In the beginning of the second half Duke looked as if it had stolen some of the momentum from Wake Forest.
Nine minutes, one missed opportunity and two Demon Deacon rushing touchdowns later, the Blue Devils had no hope.
Down 20-6, Duke (1-8, 0-6 in the ACC) faced a third-and-nine to keep their first drive of the second half going. Quarterback Zach Asack dropped back, escaped pressure from the outside and threw a pass to receiver Ronnie Elliott. The ball glanced off of Elliott's hands and fell to the ground, hindering hopes for a comeback and forcing the Blue Devils to punt.
Sensing blood, Wake Forest (4-5, 3-3) decided to ride their ACC-leading running back Chris Barclay to the victory. In the team's second drive of the half, Barclay had 52 total yards on four rushes and two receptions. He scored his first touchdown of the game from nine yards out to give the Demon Deacons a 21 points cushion.
After a Duke three-and-out, Barclay again carried the load. On the third play of the drive he followed his blockers and exploded for a 71-yard touchdown on the right side. Wake Forest never looked back in the 44-6 win.
"The offensive line did an excellent job of getting to their blocking assignments," Barclay said of his long run. "The seam just parted like the Red Sea or something."
Barclay left the game in the third-quarter with 204 rushing yards. Wake Forest ran for 419 net yards in the game, more than eight times as many as Duke's 50. Last week the Blue Devils ran for 191 yards against a top-10 Florida State team.
"We've got to get off the field on third down and tackle better," Duke head coach Ted Roof said. "Obviously we didn't do a good job of stopping the run game today, and that's what we have to do to give ourselves a chance to win."
After the game was out of hand, the Demon Deacons turned to their backup running back, Micah Andrews, who is the second leading rusher in the ACC this year. Andrews racked up 81 yards and a touchdown before leaving the game in the fourth.
Barclay entered the game needing 113 yards to become the leading rusher in Wake Forest history, a feat he accomplished on a 19 yard run just before his first touchdown. The senior also set the Wake Forest all time scoring record with his second touchdown and rose to 8th place for all-time rushing yards in ACC history, just behind Warrick Dunn.
"I think he's a heck of a back," Roof said of Barclay. "He's got great balance and great strength. Even though he's short, he is powerful and he's got good speed. There's a reason he's run for as many yards as he has."
The Blue Devils employed a quarterback carosel during the game. While Mike Schneider started the game, he was relieved by Asack on the second drive, who was in turn relieved by Marcus Jones on the third drive.
The team eventually settled on playing Asack for most of the game. The freshman had the best statistical game of his young career, completing nine of 17 passes for 97 yards a touchdown and an interception.
Roof said that the team had planned on using all three quarterbacks in order to hopefully provide a spark. He said that he started Schneider because it was senior day and he had been practicing well.
The lone bright spot in the Blue Devil's day came in the second quarter, facing a 20-0 deficit. With 2:25 remaining in the half, Asack threw 19-yard strike to fellow freshman Eron Riley to bring Duke within two touchdowns. The score came one play after Riley was flagged for offensive pass interference, which pushed the Blue Devils 15 yards backward but gave the team one mor chance to score.
"Eron fought for the ball, which he is supposed to do," Roof said. "He has the knack for that. He is very competitive and has made some big plays for us this year. He will make a lot more big plays in his career before he is done."
After a hard fought game last week against Florida State, many of the Duke players believed good things were in store for the final home game of the season. The team will have to wait until next week for a chance at an ACC win this season.
"We thought coming in we could do a pretty good job, not necessarily hang, but win the game," Riley said. "It got kind of ugly fast. We have to come back to practice on Sunday and Monday to get prepared for Clemson."
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