Pirates Fall To Wake Forest In Home Opener
September 11, 2004 | Football
GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) --- Cory Randolph became the first Wake Forest player ever to total more than 300 yards passing and 100 yards rushing, leading the Demon Deacons to a 31-17 victory over East Carolina on Saturday night.
A week after he was benched against Clemson, Randolph finished 16-of-21 for 344 yards and ran for 107, including two clutch runs for first downs on the clinching drive in the final quarter. He threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score.
Both of his yardage totals were career highs.
Cornelius Birgs also ran for a TD for Wake Forest (1-1), which lost to Clemson 37-30 in double overtime a week ago.
The Deacons played nearly the entire game without leading receiver Jason Anderson. He sprained his ankle on a 32-yard reception on the second play and left for good, leaving Randolph to make most of the big plays on his own.
He did just that.
After the Pirates closed to 10-3 early in the third quarter, Randolph tossed a perfect spiral to a streaking Nate Morton for a 63-yard touchdown, then added a 35-yarder to Chris Davis about five minutes later to make it 24-3.
East Carolina rallied after a couple of mistakes by the Deacons. Willie Idlette fumbled while returning a punt, and Richard Koonce recovered to give East Carolina possession at the Deacons' 48.
James Pinkney then threw a 29-yard pass to Damarcus Fox on third-and-9 to move the ball to the 18, then connected with a wide-open Bobby Good in the corner of the end zone on the next play.
On the ensuing drive, Randolph made one of his few mistakes when he overthrew Idlette over the middle, and safety Zach Baker was there for the interception. Two personal fouls after the turnover cost East Carolina field position, but on third-and-4 from the 14, third-string tailback Chris Johnson scampered around the right end and outran the defense to make it 24-17.
Randolph didn't panic. He moved the Deacons 61 yards in nine plays for their final score, capping the drive with a nifty 18-yard run on a draw. Earlier, he had kept the possession going with runs of 13 and 3 yards on third downs.
Last week, Randolph was only 7-of-21 for 55 yards, and was replaced for a time by Ben Mauk.
Pinkey bounced back from a terrible start, during which he threw interceptions on his first two passes. He finished 20-of-37 for 233 yards and the one touchdown.
Coach John Thompson's Postgame Quotes:
"We are making progress but we have got to play smarter. The thing that bothers me more than anything about tonight is that we just did some foolish things."
On quarterback James Pinkney
"James Pinkney played his heart out. He got banged around, got knocked around and played very, very competitively. He is a winner and I think you can see that. We can put some points on the board."
"I think Noah has done a tremendous job with James Pinkney in teaching him how to be a winning quarterback. That is what he is going to be. He is going to be a winning quarterback here. He is doing some good things. He is leading and he is playing tough."
"We had some drops, some key drops that really hurt us. We have got to get that cleaned up. I think our receivers are doing better."
"Defensively at times we played very well against the run. At other times they just kept coming."
"I told our guys in the dressing room that I wish I could tell them when, but I know it is going to happen. This team worked hard this week, they hung together and I think you saw a competitive team till the very last tick of the clock. There wasn't anybody that gave in. We will continue to work, stick together and get it done."
On Wake Forest quarterback Cory Randolph
"He is very accurate. He made some very, very good throws. I think he is very good both ways. They do some good things with him. He is a classy kid and he was the difference. Their running game wasn't the difference; he was the difference in the ball-game.
"I think our offense kept competing. We blocked better and had some big runs. Chris Johnson's big run was really a spark. Art's big run was a big deal there. Our offense shows that when you get all those things going it will work."
On receivers
"I think we will spread it around. The way we work our offense, whoever can get open is going to get the ball. It is going to be different people I think every night."
