Wake Forest 27, Mississippi 3
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -- De'Angelo Bryant rushed for 105 yards and a
touchdown to help Wake Forest get off to its best start since 1987
with a 27-3 victory over Mississippi on Saturday night.
The Demon Deacons (4-0) didn't seem to miss leading rusher Micah
Andrews, out with an injured knee.
Wake Forest ran the ball on 53 of its 58 plays, finishing with
240 yards rushing.
Running back Kevin Harris scored a touchdown on his third carry
of the game and had a 5.1 yards per carry average. And fullback
Mike Rinfrette scored on the first carry of his career, a 1-yard
plunge that put the Deacons up 27-3 with 1:14 left in the third
quarter.
The Deacons, who led the Atlantic Coast Conference in rushing
four of the last five seasons, controlled the Rebels (1-3) from
their opening drive. Bryant carried six times for 43 yards and
capped the drive with a 9-yard touchdown run with 9:26 left in the
first quarter.
The defense was every bit as impressive, holding Ole Miss to 26
yards rushing and 237 total. Starting quarterback Brent Schaeffer
was pulled in the fourth quarter after completing 13 of 28 passes
for 127 yards and an interception. And Wake Forest limited
BenJarvus Green-Ellis, the Southeastern Conference's third-leading
rusher, to 54 yards on 12 carries.
Mistakes by the Deacons gave the Rebels their only chances to
score until the game was well out of reach. A fumble on Riley
Skinner's errant pitch -- the only time Wake Forest attempted
anything other than a direct handoff in the first quarter -- set up
an Ole Miss field-goal attempt. But Joshua Skene missed the
25-yarder wide left with 26 seconds left in the first.
Wake Forest scored on its first three drives of the second half
and now turns to Liberty, a Division I-AA team. With a win, the
Deacons would match their best start since going 5-0 in 1987.
Game Information
2023 Atlantic Coast Conference Standings
Team | CONF | OVR |
---|---|---|
Duke | 1-0 | 3-0 |
Florida State | 1-0 | 3-0 |
Louisville | 1-0 | 3-0 |
Miami | 0-0 | 3-0 |
North Carolina | 0-0 | 3-0 |
Syracuse | 0-0 | 3-0 |
Wake Forest | 0-0 | 3-0 |
NC State | 0-0 | 2-1 |
Pittsburgh | 0-0 | 1-2 |
Virginia Tech | 0-0 | 1-2 |
Virginia | 0-0 | 0-3 |
Clemson | 0-1 | 2-1 |
Boston College | 0-1 | 1-2 |
Georgia Tech | 0-1 | 1-2 |
2023 Southeastern Conference Standings
Team | CONF | OVR |
---|---|---|
Georgia | 1-0 | 3-0 |
Florida | 1-0 | 2-1 |
Kentucky | 0-0 | 3-0 |
Missouri | 0-0 | 3-0 |
Vanderbilt | 0-0 | 2-2 |
Tennessee | 0-1 | 2-1 |
South Carolina | 0-1 | 1-2 |