2011 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Football: Wake Forest @ Duke

Wake Forest should feel fortunate to leave Durham, North Carolina with a win after being outplayed by the resurgent Duke Blue Devils. The Blue Devils out-passed the Demon Deacons, out-rushed them, and generally outplayed their academically-minded foe.

They just didn’t beat the Deacs. Duke’s recent football existence has been filled with such moments, to say the very least.

Wake jumped out to a 17-0 lead before Duke got its bearings. The Blue Devils hit a field goal with just a few seconds left in the first half to cut the lead to 17-3 at the half. The Blue Devils then dominated the second half, cutting the lead to 17-13 at the end of the third quarter and then taking the lead early in the fourth quarter on an Anthony Boone 2 yard touchdown run. A field goal extended the Duke lead to 23-17 halfway into the fourth quarter, but Tanner Price hit Chris Givens for a long 66 yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage following the subsequent kickoff. After the teams traded three-and-out possessions, Duke got the ball back at its own 24 with 3:45 left, but it took 11 plays to gain only 35 yards, and then the Blue Devils turned the ball over on downs after three straight incomplete Sean Renfree passes.

Duke had two timeouts left and was able to get the ball back with 13 seconds left, but Renfree threw an interception from his own 27 yard line to end the game with the game’s only turnover.

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To get a sense of the way Duke dominated this game, consider this. Duke had 25 first downs to Wake’s 13. Duke held Wake to 2 of 12 on third downs. Duke led in total yards 372 to 305, and while Duke wasn’t chewing up huge chunks of yards on the ground, they were able to run 44 times by gaining such an early lead. Duke dominated the time of possession, 38 minutes to 22 minutes. Wake Forest really only won the final score, but that’s the only important stat, obviously.

Sean Renfree was 28-45 passing for Duke, and was able to spread his passes out to his outstanding receiving corps. He hit Conner Vernon seven times for 59 yards, and he found four other receivers for four or five receptions. Duke also was able to spread out its runs, with three different backs getting at least 10 carries. Juwan Thompson has 62 yards, Desmond Scott had 49 yards, and Anthony Boone added two touchdowns.

For Wake Forest, Tanner Price was 15-25 for 215 yards and a pair of scores. Chris Givens, one of the top receivers in the ACC, had 6 catches for 147 yards and both of the Deacs’ touchdown receptions. Brandon Pendergrass had only 43 yards on 15 carries to lead the team in both categories, but he did have a rushing touchdown.

Wake improved to 5-2 on the season, 4-1 in the ACC, and visits North Carolina next week before closing the season with a brutal stretch of Notre Dame, at Clemson, Maryland and Vanderbilt. Duke fell to 3-4 and 1-2 in the ACC. It hosts Virginia Tech next week before closing at Miami, at Virginia, hosting Georgia Tech, and at North Carolina.

Wake Forest @ Duke Blue Devils Football Recap