Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Virginia Tech Hokies

Ashford leads Wake Forest to 30-23 road win at Virginia Tech

Ashford completed 24-of-39 passes for the Demon Deacons (3-2, 1-2), who snapped a two-game losing streak and handed first-year coach Jake Dickert his first Atlantic Coast Conference win.

“I’m so proud of these guys,” Dickert said. “Last week, they took it from us, and our guys went out there and freaking earned it. I saw it all week, and that was the response. It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t pretty. Just so proud of our football team to come in this environment to show who we are. Man, it was just a gutty performance.”

The mood was markedly different than a week ago when Wake Forest squandered a two-touchdown lead against Georgia Tech and then had a missed offsides call go against them in a 30-29 overtime loss.

The Demon Deacons jumped out to a 24-14 halftime lead after an 11-yard touchdown pass from Ashford to Eli Falayi. But Wake Forest’s offense sputtered for much of the second half until Ashford led a 13-play drive late in the fourth quarter

Ashford accounted for 44 of the 59 yards on a possession that lasted more than six minutes and led to Connor Calvert’s 27-yard go-ahead field goal with 2:14 remaining.

“We all told ourselves, “Hey, it’s not going to be easy,’” Ashford said of the offense’s mindset entering that drive. “We wouldn’t want it to be easy. It’s never going to be easy in Division I football. … We just had to dig deep on that last drive and be able to grind it out. Then defense was able to get a stop, and we are able to go back to Winston-Salem happy.”

Virginia Tech (2-4, 1-1) failed to convert on fourth-and-6 from its 29 on its final possession.

Kyron Drones threw for 111 yards and a touchdown for the Hokies, who finished with just 263 yards.

“There are all kinds of moments in the game that I thought both sides of the ball and on special teams had big plays happen,” Virginia Tech interim coach Philip Montgomery said. “We’ve got to continue to keep building on those, correct the things that we can correct, get back on the practice field, and go back to work.”

The takeaway Wake Forest: This was a gritty road win for the Demon Deacons, who won despite not having standout tailback Demond Claiborne in the second half due to a knee injury.

“I just think those guys never flinched,” Dickert said of his team after Claiborne’s injury. “I think that’s the sign of a good, tough, football team.”

Virginia Tech: The Hokies were looking for their third straight win since the firing of coach Brent Pry on Sept. 14, but couldn’t take advantage of great opportunities. They drove inside the Wake Forest 25 four times in the second half and came away with just three fields.

Turning point Wake Forest’s defense stood tall all day, but none more so than during a late third-quarter drive in which Virginia Tech took over at the Wake Forest 4 after Ashford threw an interception. The Demon Deacons forced a Virginia Tech field goal and retained a 27-23 lead.

“To stop them on first-and-goal from the 5-yard line was just incredible,” Dickert said. “Great job of keeping their poise. … When we needed it in the red zone, those guys were there. So proud of that defense.”

Up next Wake Forest plays at Oregon State on Saturday.

Virginia Tech plays at Georgia Tech on Saturday.