The first half was all Demon Deacons here in Winston-Salem . Wake Forest went for over 250 yards of offense in the opening frame, scoring two touchdowns and two field goals. The defense also held Virginia to 2/4 on fourth downs, coming up big in critical moments. Let's go through the highlights.
It did not take long for the Deacs to strike in this one. A Cam Shanks 30-yard punt return set Wake up around midfield for their opening drive. Two Gio Lopez pass completions for 49 total yards to Carlos Hernandez set them up inside the five. From there, Ty Clark III ran it in for the opening score. It took only five plays for Wake to go 51 yards and punch it in.
On the preceding Virginia drive, they rolled the dice twice on fourth downs. The first time, deep in their own territory, they were able to convert; the other time, at the Wake 40-yard line, Pribula could not handle the blitz, and Braylon Johnson picked off an errant pass attempt.
Gio Lopez used his legs early and often in this one, evading the pocket and several designed QB-draw plays. Something, schematically, must have been the reason for all of this QB movement. Gio Lopez has shown his ability as an efficient runner on multiple occasions this season, and today is no different.
It did not take long for the Demon Deacons to strike once again. This time, Gio Lopez and Ty Clark III both ripped off big runs to set the Deacs up from inside the five. From there, Ty Clark III ran it in for his second rushing score of the game. This built a firm 17-0 lead still near the start of the second quarter.
After this, UVA finally put some positive plays together and drove the ball inside the Wake 10-yard line, burning over six minutes off the clock in the process. However, Wake's defense came up huge on a fourth down with a yard to go. It was Zach Lohavichan who came up huge to make the stop at the Wake six-yard line, giving the ball back to Gio Lopez and the offense.
A 14-play drive that consumed over four minutes of clock and spanned 87 yards eventually ended in a field goal for the Deacs. The drive was helped by big pass connections from Gio Lopez to Jack Foley and Kam Shanks, getting two more receiving targets going.
After the first half of play , Wake led this one by three scores and looked in full control. They are also set to receive the ball to begin the second half.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/wake-forest as Wake Forest Dominating Virginia After One Half in Winston-Salem .
