Wake Forest Tops No. 22 Elon Football in Non-Conference Finale

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Visiting Wake Forest of the Atlantic Coast Conference, No. 22 Elon University football dropped a 49-7 decision Saturday afternoon, Sept. 21, at BB&T Field.

BOX SCORE

“We lost to a really good ACC football team today,” said Elon head coach Tony Trisciani. “I know what kind of football team we have. This was not our best football today, but that’s a real good football team. I know what we have in that locker room and we’re going to go back, look at the film and coach them up just like we do every week. It’s one week at a time and we’ll be a better football team next week.”

THE RUNDOWN
Elon (2-2, 1-0 CAA Football) won the toss and elected to kick to open the afternoon. The Phoenix defense stopped the Wake Forest (4-0) offense on the opening drive of the game as the two teams traded punts to start, but Wake Forest got on the board with 9:15 left in the opening quarter to start the scoring.

Putting its only points on the board in the first quarter, Davis Cheek hit Avery Jones from 40 yards out to cut the Wake Forest lead to 14-7 with 57 seconds to go in the opening frame. The eight-play, 75-yard drive was setup by an eight-yard carry by Jaylan Thomas, a 10-yard scamper by Joey Baughman on third down to keep the drive alive and an 11-yard rush by De’Sean McNair to push Elon across midfield.

Midway through the second quarter, Daniel Reid-Bennett stepped in front of a Jamie Newman pass in the front corner of the end zone and intercepted the Demon Deacon quarterback. Elon’s ensuing drive flipped the field and Elon forced a Demon Deacon punt, but it couldn’t get anything going on offense and Wake Forest’s final drive of the first half found the end zone with a 48-yard touchdown pass from Newman to Sage Surratt to put Wake Forest up 28-7 on the way to the win.

STATISTICS
Passing
Elon: Davis Cheek – 9/18, 174 yards, 1 touchdown
Wake Forest: Jamie Newman – 27/35, 351 yards, 5 touchdowns, 1 interception

Rushing
Elon: De’Sean McNair – 9 carries, 49 yards
Wake Forest: Kenneth Walker – 9 carries, 91 yards, 1 touchdown

Receiving
Elon: Avery Jones – 3 receptions, 45 yards, 1 touchdown
Wake Forest: Scotty Washington – 9 receptions, 141 yards, 2 touchdowns

Defense
Elon: Daniel Reid-Bennett – 13 tackles, 8 solo tackles, 1 interception, 1 PBU
Wake Forest: Justin Strnad – 6 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 1.0 sacks

NOTES
-Davis Cheek has now attempted 206 consecutive passes without an interception.
-Avery Jones’s 40-yard touchdown reception is the longest reception of his career to date, topping the 36-yard reception earlier this year against The Citadel.
-Daniel Reid-Bennett finished with a career-high 13 tackles to go with his second-quarter interception. Marcus Hillman also finished with a career-high 10 tackles.
-The 49 points marks the most allowed by Elon since it visited Toledo with the Rockets scoring 47 to open the 2017 season.

UP NEXT
Elon will return home after a brief two-game road trip for a 2 p.m. kickoff against No. 2 James Madison on FloSports. It marks Elon’s first game against a Top 5 opponent since it defeated No. 2 James Madison 27-24 in Harrisonburg, Va., last October.