#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
