Pizzella Leads Wake Forest to Record 77-0 Win

Pizzella made his first career start for Wake Forest, filling in for injured starter Gio Lopez, and led the Demon Deacons to their sixth consecutive victory. Wake scored 11 touchdowns to set a school record, surpassing the 70 points it scored against Army in 2021.

Pizzella threw for 432 yards and three touchdowns before halftime, adding 63 rushing yards and a 13-yard touchdown run. Wake led 49-0 at the break. His 495 yards of total offense came in the first 30 minutes of play.

Ty Clark III got Wake on the board with a one-yard rushing touchdown. Pizzella then connected twice with Carlos Hernandez for first-quarter touchdowns. Wake added a 79-yard punt-return score and a 98-yard interception-return touchdown in the second half.

The Demon Deacons amassed 730 yards on offense, just four short of the school record, and 546 passing yards, a program best. Jack Foley led Wake’s receivers with six catches for 162 yards. The shutout was the team’s first since a 3-0 win over Boston College 11 years ago.

Wake Forest improved to 8-1 and trails Miami, ranked No. 1, by half a game in the ACC race. Lopez hopes to return next Saturday, when Wake visits SMU to begin a run of three conference games. Merrimack, now 4-6, visits Monmouth.