Wake Forest defeats Duke 24-22

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Posted 8:15PM on Saturday, October 30, 2004

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) Wake Forest had fought to the final minutes with four Atlantic Coast Conference opponents only to see a chance at victory slip away. On Saturday, the Demon Deacons finally barely got a league win. Chris Barclay rushed for 134 yards and a touchdown to lift Wake Forest past Duke 24-22 in a matchup of teams looking for their first ACC win. Ben Mauk also had a touchdown pass for the Demon Deacons (4-4, 1-4), who beat the Blue Devils for the fifth straight time. With the win, Wake Forest avoided its first 0-5 league start in four years. Wake Forest had lost four league games by a combined 23 points, including overtime losses to Clemson and North Carolina State. Last week, the Demon Deacons lost to Florida State 20-17 on a field goal with just over a minute to play. There was more late-game drama in this one, but no heartbreak for Wake Forest. Barclay's 2-yard score late in the first half put the Demon Deacons ahead to stay, though Wake Forest had to hold off the Blue Devils (1-7, 0-5) in the final 90 seconds to seal it. ``We've played some tough games in the ACC and they've all been close,'' said linebacker Jonathan Abbate, who had 17 tackles. ``Sometimes it wasn't pretty out there, but we got the 'W' and that's all that counts.'' In the process, Mauk may have given Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe something to think about regarding his quarterback rotation. The Demon Deacons had rotated the redshirt freshman with starter Cory Randolph this season, but Randolph was banged up in the loss to the Seminoles and limited in practice this week. Grobe said the coaches decided to rotate the players every series and ultimately go with the hot hand. Mauk directed all four scoring drives and played almost the entire second half. Randolph threw for just 1 yard and had three turnovers. ``It gives me confidence knowing that the coaches have confidence in me being out there,'' said Mauk, who threw for 117 yards and ran for 62 more. Still, it was hardly the kind of team performance the Demon Deacons would have liked after the narrow loss to the Seminoles. Wake Forest struggled to stop Duke early then struggled to put the Blue Devils away late. In between, the Blue Devils who ranked last in the ACC in several offensive categories put up a season-high 423 total yards and blocked a field goal late to set up their final score. ``In the first half of this game, we should have come out fired up and ready to go,'' cornerback Eric King said. ``They are a much-improved ball club, and they took it to us today.'' Mike Schneider threw for a career-high 300 yards, completing 28 passes to 10 different receivers. Cedric Dargan added 113 rushing yards. But the Blue Devils undermined that with first-half mistakes and an inability to get the ball into the end zone. Their first two drives ended with turnovers one coming at Wake Forest's 1 while three other drives managed only to set up field goals for Matt Brooks. Those miscues proved crucial, preventing them from building a comfortable lead despite outgaining Wake Forest 160-21 in the opening period. ``We drove the ball well, but we need to get the ball in the end zone more,'' Schneider said. Barclay's run gave Wake Forest a 14-9 halftime lead, which grew on a field goal by Ryan Plackemeier early in the third. The Blue Devils took advantage of a fumble by Randolph to set up a 3-yard scoring pass from Schneider to Andy Roland, cutting the deficit to 17-15. But Schneider's pass on the conversion attempt was incomplete. Wake Forest answered immediately. Mauk had a 17-yard keeper on the next play, starting a 54-yard drive that ended with Micah Andrews' 1-yard run for a 24-15 lead. Duke pushed inside the 20 on its next drive, but as it did all day failed to convert when it needed to most. Schneider threw two straight incompletions and Dargan was stopped for no gain on third down, and Brooks missed a 31-yard field goal late in the third. That miss became even more critical when the Blue Devils got a TD pass from Schneider to Ronnie Elliott with 1:04 to play, pulling to within 24-22. The Blue Devils failed to recover the onside kick, allowing the Demon Deacons to kill the clock. Duke's first drive ended when Josh Gattis stripped Ben Patrick of the ball after a catch inside the 1. On the Blue Devils' second drive, Schneider fumbled on a hard hit from Abbate in Wake Forest territory. Midway through the second quarter, Duke drove to the 2 but had to settle for Brooks' 19-yard kick and a 9-7 lead. ``We need to finish drives and get touchdowns,'' Duke coach Ted Roof said. ``Turnovers are costly and they certainly were today.''