2021 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team

2021 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
	Atlantic Division
	Coastal Division
	Championship: Pittsburgh 45, Wake Forest 21
	$ – Conference champion; x – Division champion/co-champions; y – Championship game participant; As of December 31, 2021; Rankings from CFP Rankings

2021 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football
2021 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football
ACC Atlantic Division champion
ACC Championship Game, L 21–45 vs. Pittsburgh
Gator Bowl, vs. Rutgers
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 18
AP	No. 16
CFP	No. 17
2021 record	10–3 (7–1 ACC)
Head coach	Dave Clawson (8th season);
Offensive coordinator	Warren Ruggiero (8th season)
Defensive coordinator	Lyle Hemphill (3rd season)
Home stadium	Truist Field at Wake Forest; (c. 31,500, FieldTurf)
	Seasons ← 2020 2022 →

The 2021 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team represents Wake Forest University during the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team is led by eighth-year head coach Dave Clawson, and play their home games at Truist Field at Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The Demon Deacons clinched the Atlantic Division for the first time since 2006 and will appear in the ACC Championship game against Pittsburgh.

Previous season[]

The 2020 team finished with a record of 4–5, 3–4 in ACC play in the COVID-19 shortened season. Wake Forest had scheduled games against Appalachian State, Old Dominion, Villanova, Duke, Miami, Notre Dame, and Florida State, but these were cancelled due to the pandemic.^[1]^[2] The Demon Deacons were invited to the Duke's Mayo Bowl, losing 28–42 to Wisconsin.

Preseason[]

ACC poll[]

The ACC media days were held on July 26, 2021. In the conference preseason polls, the Demon Deacons were predicted to finish in fifth place in the Atlantic Division.^[3]

Atlantic
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Clemson	1,028 (146)
2	NC State	804 (1)
3	Boston College	638
4	Florida State	510
5	Wake Forest	472
6	Louisville	462
7	Syracuse	202

Schedule[]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	7:00 p.m.	Old Dominion*		Truist Field at Wake Forest Winston-Salem, NC	ACCN	W 42–10	25,673
September 11	12:00 p.m.	Norfolk State*		Truist Field at Wake Forest Winston-Salem, NC	ACCNX/ESPN+	W 41–16	21,896
September 18	3:30 p.m.	Florida State		Truist Field at Wake Forest Winston-Salem, NC	ESPN	W 35–14	29,564
September 24	7:00 p.m.	at Virginia		Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	ESPN2	W 37–17	38,699
October 2	12:30 p.m.	Louisville	No. 24	Truist Field at Wake Forest Winston-Salem, NC	ACCRSN	W 37–34	29,077
October 9	3:30 p.m.	at Syracuse	No. 19	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY	ESPN2	W 40–37 ^OT	38,554
October 23	12:00 p.m.	at Army*	No. 16	Michie Stadium West Point, NY	CBSSN	W 70–56	38,019
October 30	4:00 p.m.	Duke	No. 13	Truist Field at Wake Forest Winston-Salem, NC	ACCN	W 45–7	31,613
November 6	12:00 p.m.	at North Carolina*^[1]	No. 9	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC (rivalry)	ABC	L 55–58	50,500
November 13	7:30 p.m.	No. 16 NC State	No. 12	Truist Field at Wake Forest Winston-Salem, NC (rivalry)	ACCN	W 45–42	34,503
November 20	12:00 p.m.	at Clemson	No. 10	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	ESPN	L 27–48	81,048
November 27	12:00 p.m.	at Boston College	No. 18	Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA	ESPN2	W 41–10	25,854
December 4	8:00 p.m.	vs. No. 15 Pittsburgh	No. 16	Bank of America Stadium Charlotte, NC (ACC Championship Game)	ABC	L 21–45	57,856
December 31	12:00 p.m.	vs. Rutgers*	No. 17	TIAA Bank Field Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl)	ESPN
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll (and CFP Rankings, after November 2) - Released prior to game All times are in Eastern time

Source:^[4]

^ The game against North Carolina, a fellow member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, was played as a non-conference game and did not count in the league standings.^[5] This was done because the two rivals otherwise only play once every six years due to conference divisional alignment.

