Wake Forest left Raleigh with a 38-14 win over NC State on Saturday afternoon, and the game split cleanly in two. The first half belonged to the Wolfpack and quarterback CJ Bailey. The second half turned into a Wake Forest showcase, with Gio Lopez directing the offense and Jack Foley and Carlos Hernandez taking over on the outside.
NC State opened the game by putting itself in trouble. On the first drive, Bailey fumbled at the Wolfpack 30-yard line, Braylon Johnson recovered, and returned it to the 2. Two plays later, Matthew Lusardi caught a pass from Lopez and put Wake Forest on the board.
After that, Bailey settled in and then some. He completed 16 straight passes, a career high for consecutive completions, and finished the half 16-for-17 for 173 yards and a touchdown.
NC State led 14-7, and even though Wake had a chance to pull even before halftime, the Deacs came up short after reaching 1st-and-goal. Connor Calvert’s field goal as time expired cut it to 14-10 at the break.
The third quarter changed everything. Wake took the opening kickoff and marched 73 yards in 11 plays, finishing with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Lopez to Hernandez.
On the next possession, Lopez and Foley went right back to work, stringing together 64 yards in four plays, including a 52-yard strike. Foley finished the drive with a touchdown catch on the fourth reception of the series, pushing Wake into a two-possession lead it never gave back.
From there, the Deacs kept pouring it on. Wake scored three touchdowns in the third quarter and another in the fourth while holding NC State scoreless after halftime.
Lopez was sharp throughout the second half and nearly perfect for the game, finishing 26-of-33 for 303 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. "Gio is an elite player," said head coach Jake Dickert in his postgame press conference. "I'm really happy with the type of player he is."
Foley and Hernandez were just as central to the explosion. Both topped 100 receiving yards, with Foley catching eight of nine targets for 156 yards and a touchdown, and Hernandez hauling in 12 of 14 targets for 156 yards and a touchdown. Deuce Lawrence led Wake’s ground game with 46 yards on eight carries.
Wake Forest is now 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the ACC, while NC State fell to 3-3 and 1-2. The Demon Deacons head next to the West Coast for an ACC After Dark matchup with Cal on Saturday, October 17 at 10:30 p.m. ET.
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