Demon Deacons sting No. 14 Wolfpack late

RALEIGH, N.C. — Jamie Newman threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Jack Freudenthal with 30 seconds left to give Wake Forest a 27-23 upset victory over No. 14 North Carolina State on Thursday night.

Making his first career start, Newman was 22 of 33 for 297 yards with 3 touchdown passes in the second half to help the Demon Deacons (5-5, 2-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) rally from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter. The 17-point underdogs earned their first road victory over a Top 25 team in a decade.

Newman threw a 38-yard scoring pass to Alex Bachman before his 19-yard touchdown to Greg Dortch pulled Wake Forest to 23-20 with 6:07 left.

N.C. State bled nearly 41/2 minutes off the clock before its drive stalled at the Wake Forest 20 with 1:39 left. Newman completed 5 of 8 passes on the possession that followed, taking a hit as he connected with a wide-open Freudenthal over the middle for the go-ahead score.

The Wolfpack advanced to their 49 before Ryan Finley’s final pass for the end zone was intercepted by receiver Scottie Washington who was playing defensive back on the last play.

Finley finished 35 of 52 for 374 yards with a 35-yard touchdown pass to Emeka Emezie and a 2-yard touchdown run for the Wolfpack (6-3, 3-3). They have lost three of four.

Maybe a third consecutive bowl berth isn’t out of the question for the Demon Deacons, who hadn’t beaten a nationally ranked opponent on its home field since knocking off No. 24 Florida State in 2008 and had won in Raleigh only once in their previous 16 tries. This didn’t look at all like the same Wake Forest team that was routed by No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 2 Clemson.

This one is going to sting the Wolfpack, who settled for three short field goals after drives stalled deep inside the red zone. They also finished with 47 yards rushing against the ACC’s worst run defense, and on a drive that was supposed to bleed the clock, they rushed for minus-6 yards on three carries while relying on Finley’s throwing. Special teams