WINSTON-SALEM — Tanner Price threw for 281 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a third as Wake Forest beat Gardner-Webb 48-5 on Saturday night.
Price completed 21 of 32 passes in less than three quarters for the Demon Deacons (2-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), hitting Terence Davis on a 5-yard TD pass late in the second quarter and Chris Givens on a 19-yard touchdown early in the third. He also scored on a 1-yard keeper in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs (1-2) couldn’t get their offense going against Wake Forest, managing just five first downs and 139 total yards. Their only points came off Trever Austin’s 27-yard field goal in the first quarter and a safety in the second.
The Demon Deacons also got touchdown runs from Brandon Pendergrass, backup quarterback Ted Stachitas and Nick Knott, and field goals of 22 and 25 yards from Jimmy Newman in their highest-scoring game of the season.
Price threw for 238 yards and accounted for two TDs in the first half, as Wake Forest dominated the smaller Bulldogs in building a 27-5 lead at the halftime break.
The two teams traded first-quarter field goals — Newman’s 22-yarder with 10:20 left, followed by Austin’s 27-yarder two minutes later — before Price’s keeper with 6:15 left in the quarter put Wake Forest ahead 10-3.
The Bulldogs’ defense did keep the pressure on, sacking Price twice in the first half and holding the Demon Deacons to field goals on two drives. They even dropped running back Josh Harris in the end zone for a safety that pulled Gardner-Webb within 10-5 with 2:14 left in the first quarter.
After that, however, it was all Wake Forest, which scored 17 unanswered points in the second quarter.
A 70-yard drive set up Newman’s second field goal, then Givens’ blocked punt quickly led to the Demon Deacons’ second touchdown, Pendergrass’ 6-yard run with 10:28 left. With time running out in the second quarter, Price hit six consecutive passes, capped by Davis’ 5-yarder with 22 seconds remaining, to stake Wake Forest to a 22-point lead.
Price’s second TD pass, the 19-yarder to Givens, put the Demon Deacons ahead 34-5 with 11:01 remaining in the third quarter, and ended his night.
Wake Forest’s reserves closed out the game with a pair of touchdowns — Stachitas scored on a 21-yard keeper with 7:15 left in the third quarter, and third-string running back Knott added a 12-yard TD run with 1:54 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Danny Dembry finished with eight receptions for a career-high 126 yards for Wake Forest, which finished with a season-best 29 first downs and 405 total yards.