Wake Shoots Itself in the Foot…Repeatedly

Wake Forest had already secured a bowl invitation. The Deacs had already given Jake Dickert the best record of a first-year coach in school history. Maybe the eight wins were enough. Maybe that is the reason the Demon Deacons looked in over their heads at times in a 49-32 loss at Duke Saturday night. Wake will still be going to a bowl game. It is just going to get knocked down a few pegs. And the lesser games tend to have lower payouts for the participants.

Wake Forest Outplayed At Every Level

After the game, Dickert said there was a lot of disappointment in the play. “They beat us in every area of our play, offense, defense, special teams, taking care of the ball.” He noted what he saw as resiliency in his team not giving up. But the play on the field was not always that easy to measure.

At certain points, the most fight shown was when quarterback Robby Ashford had to be restrained by members of the coaching staff on the sidelines as he was shouting down a teammate or two. Much of the rest of the night was a disjointed effort that resembled some of the early-season play. Wake had two penalties each on the first two Duke drives, giving up a total of nearly 60 yards. The resemblance to the lack of discipline did not end there. Wake finished the game with seven penalties for 92 yards. They also committed four turnovers to zero for Duke. And a defensive line that had been the strength of the defense for weeks got pushed around in critical moments of the game.

Penalties Rear Their Ugly Head Again

On Duke’s first drive, the Blue Devils had it third and four on their own 31-yard line. They got bailed out by a Braylon Johnson pass interference call. The drive was extended a few plays later when Dallas Afalava was flagged for a personal foul. Running back Nate Sheppard took the direct snap and ran it in from five yards out for the touchdown. The drive went 75 yards, but only 45 of it was the Duke offense, thanks to Wake Forest penalties.

Wake Forest answered with a 42-yard field goal from Connor Calvert to make it 7-3 Duke.

Duke got more gifts on the next drive. Gabe Kirschke was called for roughing the passer. Karon Prunty was called for pass interference. On third and two Duke quarterback Darian Mensah completed a 17-yard pass to a wide-open Anderson Castle in the flat. Mensah ran a bootleg that turned into a scramble, but it was good for four yards and the touchdown for the 14-3 Duke lead. It was another 75-yard drive with nearly 30 yards of Wake Forest penalties contributing.

Wake Tries to Respond

Wake Forest finally got a touchdown early in the second quarter. On third and nine from the Duke 22-yard line, Ashford hit Sawyer Racanelli on a post pattern at the back of the end zone for the touchdown. The 10-play, 75-yard drive narrowed the Duke lead to 14-10.

But if anyone should think the Deacs were going to close in, the product on the field dissolved any such notion. Deep in Wake Forest territory, Deacs running back Demond Clairborne fumbled the pitch from Ashford, and it was recovered by Duke. The Blue Devils did not take advantage of the opportunity and punted. But Wake had plenty of self-destruction left.

Mistakes Turn to Tension

Wake had the ball at its own 27-yard line, and Ashford dropped the snap and suffered a nine-yard loss. Even though it hit him in the hands, he seemed surprised by the snap. There was plenty of barking from him toward center Devin Kylany. In the same drive, Wake had the ball third and three. Ashford sprinted to the right and appeared to have stretched the ball past the first down marker. The officials marked him short and upheld the call after a review.

Dickert opted to go for it on 4^th and one from the Wake 36-yard line. Instead of using his 6-2 frame to go the short yardage distance, he went wide. The play was perfectly strung out by the Duke defense, and Ashford was tackled for a two-yard loss.

Duke converted with a touchdown run from one yard out by Castle for the 21-10 lead. And while the Blue Devils were running their seven-play scoring drive, the Wake Forest sideline was hot with tempers flaring. Claiborne slammed his helmet to the ground a few times.. Meanwhile, Ashford was lashing out at a teammate. Which one specifically was unclear, but he had to be restrained multiple times.

Dickert called the events on the sidelines “competitive moments.” He said Ashford is “an intense competitor.” The 342 passing yards (on 27 of 43 throwing), were the highest of Ashford’s college career.

Deacs Try to Keep Up

Wake responded at the end of the first half. Ashford put together a quick-hitting drive that went 75 yards in eight plays. Ashford connected with Karate Brenson on a 20-yard pass play at the back of the end zone. It was the first touchdown of the season for the senior transfer receiver. The Duke lead was down to 21-17 at the end of the half.

But even with getting the ball to start the second half, Wake was unable to sustain any momentum on offense. The Deacs went three and out, and Cal Joseph’s punt went only 20 yards to give Duke the start at the Wake 35-yard line.

It took Duke only two plays and 31 seconds to score. Mensah threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Shamir Hagans for the 28-17 lead.

Wake Is Its Own Enemy Too Many Times

The Blue Devils got another Wake turnover gifted to them later in the quarter. Ashford had Sawyer Racanelli open for a short pass over the middle. But the quarterback put so much heat on the throw that it went right through the receiver’s hands and was intercepted by Duke at their own 34-yard line.

Wake Forest was called for two more defensive pass interference calls on the ensuing drive. Duke capitalized on the free yardage with a two-yard touchdown run by Castle for the 35-17 lead. It was just semantics at that point for the rest of the night.

Ashford scored on a 10-yard designed quarterback run to the left on the last play of the quarter. It capped a nine-play, 75-yard drive. Dickert chose to go for two on the PAT. Ashford ran a keeper to the left and shoved his way into the end zone to make it 35-25 Duke after three quarters.

Duke Answers Every Time

But the gap stayed the gap. On the ensuing kickoff, Wake gave up an 80-yard kickoff return. Duke would score two plays later to get the lead back up to 17 points at 42-25.

Wake answered with a Ty Clark one-yard touchdown run to get the Duke lead back down to 10 points at 42-32. And Wake stopped Duke’s next drive with just under 10 minutes left in the game. But the Deacs got burned by a 26-yard fake punt. Duke didn’t score on the drive, but it pushed Wake further back and burned valuable minutes off the clock.

The Deacs managed a drive all the way down to the Duke 27-yard line. But Claiborne fumbled again, and it was recovered by Duke. A couple of series later, Duke scored the final touchdown of the night when Mensah had an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jeremiah Hasley.

What’s Next

The team now has a little more than a week before it finds out what bowl game it is going to. Dickert has his hands full during the approximately three weeks before the bowl game. There is a high school recruiting class to sign next week, and player contracts to discuss for next season for those returning.

“I think when everyone takes a step back, they will be proud of Wake Forest football, what they’ve done and what they’ve shown we’re capable of doing in the future.”

Last Word will have more coverage of the Wake Forest post-game on Sunday.