Kenneth Walker III rushed for three touchdowns as visiting Wake Forest posted a 38-14 victory over Syracuse on Saturday in an Atlantic Coast Conference game.
The Demon Deacons (4-2, 3-2) won their fourth straight game as Walker scored in each of the first three quarters to push his team-leading touchdown mark to 11.
Jaquarri Roberson (seven receptions, game-best 130 yards) scored on a long touchdown catch for Wake Forest.
Sophomore quarterback Sam Hartman turned in another steady performance, completing 19 of 33 passes for 250 yards and a score.
The Orange (1-6, 1-5) played without quarterback Tommy DeVito, who missed his third straight game, and top rusher Sean Tucker also did not dress out.
Senior Rex Culpepper completed 15 of 27 passes for 85 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions as Syracuse dropped its fourth consecutive game.
Nick Sciba capped the game's opening series by booting a 33-yard field at 10:06 to finish a 13-play, 60-yard possession. On the next series, Walker plunged in from 1 yard out to end a 12-play, 64-yard drive.
But Syracuse cut into the lead behind Nykeim Johnson, who set up the series with a 26-yard punt return. Four plays later, Culpepper found the senior wide receiver for 21 yards to make it 10-7.
Walker tallied his second TD by cutting back on a run to the right side, thwarting three attempted tackles and bulling into the end zone for a 17-7 lead that stood at the break.
The visitors added right away in the second half on their longest play of the season. Hartman stepped up in the pocket and connected with a wide-open Roberson behind blown coverage, and the wide receiver zipped 80 yards for a 24-7 lead.
Two plays later, Gavin Holmes sat on a route and returned an interception of Culpepper 32 yards for a 31-7 edge, but the freshman cornerback was injured on the play and had to be helped off the field.
Walker scored his third touchdown in the third, and Syracuse true freshman quarterback JaCobian Morgan tossed his first career score to Luke Benson for the final margin.
--Field Level Media
Wake Forest | Syracuse | |
Christian Beal-Smith | Player | Cooper Lutz |
19 | Attempts | 15 |
87 | Yards | 81 |
4.6 | Avg Yards | 5.4 |
0 | Touchdowns | 0 |
0 | Long | 0 |
Wake Forest | Syracuse | |
Jaquarii Roberson | Player | Sharod Johnson |
7 | Receptions | 2 |
130 | Yards | 34 |
18.6 | Avg Yards | 17.0 |
1 | Touchdowns | 0 |
0 | Long | 0 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
Wake Forest | 437 | 187 | 250 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 1 |
Syracuse | 221 | 79 | 142 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 0 |