State on Sunday afternoon.