WINSTON-SALEM -- As much as Wake Forest quarterback Riley Skinner enjoyed the thrill last weekend of scoring on a 1-yard keeper with 2 seconds left to seal a comeback victory – he sure looked Saturday as if he liked finally winning the easy way, too.
The redshirt senior passed for a career-high 289 yards and tied a career high with three touchdown tosses – giving his team such a cushion that he sat out the fourth quarter – to blow out Elon 35-7 at BB&T Field.
It marked the first time since last November – six previous games – that the Deacons didn’t fall behind at some point in the game.
“One of the reasons we struggled the first two games was not getting off to a good start … and that’s something the coaches really pushed on us this week, ‘Come out fast – don’t play two quarters, don’t play three – play four,’’ Skinner said.
Wake (2-1), which needed a 21-point, second half rally to beat Stanford last week, dominated from the outset. Its offense opened with a three-and-out – briefly bringing out a few ghosts of slow-opening pasts – but then it took an early 7-0 lead with 10:09 left in the first quarter when Skinner found Jordan Williams in the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown pass.
After fullback Mike Rinfrette bullied up the middle for a 1-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-0, Skinner got a strange assist from an official on his second touchdown pass. With 3:20 left in the first half, Elon defensive back Karlos Sullivan, in tight coverage with Deacons receiver Chris Givens, got tangled with the back judge at about the 5-yard line and went down at about the 2. That allowed Givens to catch a 54-yard throw from Skinner, making it 21-0.
“I jumped because I thought he was right on my side” Givens said, “so when I came down and he fell, I was so caught up in the emotions that I didn’t know what had happened … until I got to the sideline, and my teammates told me what had happened with the referee.”
Wake led 21-0 at halftime, marking the first time Elon (2-1) had posted a non-scoring quarter – and half – this season. And it didn’t end there.
After the Phoenix offense opened the second half with another three-and-out, Wake sophomore Gelo Orange posted the third blocked kick of his career, this time on Scott Riddle – who serves as Elon’s starting quarterback and punter. That helped set up teammate Josh Adams’ 1-yard touchdown.
It also iced any thought that the Phoenix -- which hadn’t faced its in-state neighbor since 1939 -- might be able to put together some sort of epic comeback.
With less than five minutes left in the third, Skinner padded his stats, and the blowout, when he found Marshall Williams racing down the field for an 80-yard touchdown pass that made it 35-0.
Elon finally got on the scoreboard with 7:58 left when Riddle found wide receiver Terrell Hudgins for a 14-yard touchdown pass, but it was too little, too late.
“We lost a football game to a better team toight,’’ Phoenix coach Pete Lembo said. “I thought Wake Forest came out ready to play; they certainly weren’t overlooking us at all.”
Despite the smattering of FCS (formerly I-AA) victories over Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly I-A) foes in the first two weeks of the season—such as William & Mary’s victory over Virginia, Richmond’s win over Duke, and New Hampshire’s surprise against Ball State – Elon just wasn’t in the Deacons’ league.
Riddle, who already holds a Southern Conference record with 13 300-yard passing games, was held to 195 passing yards. Tailback Jamal Shuman, coming off a career-best 190 rushing yards at Presbyterian, notched only 54.
This time, Skinner didn’t have to lead a comeback; his team made sure of it.
“What we really need, to beat anyone on our schedule, is to play four good quarters,’’ Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe said. “We played really poorly in the first half against Baylor, poorly in the first half against Stanford, and the good news is we came back in time to beat Stanford, but we ran out of time against Baylor. So I think our players realize it’s not OK to use the first and second quarters as warm-ups to get ready for the second half.”
Robbi Pickeral has covered ACC sports for The News & Observer since 2003. She can be reached at 
