Home #22 Wake Forest jumps out to big lead, then holds off #23 Florida State, 31-21
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#22 Wake Forest jumps out to big lead, then holds off #23 Florida State, 31-21

Chris Graham

wake forest#22 Wake Forest led 28-7 three minutes into the second half, then #23 Florida State fought back to make it a game late, before the Demon Deacons finished off the 31-21 win Saturday in Tallahassee.

Wake (4-1, 1-1 ACC) led 21-7 at the break, then made it a three-score game on a Justice Ellison 12-yard TD run on the first drive out of the locker room.

FSU (4-1, 2-1 ACC) narrowed the gap to 28-13 on a 6-yard TD pass from Travis Jordan to Mycah Pittman with 7:03 to go in the third, then got to 28-21 on a Jordan-to-Johnny Wilson 4-yard TD pass with 9:32 to go.

The Deacs ate up 6:37 off the game clock on its next drive, going 18 plays to set up a 27-yard Matthew Dennis field goal that made it 31-21 with 2:55 left.

The Seminoles got the ball to the edge of the red zone, but a holding penalty, a pair of incomplete passes and a delay of game left them with a do-or-die 55-yard field-goal try from Ryan Fitzgerald that went wide right with 1:13 to go.

Jordan was 23-of-35 passing for 281 yards, three TDs, no INTs and a 161.4 passer rating for Florida State in the losing effort.

Sam Hartman, the veteran Wake Forest QB, was 22-of-34 for 234 yards, two TDs, no INTs and a 141.9 rating.

Ellison ran for 114 yards and a TD on 18 rushing attempts.

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Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, TikTok, BlueSky, or subscribe to Substack or his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].