Fourth quarter (Duke 34, Wake Forest 27): Renfree was removed from the game after injuring his elbow on the third-quarter interception, so Anthony Boone was handed the keys to the Duke offense. He went three-and-out on his first drive, but yet another stellar punt from Will Monday pinned Wake Forest at their own 12-yard line. Pressure from the defensive line got to Tanner Price on third down, hitting his arm just before he threw and forcing a fumble deep in Demon Deacon territory. Jonathan Woodruff recovered and Anthony Boone took the ball into the end zone on Duke's second play to give Duke a late 27-20 lead.
Three drives later, Walt Canty tipped a Price pass over the middle and C.J. France dove under it to set the Blue Devils up with excellent field position once again. Boone engineered a three-minute drive to cover the 38 yards to the end zone, capped off by a 17-yard sprint by freshman Jela Duncan up the middle for the score. Wake Forest would answer with a late touchdown of its own, but the final seven points were too little too late in a 34-27 defeat. Duke moves to 4-1 for the first time since the 1994 season, which was also the last time the program went to a bowl game.
Third quarter (Duke 20, Wake Forest 20): The Blue Devils came out of the locker room strong, with a wild six-minute scoring drive. Duke had a completion of nearly 50 yards called back due to a holding penalty to set up 3rd-and-19, but Renfree managed to find Desmond Scott again on the following play for 23 yards and a first down. Two plays later, running back Jela Duncan caught a screen pass from Renfree and slipped through the Wake Forest defense, except for one defender who managed to get a hand on his face mask. His helmet came completely off and the officials correctly called a personal foul, but Duncan would have been able to scamper into the end zone untouched were it not for the penalty. Duke did receive 14 yards on the penalty, and took advantage of the first down to get into the end zone on Brandon Connette's second rushing touchdown of the day.
The Blue Devil defense looked strong as well, forcing a three-and-out on the first Demon Deacon possession of the half and setting up third down from the Wake Forest 3-yard line on the next drive. But Tanner Price escaped from the end zone with a 36-yard completion, and a pair of Josh Harris first-down rushes put the Demon Deacons in Duke's end of the field. A 34-yard strike from Price to wide-open fullback Tommy Bohanon cut Duke's advantage back to three points. Then, on the first play of the ensuing drive, Renfree was hit as he threw and the ball floated right to Wake Forest defensive end Zach Thompson on the Duke 13-yard line. The Blue Devil defense kept the Demon Deacons out of the end zone, but the 28-yard field goal tied the game at 20 heading into the fourth quarter.
Second quarter (Duke 13, Wake Forest 10): The first quarter's steady rain halted in the second period, but the ball remained slippery for the Blue Devils, who took advantage of a Wake Forest fumble to increase their lead to 13-7. A solid hit by Kyler Brown on Demon Deacon wide receiver Terence Davis caused the fumble, and Sydney Sarmiento recovered it to give Duke possession in the red zone. The offense managed one first down but could not reach the end zone, giving way to Ross Martin for a 22-yard field goal.
On the ensuing possession, Davis atoned for his miscue with a 43-yard catch despite pass interference from Duke safety Lee Butler. That set Wake Forest up on the Duke 23-yard line, but a crucial sack from Dezmond Johnson helped force the Demon Deacons to kick their first field goal of the season. The 45-yard make brought the Demon Deacons back within three with 6:55 remaining in the half, and Duke's lead held into halftime courtesy of two stops from each defense.
Wake Forest wide receiver Michael Campanero left the game foor good in the second with a broken wrist. Campanero was the team's leading receiver entering the game.
First quarter (Duke 10, Wake Forest 7): On a rainy afternoon in Winston-Salem, Wake Forest turned to its ground game early, racking up 82 rushing yards in the first ten minutes of the quarter. Josh Harris broke away for a 27-yard gain on the Demon Deacons' first play from scrimmage, but the Duke defense held after that to force a punt. Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe's offense began clicking on its next drive, though, as a 25-yard play-action scramble by Tanner Price broke open a drive that lasted just over five minutes and ended with DeAndre Martin's four-yard touchdown scramble. The two Demon Deacon drives sandwiched a Duke possession that started promisingly with a perfect 47-yard bomb down the middle from Sean Renfree to Conner Vernon, but then stalled and ended in a 35-yard field goal from Ross Martin.
After falling behind 7-3, the Blue Devil offense began kicking into gear, but its drive looked dead after a sack and a holding penalty brought up a 3rd-and-27 from the 37-yard line. But Renfree completed a pass over the middle to Desmond Scott, who eluded the Wake Forest defense for 35 yards. Three plays later, Brandon Connette powered the ball up the middle for the first Blue Devil touchdown.
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