Wake Forest Demon Deacons vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish Box Score on Nov 04, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Nov 4, 2017

Quarterback Brandon Wimbush accounted for three touchdowns and overcame a scary hit to the knee to lead No. 3 Notre Dame to its seventh straight win, 48-37 over Wake Forest on Saturday in South Bend, Ind.

Wimbush rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns, but made Notre Dame fans worry after he stayed down on the turf after taking a hard hit to his right knee on a run right before halftime. The junior returned for the second half, though, and threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Chase Claypool to help put away the Demon Deacons.

Claypool had nine catches for 180 yards for the Irish offense, which shredded Wake Forest for 710 total yards.

Quarterback John Wofford completed 28 of 45 passes for 331 yards with two touchdowns. Wofford and Matt Colburn had rushing touchdowns for the Demon Deacons (5-4), who failed to build off last week's upset win over Louisville.

Notre Dame (8-1) also saw leading rusher Josh Adams leave the game with an undisclosed injury in the first quarter. Adams did not return, a potential concern heading into next week's game at No. 10 Miami.

Notre Dame popped up at No. 3 in the first College Football Playoff rankings released earlier in the week. After traveling to take on the Hurricanes next week, the Irish finish the regular season against Navy and at No. 21 Stanford, which is likely to drop from the rankings after losing at Washington State on Saturday.

Wake Forest grabbed an early lead with an impressive 14-play, 82-yard drive, capped by a Mike Weaver field goal. At the time, it looked like the Demon Deacons were going to test the Irish on a gray, misty Saturday in South Bend.

But Notre Dame answered, with Wimbush finishing off a drive with a 2-yard touchdown run that put the Fighting Irish up 7-3.

Wimbush's second rushing touchdown of the first half came on a 50-yard quarterback draw that put the Irish up 24-14 midway through the second quarter.

Notre Dame finished off the first half with a 99-yard scoring drive, with backup quarterback Ian Book hooking up with senior tight end Nic Weishar to put the Irish in front 31-14 at halftime.

With the game in hand, Book also played the fourth quarter.

NOTES: Notre Dame RB Josh Adams left the game in the first quarter with an undisclosed injury and did not return. He finished with 22 yards on five carries. ... Wake Forest star WR Greg Dortch suffered an abdominal injury in last week's upset of Louisville and underwent season-ending surgery. Dortch had a school-record four touchdown receptions against Louisville ... Wake Forest also was missing RB Cade Carney and S Jessie Bates III. ... Notre Dame defensive coordinator Mike Elko left Wake Forest to join the Irish after last season. ... Saturday's game was the fourth all-time meeting between Notre Dame and Wake Forest. Notre Dame has won all four games. ... Notre Dame faces No. 10 Miami, Fla., next week. ... Wake Forest is at Syracuse.