Wake Forest was in complete control of the game from the beginning. With a great all-around effort the Demon Deacons were able to cruise to a 41-3 win over the Elon Phoenix. The Wake Forest offense had 591 total yards whereas Elon’s was held to 151. The Phoenix's main struggles came on third down where they were only successful on one all game. Wake Forest Head Coach Dave Clawson praised his team after the game, “The defense played at a high level.  The offense made explosive plays.”   

Sophomore QB John Wolford was stellar in the game playing until late in the third quarter. He made plays both with both his arm and his legs.  Going 20-27 in the game for 323 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also had a 70 yard touchdown scramble in the second quarter on which he went from one side to the other, following his receivers blocking downfield. On the run, Wolford said, “They had their eyes on the receivers, so I decided to run.” Coach Clawson was also impressed by his second year QB stating, “He’s more athletic than people give him credit for.” 

In the third quarter, on their second offensive possession of the half Wolford kept the drive moving on another scramble converting a 3rd and 12. Which he followed up with a 34-yard pass to Freshman Chuck Wade and a 30-yard Touchdown pass to Cortez Lewis. He would find Wade for a score on the next drive. Wade would lead the Deacons in receiving with 4 receptions for 70 yards on the day. 

Defensively, Wake Forest showed that their secondary was not lost after the losses of Kevin Johnson and Merrill Noel to the NFL. Wake Forest was led in tackles by Redshirt Freshman Cameron Glenn and Redshirt Senior Hunter Williams, who each had 5 total tackles. Wake was quick to get the ball back and held the Phoenix to only 21:08 minutes of possession. 

Elon’s offensive struggles from last year seemed to continue into this season. Although the team had no turnovers, their two quarterback offense struggled to get any traction in the game. Both Connor Christiansen and Daniel Thompson were held in check by the Wake Forest defense combining to go just 15-28 for 100 total passing yards. The high note for Elon was the performance of Sophomore S Chris Blair, who had 13 total tackles for the Phoenix. Christiansen led Elon in rushing, however he only mustered 22 yards on the ground. 

Elon will be 0-1 and will travel to take on Gardner-Webb next Saturday at 6:00PM EST. Wake Forest will be 1-0 and will start ACC play on the road against Syracuse in the Carrier Dome at 12:30 EST next Saturday.