At the beginning of the second half Duke looked as if it had stolen some of the momentum from Wake Forest Saturday.
Nine minutes, one missed opportunity and two Demon Deacon rushing touchdowns later, the Blue Devils had no hope. Wake Forest went on to hand Duke a disappointing 44-6 loss on Senior Day at Wallace Wade Stadium.
Down 20-6 at halftime, the Blue Devils (1-8, 0-6 in the ACC) faced a third-and-nine on their own 46-yard line, which Duke needed to convert to keep the opening drive of the second half going. Quarterback Zack 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.
Although Wake Forest (4-5, 3-3) failed to capitalize on its next possession, the Demon Deacons blew the game open after intercepting Asack on Duke's second drive of the half. Senior Chris Barclay, the ACC's leading rusher, accounted for all 54 yards on the ensuing touchdown drive, including four rushes and two receptions. He scored his first touchdown of the game from nine yards out to give the Demon Deacons a 21-point cushion with 8:41 remaining in the third quarter.
After a Duke three-and-out, Barclay again carried Wake Forest's offensive load. On the third play of the drive he exploded for a 71-yard touchdown run down the right side. Wake Forest never looked back.
"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."
With the outcome already in hand, Barclay left the game in the third quarter with 204 rushing yards on 18 carries. Wake Forest ran for 419 yards in the game, more than eight times as many as the 50 yards Duke tallied-a stark contrast from the 191 yards the Blue Devils totaled on the ground last week against then-No. 11 Florida State.
"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."
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 early in the third quarter. The senior also set the Wake Forest all-time scoring record with his second touchdown and rose to eighth place in all-time rushing yards in ACC history.
"I think he's a heck of a back," Roof said. "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."
With Barclay on the bench, the Demon Deacons turned to their backup running back and the ACC's second leading rusher, Micah Andrews. Andrews racked up 75 of his 81 yards in the second half to go along with the touchdown he had scored in the first quarter.
In the early-going against the Demon Deacons, the Blue Devils rotated quarterbacks. Although Mike Schneider started the game, he was relieved by Asack on the second drive, who was in turn replaced by Marcus Jones on the third drive.
The team eventually settled on Asack for most of the contest. The freshman had the best all-around game of his young career, completing nine of 17 passes for 97 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Roof said the team had planned on using all three quarterbacks to hopefully provide a spark for an offense that entered the game averaging only 85.9 passing yards per game, which ranked last in Division I-A. He said Schneider started because it was senior day and he had been practicing well.
The plan worked to some degree, as the Duke quarterbacks combined to pass for a season-high 153 yards, but the Blue Devils still failed to enter Demon Deacon territory in the second half.
The Blue Devils' only score came in the second quarter, when they were facing a 20-0 deficit. With 2:25 remaining in the half, Asack threw a 19-yard touchdown strike to fellow freshman Eron Riley. But freshman kicker Joe Surgan missed the extra point, leaving Duke in a 14-point deficit, 20-6.
"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 had believed good things were in store for the final home game of the 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."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.