Wake Forest 51, Virginia 7: The Deacons ran for 309 yards and Virginia ran for 16

No. 14 Wake Forest won this on the ground and on third down. The Demon Deacons ran for 309 yards against Virginia, which managed 16. Wake converted 9 of 14 third downs. Virginia converted 1 of 12.

The final at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium was 51-7. Wake Forest is 7-1 and has won five straight. Virginia is 4-5 and has lost three in a row. The box score and line history are on the game page.

How it was won

Wake scored on its first possession. Ty Clark III ran in from 2 yards at 12:29 of the first quarter, and Connor Calvert added a 45-yard field goal with 2:30 left in the quarter.

Clark scored again from 4 yards at 11:33 of the second quarter. Calvert closed the half with a 25-yarder with 10 seconds left, and Wake led 20-0 at the break.

The third quarter ended any question. Calvert hit from 44 yards at 9:59. Gio Lopez found Carlos Hernandez for a 10-yard touchdown at 7:07. Clark scored his third touchdown, from 2 yards, at 4:24. Jamar Searcy ran in from 7 yards at 1:57. That was 24 points in the quarter and a 44-0 lead.

Virginia avoided the shutout with 50 seconds left in the third, when Beau Pribula threw 47 yards to Da'Shawn Martin, with Will Bettridge kicking the extra point. Kyndall McCaleb answered with a 27-yard run at 9:08 of the fourth.

Calvert accounted for 15 points: three field goals and six extra points.

Wake outgained Virginia 538 to 330 and had 28 first downs to 18. Lopez was efficient through the air, 13 of 21 for 229 yards and a touchdown, and added 64 yards on 13 carries. Hernandez caught 8 passes for 136 yards. Searcy ran 8 times for 78 yards. Drayden Dickmann had one catch for 47 yards.

Virginia's offense was all passing. The Cavaliers threw for 314 yards and could not run. Pribula went 20 of 29 for 212 yards, one touchdown and one interception, and his 7 carries produced 7 yards. Solomon Beebe was the leading rusher with 9 yards on 3 carries. Martin caught 9 passes for 119 yards, and Jacquon Gibson had 4 for 59.

Wake did not turn the ball over and held possession for 33:43.

Against the number

Wake Forest closed at -13.5 and won by 44, covering by 30.5 points.

The total closed at 48.5. The teams combined for 58, so the over cashed, and Wake's 51 alone cleared the number.

On the moneyline, Wake Forest closed at -575 and Virginia at +425. The market had Wake as a heavy favorite, and the price still undersold the margin.

For context, this was Wake's third straight win by at least 24 points, after 38-14 at NC State and 41-7 at Cal.

What's next

Wake Forest hosts Merrimack on Saturday, November 7, on ACC Network. The Deacons' only loss this season is 33-20 to Miami.

Virginia's next game is Saturday, November 14, at home against Cal. At 4-5, the Cavaliers need two more wins to reach six. Their last three losses have come by 3 points to Duke, 10 at SMU, and 44 here.