Coaching staff[]

Position	Name	First Year at Wake
Head Coach	Dave Clawson	2014
Asst Head Coach / Receivers	Kevin Higgins	2014
AHC Defense/Defensive Line	Dave Cohen	2014
Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks	Warren Ruggiero	2014
Defensive Coordinator / Safeties		2017
Special Teams Coordinator / Tight Ends	Wayne Lineburg	2017
Assistant Special Teams Coordinator / Nickelbacks		2018
Running Backs		2014
Offensive Line		2014
Cornerbacks		2020
Linebackers		2016
Source:^[6]

Roster[]

2021 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
QB	`10`	Sam Hartman	So

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DB	`23`	Jarret Alston Jr.	Fr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`99`	Matthew Dennis	Fr
P, K	`36`	Ivan Mora	Fr
P, K	`88`	Jack Murphy	Jr
K	`4`	Nick Sciba	Jr
LS	`90`	Jacob Zhur	Fr

Head coach

Dave Clawson

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster

Game summaries[]

Old Dominion[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Monarchs	3	0	0	7	10
Demon Deacons	14	14	7	7	42

Statistics

Statistics	ODU	WAKE
First downs	17	20
Total yards	272	352
Rushing yards	145	164
Passing yards	127	188
Turnovers	2	1
Time of possession	32:19	27:41

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Old Dominion	Passing	Hayden Wolff	11/17, 88 yards, TD
	Rushing	Elijah Davis	12 rushes, 69 yards
	Receiving	Stone Smartt	3 receptions, 26 yards
Wake Forest	Passing	Sam Hartman	18/27, 188 yards, 3 TD
	Rushing	Christian Beal-Smith	11 rushes, 74 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	A. T. Perry	4 receptions, 81 yards, TD

Norfolk State[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Spartans	3	6	0	7	16
Demon Deacons	7	17	17	0	41

Statistics

Statistics	NORF	WAKE
First downs	19	22
Total yards	336	413
Rushing yards	141	161
Passing yards	195	252
Turnovers	1	1
Time of possession	38:39	21:21

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Norfolk State	Passing	Juwan Carter	19/31, 195 yards, 2 TD, INT
	Rushing	J. J. Davis	6 rushes, 42 yards
	Receiving	Justin Smith	5 receptions, 66 yards
Wake Forest	Passing	Sam Hartman	17/25, 244 yards, TD
	Rushing	Christian Beal-Smith	9 rushes, 60 yards, TD
	Receiving	Jaquarii Roberson	4 receptions, 97 yards, TD

Florida State[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Seminoles	7	7	0	0	14
Demon Deacons	14	13	8	0	35

Statistics

Statistics	FSU	WAKE
First downs	16	27
Total yards	317	484
Rushing yards	91	225
Passing yards	226	259
Turnovers	6	2
Time of possession	20:47	39:13

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Florida State	Passing	McKenzie Milton	11/16, 119 yards, 2 INT
	Rushing	Treshaun Ward	6 rushes, 48 yards
	Receiving	Ontaria Wilson	3 receptions, 91 yards, TD
Wake Forest	Passing	Sam Hartman	22/31, 259 yards, 2 TD, INT
	Rushing	Christian Beal-Smith	19 rushes, 95 yards, TD
	Receiving	A. T. Perry	7 receptions, 155 yards, TD

at Virginia[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Demon Deacons	10	10	14	3	37
Cavaliers	0	3	14	0	17

Statistics

Statistics	WAKE	UVA
First downs	24	31
Total yards	473	506
Rushing yards	203	99
Passing yards	270	407
Turnovers	0	2
Time of possession	29:27	30:33

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Wake Forest	Passing	Sam Hartman	17/29, 270 yards, 3 TD
	Rushing	Justice Ellison	13 rushes, 86 yards, TD
	Receiving	Jaquarii Roberson	4 receptions, 91 yards
Virginia	Passing	Brennan Armstrong	33/59, 407 yards, 2 TD, INT
	Rushing	Mike Hollins	6 rushes, 36 yards
	Receiving	Dontayvion Wicks	8 receptions, 114 yards, TD

Louisville[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	10	7	0	17	34
No. 24 Demon Deacons	10	10	7	10	37

Statistics

Statistics	LOU	WAKE
First downs	25	26
Total yards	517	501
Rushing yards	208	177
Passing yards	309	324
Turnovers	2	1
Time of possession	34:36	25:24

