Virginia Cavaliers at Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Virginia rallies past Wake Forest in 4th quarter for 31-30 win in ACC opener

The Cavaliers (2-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) trailed 30-17 entering the final period.

“I told them at halftime: ‘Look, this game’s going to come down to somebody making a play,” Virginia coach Tony Elliott said, adding; "But you’ve got to be ready to make a play.”

His team proved him right in the final minutes, notably when Malcolm Greene jarred a catch loose from Taylor Morin for a fumble, while a diving Antonio Clary recovered it with 1:24 left after Wake Forest had crossed midfield.

That proved to be the biggest stop for Virginia, which held on as Wake Forest had one last no-timeouts desperate possession in the final minute. That drive ended with a frantic set of laterals as time expired.

Anthony Colandrea threw for 357 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Cavaliers while overcoming two interceptions.

“For a young kid, he's calm, cool and collected," said tight end Tyler Neville, who had two TD grabs. "So that's all you can ask for.”

Colandrea's last scoring throw was a 24-yarder to Trell Harris on the left side of the end zone to bring Virginia within six with 10:37 left.

Then he directed a 12-play scoring drive that included two fourth-down conversions, the last being when he zipped a pass to Malachi Fields — who was locked up with a Wake Forest defender — to set up a first-and-goal before Brosterhous came on two plays later to punch it in.

Fields finished with career highs of 11 catches for 148 yards.

Hank Bachmeier threw for 403 yards and a touchdown to lead the Demon Deacons (1-1, 0-1), with Donavon Greene hauling in a career-best 11 passes for 166 yards and a short third-quarter score.

The Demon Deacons rolled to 544 yards, but had some key drives stall out with a chance to increase the lead. And Donavon Greene had a chance to recover Morin’s late fumble, but he tried to pick it up instead of diving on it and couldn’t control the ball as Clary came low to get it.

“There's no reason to try to pick that up,” Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson said. "Just get on it and you have the football.

“You've seen how many times we do those drills. Obviously, we didn't make the point strong enough. We have a chance to get on that thing and if we do, it might be a different game."

The takeaway Virginia: The Cavaliers had won just three games in each of Elliott’s first two seasons, but now have their first 2-0 start since Bronco Mendenhall’s final season in 2021 along with their first win in an ACC opener since 2020.

Wake Forest: Bachmeier got the start and went the whole way in this one after sharing snaps with Michael Kern in the opener. He was effective pushing the ball downfield to Greene, who looked fully recovered from the knee injury that sidelined him last year. But Virginia also got after Bachmeier for six sacks while Morin's late fumble ended what amounted to Wake Forest's last best chance.

Up next Virginia: The Cavaliers return home next Saturday to host Maryland, a former longtime ACC member.

Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons face a stiff test by hosting sixth-ranked Mississippi next Saturday.

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