By By MIKE CRANSTON, AP Sports Writer
WINSTON-SALEM — Ricky Dobbs led a brilliant touchdown drive capped by a 6-yard pass to Greg Jones with 26 seconds left to give Navy a 28-27 win and hand Wake Forest its second straight last-minute loss.
Dobbs, who had been knocked out of the game briefly after taking a sack on the previous drive, found an open Gee Gee Greene for a 34-yard gain to the Wake Forest 15 with just over a minute left.
Then on third down he hit Jones in the right corner of the end zone. Joe Buckley kicked the tiebreaking extra point and Navy (3-2) avoided a second straight loss.
Freshman Tanner Price threw for 327 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score for Wake Forest (2-4), which lost its fourth straight. The Demon Deacons were beaten by Georgia Tech a week ago on a touchdown with 15 seconds left.
Wake Forest squandered a 17-6 lead in that game, but this loss was even more improbable.
The Demon Deacons appeared to be in control when Dobbs returned from the sideline on third-and-11 from the Wake 43 with just over 3 minutes left and had two passes knocked down by Kyle Wilber and Alex Frye.
But Wake Forest quickly punted and the short kick gave Navy an opportunity.
After Navy’s TD, Michael Campanaro took back the kickoff 47 yards to Wake 49, but the Demon Deacons couldn’t get into field goal range before time expired.
Dobbs rushed for 22 times for 100 yards and two scores, hitting 40 rushing TDs in his career. He also completed 8 of 19 passes for 94 yards and two more scores as Navy bounced back from a loss at rival Air Force a week earlier.
It wasted an excellent effort by Price, who returned after missing a game with a concussion. Seeing the field well, using his feet to avoid sacks and using a slew of swing passes, Price turned in a performance not seen since four-year starter Riley Skinner’s departure after last season left Wake Forest’s QB situation in flux.
Wearing Skinner’s old No. 11, Price set freshman records for completions, attempts and yards receiving, completing 37 of 55 passes. And when Jimmy Newman kicked a 31-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter to make it 27-21, it looked like he’d get the win.
Wake Forest took a 24-21 lead on Price’s swing pass to Devon Brown, who ran 12 yards for a TD with 1:08 left in the third quarter.
Price had shattered David Webber’s 1978 Wake Forest record for most completions in a game by a freshman (18) by the second quarter. It came before he rifled a spiral to Chris Givens in the back of the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown with 12 seconds left to put the Demon Deacons up 17-14 at halftime.
Price, from Austin, Texas, had taken over the starting job until he sustained a concussion in a 31-0 loss at Florida State on Sept. 25. He sat out last week’s loss at Georgia Tech, during which Wake Forest had used three QBs by its fourth possession because of injuries.
The Midshipmen tied it at 7 on Alexander Teich’s first career touchdown — a 6-yard grab from Dobbs — on their first possession. Dobbs’ 3-yard run early in the second quarter put Navy ahead 14-10.
Navy, already without starting safety Emmett Merchant (concussion), lost starting fullback Vince Murray (sprained knee) in the first quarter as they completed a three-game trip that covered more than 6,000 miles.