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Louisville	Passing	Malik Cunningham	19/26, 309 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Jalen Mitchell	17 rushes, 89 yards
	Receiving	Tyler Harrell	1 reception, 75 yards, TD
Wake Forest	Passing	Sam Hartman	23/40, 324 yards, 2 TD, INT
	Rushing	Justice Ellison	15 rushes, 67 yards, TD
	Receiving	Jaquariis Roberson	6 receptions, 135 yards

at Syracuse[]

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
No. 19 Demon Deacons	3	14	9	8	6	40
Orange	7	14	6	7	3	37

Statistics

Statistics	WAKE	SYR
First downs	21	33
Total yards	426	514
Rushing yards	96	354
Passing yards	330	160
Turnovers	1	1
Time of possession	26:10	33:50

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Wake Forest	Passing	Sam Hartman	19/32, 330 yards, 3 TD, INT
	Rushing	Christian Beal-Smith	17 rushes, 63 yards, TD
	Receiving	A. T. Perry	3 receptions, 137 yards, 3 TD
Syracuse	Passing	Garrett Shrader	15/27, 160 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Garret Shrader	29 rushes, 178 yards, TD
	Receiving	Courtney Jackson	5 receptions, 64 yards

at Army[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 16 Demon Deacons	14	14	21	21	70
Black Knights	7	14	14	21	56

Statistics

Statistics	WAKE	ARMY
First downs	22	31
Total yards	638	595
Rushing yards	180	416
Passing yards	458	179
Turnovers	0	2
Time of possession	17:17	42:43

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Wake Forest	Passing	Sam Hartman	23/29, 458 yards, 5 TD
	Rushing	Christian Beal-Smith	8 rushes, 71 yards, TD
	Receiving	Jaquariis Roberson	8 receptions, 157 yards, 3 TD
Army	Passing	Jabari Laws	9/11, 140 yards, 3 TD
	Rushing	Tyhier Tyler	15 rushes, 104 yards, TD
	Receiving	Isaiah Alston	6 receptions, 107 yards, 2 TD

Duke[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Devils	0	0	0	7	7
No. 13 Demon Deacons	14	14	10	7	45

Statistics

Statistics	DUKE	WAKE
First downs	12	29
Total yards	315	677
Rushing yards	160	266
Passing yards	155	411
Turnovers	1	1
Time of possession	23:55	36:05

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Duke	Passing	Gunnar Holmberg	10/18, 110 yards
	Rushing	Mataeo Durant	20 rushes, 103 yards
	Receiving	Jalon Calhoun	3 receptions, 50 yards
Wake Forest	Passing	Sam Hartman	24/37, 402 yards, 3 TD
	Rushing	Christian Turner	10 rushes, 75 yards
	Receiving	A.T. Perry	7 receptions, 116 yards

at North Carolina[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 9 Demon Deacons	10	21	17	7	55
Tar Heels	14	10	10	24	58

Statistics

Statistics	WAKE	UNC
First downs	35	31
Total yards	615	546
Rushing yards	217	330
Passing yards	398	216
Turnovers	2	1
Time of possession	26:27	33:33

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Wake Forest	Passing	Sam Hartman	25/51, 398 yards, 5 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Justice Ellison	13 carries, 81 yards
	Receiving	Jaquarii Roberson	7 receptions, 111 yards, 2 TD
North Carolina	Passing	Sam Howell	16/26, 216 yards, TD
	Rushing	Ty Chandler	22 carries, 213 yards, 4 TD
	Receiving	Antoine Green	6 receptions, 83 yards, TD

No. 16 NC State[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 16 Wolfpack	6	14	7	15	42
No. 12 Demon Deacons	7	17	7	14	45

Statistics

Statistics	NCST	WAKE
First downs	25	27
Total yards	482	406
Rushing yards	74	116
Passing yards	408	290
Turnovers	3	3
Time of possession	28:20	31:40

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
NC State	Passing	Devin Leary	37/59, 408 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Ricky Person	8 rushes, 40 yards
	Receiving	Emeka Emezie	10 receptions, 133 yards, 2 TD
Wake Forest	Passing	Sam Hartman	20/47, 290 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT
	Rushing	Justice Ellison	17 rushes, 57 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	A. T. Perry	5 receptions, 73 yards, TD

at Clemson[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 10 Demon Deacons	0	10	3	14	27
Tigers	10	7	21	10	48

