UVa Continues Domination of Wake Forest, 38-17
Story Links
October 31, 1998
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) – Thomas Jones rushed for 142 yards to crack the1,000-yard barrier as No. 15 Virginia defeated Wake Forest for the 15thstraight time, rolling over the Demon Deacons 38-17 on Saturday.
The Cavaliers (7-1, 5-1 ACC) put together scoring drives of 80, 75 and 92yards in a warmup for next weekend’s showdown at No. 5 Florida State.
Virginia’s secondary also didn’t miss a beat without Anthony Poindexter inthe lineup. The star safety was lost for the season a week ago with a kneeinjury, but the Cavaliers intercepted Brian Kuklick twice, both leading toscores.
Meanwhile, the Demon Deacons (3-5, 2-3) managed only 10 yards on the groundthrough three quarters in losing their fourth home game in a span of 28 days.
Jones, the ACC rushing leader who entered the game with 860 yards, postedhis fourth straight 100-yard game and sixth this season. His 1-yard scoringleap capped Virginia’s 80-yard drive in the second quarter as he became theeighth runner in Cavaliers’ history to reach 1,000 yards in a season.
However, Jones wasn’t the only offensive weapon Virginia unleashed on WakeForest. Aaron Brooks also had a stellar day, completing 16-of-19 passes withone rushing score and another through the air.
His 35-yard scoring run after Kuklick’s second interception gave Virginia a24-9 lead midway through the third quarter, while his 9-yard scoring pass toAhmad Hawkins on the first play of the fourth quarter put the game away.
The Demon Deacons played most of the second half without all-time ACCreceiving leader Desmond Clark, who bruised his left knee on a 4-yardcompletion with 8:12 left in the third quarter. He had caught at least one TDpass in six straight games but failed to find the end zone Saturday.
Wake Forest once again fell into an early 7-0 hole when Kuklick’s pass overthe middle was intercepted and returned 38 yards for a score by linebacker WaliRanier.
Later in the first quarter, Kuklick became the eighth quarterback in ACChistory to throw for at least 7,000 yards, but the Wake Forest offense couldn’tget cranked up and had to settle for field goals of 39, 34 and 33 from MattBurdick en route to a 17-9 halftime deficit.
In addition to Rainer’s score less than six minutes into the game, Virginiadrove 80 yards on 13 plays for its other first-half TD, getting a score onJones’ short TD run. He set up the score with a run of 26 yards on athird-and-1 play.
Kuklick was benched in the final quarter in favor of Ben Sankey, who ledWake Forest on its final scoring drive with 8:07 left.
By DAVID DROSCHAK
AP Sports Writer