Led by a strong defensive showing and explosive ground game, the NC State football team dominated the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in a 42-13 victory at Carter-Finley Stadium.
The Wolfpack (6-5, 2-5 ACC) defense came out strong in the first quarter, forcing a quick Wake Forest (2-8, 0-6 ACC) three-and-out. The offense took advantage driving 69 yards down the field in 10 plays capped by a two-yard touchdown run by running back Tony Creecy 9:07 mark in the first quarter to put the Pack up 7-0.
Both Wake and State followed up with three-and-out drives each. The Demon Deacons were then able to get on the board in the form of a 32-yard field goal by Mike Weaver to make it 7-3 with 42 seconds left in the first quarter after a 15-play, 62-yard drive.
State’s first drive at the start of the second quarter saw quarterback Jacoby Brissett take a six yard sack en route to another three-and-out by the Wolfpack offense.
However, the second drive favored the Pack. A 36-yard catch-and-run and a 30-yard rush by running back Matt Dayes gave the Pack first-and-goal at the Wake Forest one-yard line. Dayes was able to punch it in, giving State a 13-3 lead at the 11:06 mark of the second quarter after a 5 play 74-yard drive.
Niklas Sade then converted the point after to make him NC State’s all-time scoring leader with 313 points, breaking Ted Brown’s previous record of 312 points.
After trading three-and-outs for majority of the second quarter, State struck late with a five-play, 74-yard drive ending with Dayes’ second TD on the day in the form of a seven-yard catch from Brissett with 1:21 left in the half.
The Wolfpack quickly struck at the start of the third quarter when wide receiver Bryan Underwood took the reverse 75-yards to the end zone to put State up 28-3 at the 14:46 mark of the third.
Wake Forest then orchestrated an 11-play, 54-yard drive capped by another Weaver field goal from 39 yards to cut the Wolfpack lead to 28-6 at the 9:58 mark of the third quarter.
NC State’s second drive of the half began with a three-and-out followed by a punt. The Deacons then fumbled on the return, and the Pack recovered the ball on the Wake Forest 46-yard line.
Running back Shadrach Thornton took a carry 46 yards to set up first-and-goal for the Pack from the 3-yard line before punching it in a couple plays later from one yard to put the Pack up 35-6 at the 7:06 mark of the third.
On the ensuing Wake Forest drive, freshman defensive end Kentavius Street went down with an injury and was helped off the field.
State extended its lead to 42-6 with 1:29 left in the third when Dayes scored his third TD of the day on a one-yard run after a nine-play, 66-yd drive by the Pack offense.
The Demon Deacons scored their first offensive touchdown of the night at the end of a 16-play, 76-yard drive with 8:36 left in the fourth. Freshman running back Isaiah Robinson ran it in from four yards out to cut the deficit to 42-13.
Redshirt junior quarterback Garrett Leatham came in to relieve Brissett on the final drive as the Wolfpack ran the clock out and clinched its sixth win of the season and second ACC win.
On the day, the Wolfpack defense forced nine three-and-outs for the Demon Deacon offense and held them to 58 rushing yards on the day. The Pack offense tallied 445 total yards, 362 on the ground highlighted by Running back Matt Dayes three touchdown day and 113 total yards of offense on the day.
