Wake Forest 38, NC State 14: Gio Lopez and 31 unanswered points

Wake Forest trailed at halftime at Carter-Finley Stadium on Saturday and did not trail again. The Demon Deacons scored 31 straight points, including three touchdowns in the third quarter, to beat NC State 38-14 and move to 5-1.

Gio Lopez decided it. He completed 26 of 33 passes for 303 yards and three touchdowns, ran for a fourth, and Wake Forest did not turn the ball over. NC State managed 15 rushing yards and did not score after the second quarter.

How it was won

The first half was even. Lopez opened the scoring at 13:03 of the first quarter with a 1-yard pass to Matthew Lusardi. NC State answered at 8:17 when CJ Bailey found Chance Robinson for 24 yards. In the second quarter Will Wilson threw a 2-yard touchdown to Hunter Provience at 9:42, and the Wolfpack led 14-7. Connor Calvert's 23-yard field goal as the half expired cut it to 14-10.

The third quarter was where the game went away from NC State. Lopez hit Carlos Hernandez for 6 yards at 10:44 to take the lead, then found Jack Foley for 10 yards at 7:29. At 2:27 he ran it in from a yard out himself, and it was 31-14. Deuce Lawrence added a 17-yard touchdown run at 11:24 of the fourth to close the scoring. Calvert made all five extra points.

The box score reflects a game Wake Forest controlled once it settled in:

• Total yards: Wake Forest 387, NC State 258
• Rushing: Wake Forest 84, NC State 15
• First downs: Wake Forest 22, NC State 16
• Third down: Wake Forest 7 of 13, NC State 6 of 14
• Turnovers: Wake Forest 0, NC State 1
• Possession: Wake Forest 31:57, NC State 28:03

Lopez spread the ball between two receivers. Hernandez caught 12 passes for 117 yards and a score; Foley had 8 catches for 156 yards and a score. Lawrence led the ground game with 46 yards on 8 carries, and Jamar Searcy added 28 on 4.

For NC State, Bailey went 28 of 39 for 241 yards and a touchdown. Keenan Jackson led the receivers with 5 catches for 61 yards, and Robinson had 3 for 53. The run game never got going: Davion Gause carried 7 times for 11 yards and Dylan McCoy 3 times for 5. With no rushing threat, the Wolfpack offense was left to Bailey, and the second half produced nothing.

Against the number

Wake Forest closed as a 4-point favorite and won by 24, a comfortable cover. The moneyline closed at Wake Forest -180 and NC State +150, so the market had the Deacons as the clear but not overwhelming side; the second half left no doubt.

The total closed at 56.5 and the game finished with 52 points, an under. At 31-14 late in the third quarter the over was in reach, but the teams added only one more score after that. Prices and the full closing board are on the game page.

What's next

Wake Forest goes to California on Saturday, October 17 (ESPN2). The Deacons have won three straight since their only loss, 33-20 to No. 5 Miami, a run that includes a 30-27 win at No. 16 Louisville and a 57-3 win over Stanford.

NC State, now 3-3, has a week off before playing at Stanford on Friday, October 23 (ESPN). The Wolfpack beat Louisville 31-28 a week ago; this loss drops them back to .500, and they will need a better answer on the ground than 15 yards.