Colburn, Deacons blow out Louisville
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Wake Forest running back Matt Colburn II couldn’t believe the space he had on many of his carries against Louisville.
While that says a lot about the Demon Deacons’ run blocking, the senior did a lot in turning those openings into a career day against the school that pulled its scholarship offer.
Colburn rushed for career highs of 243 yards and three touchdowns, Sam Hartman threw two TD passes and Wake Forest rolled up a season-high 591 yards in a 56-35 rout of Louisville on Saturday.
A 2,000-yard career rusher with the Demon Deacons, Colburn said he had moved past Louisville rescinding his scholarship in what Cardinals coach Bobby Petrino chalked up to a numbers situation. Colburn made a statement nonetheless in surpassing his previous bests of 237 yards and two TDs last November against Syracuse.
“After my freshman year, I just wanted to get rid of the whole revenge narrative because if it wasn’t for that I wouldn’t be at Wake,” Colburn said. “But it definitely is personal and it’s really just the icing on the cake to go out like this and to get our season rolling again.”
Said Petrino of Colburn, “I’m glad he had a good career. It was just one of those things where you got caught up in numbers and you had to ask somebody to redshirt.”
The Demon Deacons (4-4, 1-3 ACC) had their way offensively in a high-scoring matchup of schools seeking their first league win. They scored touchdowns on five of their first six first-half possessions.
Colburn encountered little resistance from the Cardinals (2-6, 0-5). The senior ran for scores of 74, 56 and 12 yards and finished with an average of 12.2 yards on 20 attempts.
Wake Forest ended up rushing for 368 yards. Hartman completed 16 of 24 passes for 223 yards and touchdowns to Jack Freudenthal and Scotty Washington.
Hartman also ran for a 12-yard score as the Demon Deacons ended a two-game losing streak.
“You hate to use the term must-win,” coach Dave Clawson said, “but it was going to be really hard to accomplish any of our goals this year if we didn’t find a way to get this one.”
Louisville’s Trey Smith rushed for a career-high three touchdowns and 98 yards on 13 carries. Jawon Pass added a career-best 358 yards passing and a score, but the Cardinals (532 yards) were left playing catch-up after scoring on the game’s opening drive.
PITT PULLS AWAY: In a back-and-forth offensive battle, Pitt scored the last strike, with Kenny Pickett hitting Maurice Ffrench with five seconds left in the game to beat Duke 54-45.
Pitt had leaned on its rushing offense for most of the game, but Pickett game through in crunch time, hitting Rafael Araujo-Lopes on a 17-yard pass, Tre Tipton for six yards and then an 11-yard scramble just before the game-winning pass to Ffrench. Pickett finished 8 of 18 for 150 yards and two touchdowns, with three of his eight completions and 78 of his passing yards coming on the final drive.
Pitt (4-4, 3-1) moved to within a half-game of firstplace Virginia in the ACC Coastal division, while Duke (5-3, 1-3) missed an opportunity to secure bowl eligibility and climb into contention within the division.
In a game full of offense, Pitt’s defense got an elusive stop late in the fourth quarter, with defensive tackle Amir Watts sacking Daniel Jones on a fourth-and-long to get the Panthers the ball back.
VIRGINIA ROLLS: Bryce Perkins doesn’t think Virginia has much to celebrate just yet.
Perkins threw for three touchdowns and ran for another and the Cavaliers beat North Carolina 31-21 Saturday, keeping the Cavaliers atop the Coastal Division standings and giving them bowl eligibility for the second year in a row, a first for the program since 2005.
“We’re not satisfied,” the junior transfer said after beating the Tar Heels (1-6, 1-4). “We want the Coastal.”
Perkins ran for 112 yards, nearly half of that coming on a drive to open the game for the Cavaliers (6-2, 4-1), who won their third conference game in a row for the first time since 2011.