Sam Hartman and A.T. Perry hooked up for three touchdowns Saturday as Wake Forest posted a 45-35 win over visiting Syracuse in Atlantic Coast Conference action from Winston-Salem, N.C.
The Demon Deacons (7-4, 3-4 ACC) snapped a three-game losing streak, due to their dynamic passing duo. Hartman finished 30 of 43 for 331 yards with four touchdowns, while Perry hauled in 10 catches for 119 yards.
Garrett Shrader went 17 of 31 for 324 yards with a passing touchdown and a rushing score for the Orange (6-5, 3-4), who have lost five straight games. Sean Tucker ran for 106 yards and two TDs on 16 carries, while LeQuint Allen caught one touchdown and passed for another.
Syracuse led 7-3 after one quarter before the teams combined for five touchdowns in the ensuing period.
Hartman got the second-quarter party started with a 12-yard pass to Perry in the right side of the end zone. Syracuse answered with a 2-yard touchdown by Tucker two minutes later and then stopped Hartman on fourth-and-1 from the 5 to regain possession.
Facing a long field, the Orange needed four plays to cover 94 yards. The punctuation mark was a 33-yard halfback pass from Allen to Devaughn Cooper for a 14-7 lead.
The Demon Deacons came right back, drawing even on Hartman’s 29-yard TD strike to Perry, who toasted his defender with a double-move. Following a missed 42-yard field goal by Syracuse, Hartman and Perry hooked up again, this time from 10 yards out with 12 seconds left in the half.
The teams exchanged punts to open the third quarter before the Wake Forest offense started heating up again. The Demon Deacons converted three third downs as part of a 12-play, 70-yard drive that Hartman capped with a 17-yard TD pass to Ke’Shawn Williams.
Wake Forest expanded its lead to 45-21 early in the fourth quarter on Quinton Cooley’s 4-yard TD plunge and Brendon Harris’ 36-yard interception return for a score 44 seconds later.
Syracuse fought back with two late touchdowns — Shrader’s 41-yard pass to Allen with 10:01 left and Shrader’s 8-yard TD scamper with 5:13 remaining — but the visitors never got any closer.
–Field Level Media