Statistics

Statistics	WAKE	CLEM
First downs	24	25
Total yards	406	543
Rushing yards	36	333
Passing yards	370	210
Turnovers	3	3
Time of possession	26:08	33:52

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Wake Forest	Passing	Sam Hartman	27/43, 312 yards, TD, INT
	Rushing	Quinton Cooley	8 rushes, 41 yards, TD
	Receiving	A. T. Perry	5 reception, 113 yards
Clemson	Passing	D. J. Uiagalelei	11/19, 208 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	Kobe Pace	24 rushes, 191 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Beaux Collins	4 reception, 137 yards, TD

at Boston College[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 18 Demon Deacons	14	10	10	7	41
Eagles	7	3	0	0	10

Statistics

Statistics	WAKE	BC
First downs	25	9
Total yards	413	182
Rushing yards	177	163
Passing yards	236	19
Turnovers	1	3
Time of possession	36:13	23:47

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Wake Forest	Passing	Sam Hartman	20/32, 236 yards, 3 TD, INT
	Rushing	Christian Turner	18 rushes, 54 yards, TD
	Receiving	A. T. Perry	4 receptions, 81 yards, 2 TD
Boston College	Passing	Phil Jurkovec	3/11, 19 yards, TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Phil Jurkovec	11 rushes, 85 yards
	Receiving	Trae Berry	1 reception, 15 yards, TD

Rankings[]

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	NR	NR	NR	RV	24	19	16	16	13	10	13	13	21	18	20
Coaches	NR	NR	NR	RV	25	20	16	15	13	9	13	12	21	18	19
CFP	Not released									9	12	10	18	16	17	Not released

References[]

^ "ACC Announces Plans for Football and Fall Olympic Sports". TheACC.com. July 29, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
^ Singelais, Mark (July 16, 2020). "Reports: CAA football won't play this fall". Times Union. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
^ "Preseason Forecast: Clemson Favored to Continue ACC Football Title Run". Atlantic Coast Conference. July 26, 2021. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
^ "2021 Wake Forest Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
^ Wolken, Dan (January 26, 2015). "ACC teams Wake Forest and North Carolina schedule non-conference matchups". USA Today.
^ "Greg Jones - Football Coach". Wake Forest University Athletics. Retrieved 2021-10-22.

This college football 2020s season article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

[1] "ACC Announces Plans for Football and Fall Olympic Sports". TheACC.com. July 29, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2021.

[2] Singelais, Mark (July 16, 2020). "Reports: CAA football won't play this fall". Times Union. Retrieved October 23, 2021.

[3] "Preseason Forecast: Clemson Favored to Continue ACC Football Title Run". Atlantic Coast Conference. July 26, 2021. Retrieved October 23, 2021.

[4] "2021 Wake Forest Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved January 30, 2021.

[5] Wolken, Dan (January 26, 2015). "ACC teams Wake Forest and North Carolina schedule non-conference matchups". USA Today.

[6] "Greg Jones - Football Coach". Wake Forest University Athletics. Retrieved 2021-10-22.

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v t Wake Forest Demon Deacons football
Venues	Gore Field (1922–1939) Groves Stadium (1940–1955) Bowman Gray Stadium (1956–1967) Truist Field at Wake Forest (1968–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Tobacco Road North Carolina NC State
Culture & lore	Demon Deacon The 5th Quarter
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896–1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

2021 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
v t	Conf				Overall
Team		W		L		W		L
Atlantic Division
No. 17 Wake Forest xy		7	–	1		10	–	3
No. 18 NC State		6	–	2		9	–	3
No. 19 Clemson		6	–	2		10	–	3
Louisville		4	–	4		6	–	7
Florida State		4	–	4		5	–	7
Syracuse		2	–	6		5	–	7
Boston College		2	–	6		6	–	6
Coastal Division
No. 12 Pittsburgh xy$		7	–	1		11	–	2
Miami (FL)		5	–	3		7	–	5
Virginia Tech		4	–	4		6	–	7
Virginia		4	–	4		6	–	6
North Carolina		3	–	5		6	–	7
Georgia Tech		2	–	6		3	–	9
Duke		0	–	8		3	–	9
Championship: Pittsburgh 45, Wake Forest 21
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant As of December 31, 2021; Rankings from CFP Rankings