Wake Forest Falls at Florida State in Saturday Primetime Contest

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Wake Forest football (5-3, 2-3 ACC) dropped a 42-7 contest at Florida State (4-4, 1-4 ACC) on Saturday night inside Doak Campbell Stadium.

The Demon Deacons amassed 247 yards of total offense on Saturday and a fourth quarter receiving touchdown from redshirt sophomore Micah Mays Jr. Individually, redshirt senior Robby Ashford was under-center for the Demon Deacons and completed 12 passes for 93 yards and he tallied 59 rushing yards on Saturday night. Meanwhile, Mays led the Deacs with five receptions for 51 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, the Deacs were led by redshirt senior Nick Andersen as the safety amassed 11 tackles and two tackles-for-loss. As a team, the Deacs tallied 10 tackles-for-loss tackles and three sacks, including a strip sack by defensive lineman Gabe Kirschke to set up the Mays' touchdown.

Wake Forest hits the road again next week as the Demon Deacons play at No. 15 Virginia on Saturday, Nov. 8 with kickoff at Scott Stadium set for 7 p.m. on ESPN.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Wake Forest and Florida State ended the first quarter scoreless.

The Demon Deacons outgained the Seminoles, 92-81, including 55 yards rushing

Quarterback Robby Ashford had 42 yards on the ground for the Demon Deacons in the opening 15 minutes of play.

The Seminoles got on the board first on a six-yard rushing touchdown with 13:44 left in the first half to push ahead 7-0.

Florida State extended their lead to 14-0 with 57 seconds remaining in the first half.

A costly turnover from the Demon Deacons extended the FSU lead to 21-0.

The Seminoles tacked on another rushing touchdown to make it 28-0.

Florida State capitalized on another Demon Deacon turnover to extend their lead to 35-0 on the first play of the fourth quarter.

The Seminoles made it 42-0 with 11:51 remaining in the game.

The Demon Deacons got on the board with 6:49 left to go, as quarterback Deshawn Purdie found Mich Mays in the end zone on a six-yard touchdown pass.

The scoring drive was set up by a Gab Kirschke strip sack on the previous Seminole possession.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Through eight games, Nick Andersen leads the team in tackles, totaling 68 including a team-high eight tackles in the win over SMU and season-high 11 against both Florida State and NC State.

Following the FSU game, Andersen ranks tied for third in the ACC in tackles per game:

Rank School Tackles/Game

1. Caden Fordham NC State 9.6

2. Cade Uluave Cal 9.0

T3. Nick Andersen Wake Forest 8.5

T3. Matt Rose Stanford 8.5

5. Isaiah Nwokobia SMU 8.3

Overall in his Wake Forest career, Andersen has collected 331 total tackles which ranks 11th in program history and is the third-most by a Demon Deacon since 2000:

Wake Forest Total Tackles Since 2000

Rank Total Tackles

1. Ryan Smenda Jr. (2018-22) 355

2. Aaron Curry (2005-08) 332

3. Nick Andersen (2020-Pres.) 331

4. Ryan Javion (2013-16) 328

5. Brandon Chubb (2012-15) 326

6. Jon Abbate (2004-06) 297

In 12 games last season, Nick Andersen was one of the best tacklers in the country and led the Demon Deacons with 122 total tackles (10.2) which is 28 more than the next closest player on the team. Andersen was one of just 17 players nationally with 120 or more tackles last season.

In addition to leading the team in this category, Andersen also was the ACC leader with the next closest player totaling 117 tackles last season. Andersen's 10.2 tackles per game also ranked seventh nationally:

Rank School Tackles/Game

1. Shaun Dolac Buffalo 12.9

2. Red Murdock Buffalo 12.0

3. Travion Barnes FIU 11.7

4. Isaac Smith Miss. State 11.5

5. Carson Schwesinger UCLA 11.3

6. Stone Blanton Miss. State 10.4

7. Nick Andersen Wake Forest 10.2

T8. Marques W-Trent Ga. Southern 10.0

T8. Bryan McCoy Akron 10.0

10. Colin Ramos Navy 9.9

STAGGERING STATISTICS

Wake Forest finishes the season 3-1 on Homecoming weekends this season, with wins at Virginia Tech, at Oregon State and over SMU in their own Homecoming game.

Opponent Result at Virginia Tech W, 30-23 at Oregon State W, 39-14 vs. SMU W, 13-12 at Florida State L, 7-42

FROM COACH DICKERT

"Obviously, not a great football game. We got beat handily in all three phases. Didn't have much going on offense. Didn't execute and put any drives together or finish. The crowd noise affected us again. Defensively, we were on the field too much and we gave up too many big plays really for the first time all season. We weren't able to get any momentum going. They beat us on third down on a couple different phases. Our team has to respond to this game. This is the first time since we've all been together that we've had this type of result. I'm proud of the fight and the resolve. We had a good week of practice and preparation, but we didn't play the way we know we are capable of playing, and that's on me."

UP NEXT

Wake Forest will face off with No. 15 Virginia on Saturday, Nov. 8 with kickoff at Scott Stadium set for 7 p.m. on ESPN.

Great value remains for the Demon Deacons two remaining home games at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium! Fans still interested in purchasing tickets against North Carolina (Nov. 15) and Delaware (Nov. 22) can do so by clicking HERE.

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