BY WAKE FOREST ATHLETICS — New starting quarterback Mitch Griffis manned a potent passing attack on Thursday night, helping Wake Forest roll to a 37-17 win over visiting Elon.
Griffis, taking over for Sam Hartman, who is now at Notre Dame, connected on 19 completions for 329 yards and three touchdowns to three different receivers.
In the first quarter, the Ashburn, Va., native found Wesley Grimes for an 18-yard touchdown before hitting Jahmal Banks over two Phoenix defensive backs. He completed his trio of touchdown passes with a 69-yard strike to Cameron Hite. It was the longest Demon Deacon touchdown since the 2021 season.
Capturing his 60th win at Wake Forest, Demon Deacon head coach Dave Clawson has now amassed 150 wins over the course of his 24-year coaching career.
Coach Clawson ranks 16th in the FBS among active coaches in total wins and the Deacs are now one of just nine programs in the country with 20 victories since the start of the 2021 season.
It was a special opening night for Wake Forest, which celebrated the new name of its home field — Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium. Wake hosted its first season-opening sellout crowd since 2011 and its sixth sellout overall since 2021.
Wake Forest led 27-0 at the half. Elon outscored the Deacs 17-10 after intermission.
“We’re glad to be 1-0. We did some really good things,” Clawson said. “Our defense played really well except for one play … Give Elon credit, I think Tony’s a heck of a football coach. His teams don’t quit. Last year in the Vanderbilt game, a very similar game. They came back, made it a game and they did the same against us. He’s a good football coach. His team plays hard.”
Wake Forest Highlights
- After the Demon Deacon defense forced a three-and-out to start the game, Wake Forest drove 53 yards in seven plays as Mitch Griffis found Wesley Grimes wide-open for an 18-yard touchdown.
- Wake Forest’s defense continued early pressure on the Phoenix during Elon’s second drive, as Jacob Roberts – making his Deacon debut – registered a third-down sack.
- Nick Andersen tallied his first career half-sack on Elon’s third drive of the night, before Wake Forest helped lead the Demon Deacon defense to a third consecutive three-and-out.
- Fueled by a 49-yard connection between Griffis and Grimes, Wake Forest added a field goal with 2:54 left in the first quarter to go up 10-0.
- The strong defensive effort carried over to the fourth drive with another three-and-out.
- Wake Forest closed out the first quarter allowing -3 yards.
- A spectacular 33-yard touchdown completion from Griffis to Jahmal Banks capped off a five-play, 65-yard drive that opened up the second quarter.
- Elon’s fifth drive also ended in three plays, as Kendron Wayman took down Phoenix quarterback Matthew Downing on 3rd-and-6.
- Wake Forest closed out its sixth appearance on the field with an interception in the end zone, as DeMarcus Rankin jumped a route and hauled in a third career pick.
- The Deacs would take advantage of their first turnover generated this season, as Wake Forest needed just three plays to drive 80 yards as Griffis found Cameron Hite for a 69-yard score.
- Fueled by passing completions of 24 yards to Taylor Morin and 31 yards to Banks, Wake Forest opened the third quarter with a Matthew Dennis 29-yard field goal.
- Responding to 14 unanswered points from Elon, Wake Forest took advantage of a 47-yard kickoff return by Ke’Shawn Williams to add three points via the foot of Dennis to retake a 16-point lead with 58 seconds left in the third quarter.
- Dashawn Jones registered the second Demon Deacon interception of the game with 6:24 left in the fourth quarter.
- Wake Forest would convert the turnover into the team’s fourth touchdown of the night, courtesy a 10-yard rushing touchdown from Demond Claiborne.
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Elon Highlights and Notes
(By Jacob Kisamore, Elon Athletics Communications Assistant)
- After a defensive stop to open the third quarter, the Phoenix found the scoreboard for the first time this season on its opening drive of the second half, as Jalen Hampton delivered a 49-yard touchdown run.
- On the ensuing Wake Forest drive, Caleb Curtain intercepted a pass over the middle and returned it 45 yards for an Elon touchdown, cutting the deficit to 27-14.
- Wake scored the next 10 points before Jack Berkowitz knocked home the first field goal of his career in the closing seconds to make the final score 37-17.
- Jalen Hampton’s 49-yard touchdown run was the 11th touchdown of his career and tied his longest career run.
- Caleb Curtain’s pick six was Elon’s first since Greg Liggs, Jr. had a 42-yarder against Delaware in 2019.
- The Phoenix tallied four sacks, led by Cazeem Moore’s 1.5. Curtain and Chazz Harley both added one sack each.
- Nick Veloz racked up a career-best nine tackles, including one for a loss. Bo Sanders also had nine tackles to go along with a pair of pass breakups.
- Brandon Tyson and Antonio White both posted career-highs with seven tackles.
- Justin Allen and Matthew Downing split quarterbacking duties. Allen completed 18 of 29 passes for 128 yards after entering the game in the second quarter.
- Jordan Bonner hauled in seven passes for 58 yards to lead the Phoenix in both categories. Both were Elon-highs for Bonner, who spent two seasons with Purdue before joining the Phoenix in 2020.
- Cody Hardy caught his first career pass in the first quarter.
- Punter Kyle Romenick had two punts of at least 50 yards and averaged 43.4 yards on eight attempts.
- Elon outrushed Wake Forest 106-98 and held the Demon Deacons below three yards per carry for the game (2.8). The Phoenix held Wake Forest to just 22 yards on 15 carries in the first half. This was Elon’s first loss under Tony Trisciani (now 9-1) when holding an opponent under 100 yards on the ground.
- Elon went 3-3 on fourth down on the night.
- The Phoenix outscored the Demon Deacons 17-13 in the second half.
- This was the first time in 13 matchups against Wake Forest that Elon reached double-digit points.
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