Deadspin | Virginia erupts in fourth quarter, comes back to beat Wake Forest

Anthony Colandrea passed for 357 yards and three touchdowns and helped Virginia rally for a 31-30 victory against Wake Forest on Saturday night in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The Cavaliers (2-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) trailed 30-17 entering the fourth quarter before a touchdown catch by Trell Harris and a touchdown run by Grady Brosterhous, the latter with 2:07 remaining for Virginia’s first lead of the game.

Colandrea completed 33 of 43 passes and was picked off twice. Tyler Neville caught two TDs and Malachi Fields tallied 11 receptions for a career-high 148 yards in the Cavaliers’ first win at Wake Forest since 2002.

Hank Bachmeier passed for 403 yards and one score, and Demond Claiborne rushed for 86 yards and two TDs for the Demon Deacons (1-1, 0-1). Donavon Greene caught 11 passes for 166 yards and a TD.

Wake Forest led 10-3 after the first quarter thanks to a 17-yard TD run by Claiborne on the Demon Deacons’ opening drive and a 21-yard field goal by Matthew Dennis.

Virginia missed multiple opportunities early. Harris dropped a wide-open 55-yard touchdown pass, and a goal-line stand by the Demon Deacons forced the Cavaliers to settle for a chip-shot field goal.

Wake Forest got Claiborne’s second TD of the night early in the second quarter for a 17-3 lead. His 2-yard plunge came two plays after Kevin Pointer intercepted Colandrea’s deflected pass.

Colandrea bounced back with TD passes to Neville (18 and 24 yards) on back-to-back drives, sandwiched around a 38-yard field goal by Dennis, to pull Virginia within 20-17 by halftime.

Wake Forest started the second half with a 14-play, 75-yard drive, converting two fourth downs before Bachmeier’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Greene made it 27-17.

Dennis’ third field goal extended the lead to 30-17 late in the third quarter.

Virginia made it a one-score game at 30-24 on Colandrea’s 24-yard TD pass to Harris with 10:37 left in the fourth.

The Cavaliers got the ball back and converted two fourth downs of their own before taking the lead on a 1-yard scoring run by Brosterhous and an extra point by Will Bettridge.

Wake Forest managed to get two more possessions, but Taylor Morin’s fumble was recovered by Virginia’s Antonio Clary with 1:24 left and the Demon Deacons’ last-ditch, multiple-lateral effort ended near midfield just moments later.

–Field Level Media