Wake Forest 44, Virginia Military 10
By AARON BEARD
AP Sports Writer
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Mitch Griffis threw for 288 yards and three touchdowns in his first career start and Christian Turner and Taylor Morin added spectacular individual efforts on scores, helping No. 22 Wake Forest beat VMI 44-10.
Griffis started with veteran Sam Hartman sidelined indefinitely by a non-football medical issue. Hartman - who guided the Demon Deacons to last year's Atlantic Coast Conference championship game - was on the sideline in his black jersey, black shorts and a black cap to watch his understudy lead an easy win against a Championship Subdivision opponent.
Griffis' first TD throw was a perfect ball while moving to his right, with Morin diving just inside the right end-zone sideline for the 23-yard score and a 17-0 first-quarter lead.
Turner had preceded that with his own highlight-reel TD. He appeared headed for a modest gain when he was wobbled by a hit from Aljareek Malry in a crowd near the middle of the field. But Turner extended his left hand into the grass to stay on his feet, then popped free on the left side for a 35-yard TD.
Both scores stood after replay reviews.
Turner ran for 100 yards and two scores in the game to lead the Demon Deacons, who had 506 total yards but also committed seven penalties for 70 yards.
VMI, from the Southern Conference, sought its first win against a nationally ranked opponent from the Bowl Subdivision ranks. Its lone offensive highlight was Grant Swinehart taking a pass from backup QB Collin Ironside and sprinting down the right side for a 34-yard touchdown - though that came with Wake Forest leading 30-3 late in the third.
THE TAKEAWAY
VMI: Led by eighth-year coach Scott Wachenheim, the Keydets are coming off their first back-to-back winning seasons since 1961-62. They were trying to earn their first season-opening road win since 2002. They finished with 222 total yards, never reached the red zone and couldn't stop the run.
Wake Forest: The offense moved fine without Hartman, though this was hardly a clean performance. Notably, there were three holding penalties during two second-quarter drives, two to force a punt and one to wipe out an easy touchdown and force Wake Forest to settle for a field goal. There was another to negate Griffis' 2-point keeper late in the third, irking ninth-year coach Dave Clawson enough that he kicked at the turf in frustration, even with a big lead.
| Scoring Summary |
| First Quarter |
VMI | Wake |
| Wake |
FG |
10:43 |
Matthew Dennis 33 yard field goal |
0 |
3 |
| Wake |
TD |
5:04 |
Christian Turner 35 yard TD run (Matthew Dennis Extra Point) |
0 |
10 |
| Wake |
TD |
2:04 |
Taylor Morin 23 yard TD pass from Mitch Griffis (Matthew Dennis Extra Point) |
0 |
17 |
| Second Quarter |
VMI | Wake |
| Wake |
FG |
4:39 |
Matthew Dennis 31 yard field goal |
0 |
20 |
| Wake |
FG |
0:35 |
Matthew Dennis 33 yard field goal |
0 |
23 |
| VMI |
FG |
0:00 |
Jerry Rice 42 yard field goal |
3 |
23 |
| Third Quarter |
VMI | Wake |
| Wake |
TD |
9:46 |
Christian Turner 1 yard TD run (Matthew Dennis Extra Point) |
3 |
30 |
| VMI |
TD |
2:01 |
Grant Swinehart 34 yard TD pass from Collin Ironside (Jerry Rice Extra Point) |
10 |
30 |
| Wake |
TD |
0:42 |
Blake Whiteheart 27 yard TD pass from Mitch Griffis (Matthew Dennis Extra Point) |
10 |
37 |
| Fourth Quarter |
VMI | Wake |
| Wake |
TD |
11:44 |
Jahmal Banks 14 yard TD pass from Mitch Griffis (Zach Murphy Extra Point) |
10 |
44 |
| Team Stats |
| |
VMI |
Wake Forest |
| First downs |
14 |
25 |
| Rushing |
7 |
7 |
| Passing |
4 |
16 |
| Penalty |
3 |
2 |
| 3rd Down Efficiency |
3-17, 18% |
8-16, 50% |
| 4th down efficiency |
1-2, 50% |
0-1, 0% |
| Rushes-Yards |
32-83 |
41-212 |
| Passing Yards |
139 |
294 |
| Return Yards |
70 |
79 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int |
19-36-0 |
24-33-0 |
| Sacks-Yards Lost |
3-21 |
2-13 |
| Punts |
8 |
4 |
| Fumbles Lost |
1-1 |
1-0 |
| Penalties - Yards |
4-24 |
7-70 |
| Wake Forest Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| M. Griffis |
21 |
29 |
288 |
3 |
0 |
| M. Kern |
3 |
4 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
| VMI Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| Wake Forest Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| Wake Forest Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| I. Mora |
3 |
131 |
43.7 |
| Z. Murphy |
1 |
34 |
34.0 |
| VMI Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| VMI Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| K. Bridy |
4 |
70 |
17.5 |
| Wake Forest Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| K. Williams |
2 |
60 |
30.0 |
| VMI Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| J. Rice |
48 |
| Wake Forest Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
