Kennesaw State Owls at Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Wake Forest hangs on to beat Kennesaw State 10-9, gives Jake Dickert a win in Demon Deacons debut

Ashford's 5-yard keeper that ended with him flipping through a hit at the goal line was a rare highlight on a bumpy night for the Demon Deacons (1-0), who lost top player Demond Claiborne to a rib injury after just three carries.

“Adversity came right away,” Dickert said. “We responded to it.”

Still, Wake Forest hung on after forcing Dexter Williams II to throw incomplete on fourth down with 1:50 left, prompting Dickert to pump his fist in exuberance that might've had some mixed-in relief, too.

Wake Forest didn't go ahead for good until Connor Calvert's 22-yard field goal with 3:05 left in the third.

“I could feel the anxiousness out there,” defensive back Nick Andersen said of opening night. “We just needed to take a deep breath, put our feet in the ground and do what we do.”

Coleman Bennett bounced off a hit and rumbled loose for a 19-yard touchdown in the first quarter for the Owls (0-1), who led 9-7 until late in the third on a night when they missed a field goal and extra point.

“I was really impressed with our defense and just the battle that they kind of put out there," first-year Kennesaw State coach Jerry Mack said. “Offensively we've got to do a better job of executing.”

The takeaway Kennesaw State: The Conference USA program had the second-lowest rating in the league's Bowl Confidence Index indicating a team's likelihood of reaching postseason play (16.67%). The Owls are in their second year of Bowl Subdivision play after a 2-10 reclassification season in the move up from FCS, but flirted with their first win against a power-conference foe.

Wake Forest: The 42-year-old Dickert left Washington State to take over here after Dave Clawson’s unexpected resignation. His first team was picked to finish 16th in the 17-team Atlantic Coast Conference even with Claiborne in the backfield, so his status will be a concern going forward.

More on Claiborne Claiborne, a 1,000-yard rusher last year, had carries of 13 and 2 yards on the game's first two plays before coming off the field and heading to the locker room. He later came jogging back out carrying jersey-wrapped pads and checked in for the first of multiple stints in the injury tent.

He re-entered the game with 10:24 left in the second and got a 4-yard carry up the middle but immediately came off. He was later spotted with an icebag wrapped around his left ribs.

Dickert didn't have specific details on the injury afterwards.

Up next Kennesaw State: The Owls get another power-conference matchup, heading to No. 20 Indiana on Sept. 6.

Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons host an instate FCS team in Western Carolina on Sept. 6.