Calvert's 50-yard field on last play lifts Wake Forest past SMU 13-12

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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Connor Calvert barely made a 50-yard field goal on the final play to give Wake Forest a 13-12 win over SMU on Saturday, sending the Mustangs to their first loss in Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season play.

The Mustangs had won 20 straight regular-season conference games, the longest then-active such streak in the nation. SMU won its last nine in the American Athletic Conference and its first 11 after joining the Atlantic Coast Conference last season.

SMU players and coaches stayed on the field, demanding a review of the ruling of the successful field goal. There was no formal review on the field, but replays showed the ball cleared the bar.

“They beat us,” SMU coach Rhett Lashlee said. “They earned it.”

After an SMU punt, there were 12 seconds remaining and Wake Forest, without a timeout, used a 25-yard pass from Deshawn Purdie to Kamrean Johnson to move into Mustangs’ territory and then spiked the ball before the final snap.

“I always pride myself on being a guy that is able to hit from deep distances,” Calvert said. “… I hadn’t had a moment quite like that.”

Purdie threw for 183 yards. Demond Claiborne rushed for 73 yards as the Demon Deacons (5-2, 2-2 ACC) won their third game in a row.

“We’re going to celebrate this,” Wake Forest coach Jake Dickert said.

Kevin Jennings threw for 171 yards on 21-for-39 passing for SMU (5-3, 3-1).

There were eight turnovers, two missed field goals, a blocked extra-point kick and 17 punts.

“It’s hard to lose a game when you play that well on defense,” Lashlee said

Wake Forest’s fourth-down gamble at its own 41 in the third quarter resulted in an incomplete pass. Six plays later, SMU’s Shaadie Clayton-Johnson scored the team’s only touchdown on a 6-yard run for a 12-10 lead before the extra-point kick was blocked.

Wake Forest took another risk but converted on fourth down from its own 45 with about nine minutes remaining.

Through three possessions, Wake Forest had minus-4 total yards and a 3-0 lead. Calvert’s 25-yard field goal came following a 9-yard SMU punt.

The Demon Deacons took over in the second quarter at the SMU following Gabe Kirschke’s sack that resulted in Jennings’ fumble. Two plays later, Robby Ashford threw 12 yards to Eni Falayi for a touchdown.

The teams combined for a punt and four turnovers in the final minute of the first half, none resulting in points. Wake Forest led 10-6 at the break.

SMU: The Mustangs, whose only other ACC loss came against Clemson in the conference championship game last season, have proven that they belong at the highest level.

Wake Forest: The outcome marked the second one-point victory at home this season for the Demon Deacons. Purdie made his second start in a row in place of Ashford, who had missed time with an injury and entered later in the first quarter.

Until the boot from Calvert, a redshirt freshman who transferred from Washington State, Wake Forest hadn’t made a field goal of 50 or more yards since Mike Weaver in 2014 vs. Clemson.

“It was kind of surreal,” Calvert said. “I was just believing in our offense to get us in that range to go kick and it did. As soon as I got out there, I kind of blacked out.”

On the last play of the first half, he missed wide left from 54 yards out.

SMU: Saturday at home vs. Miami

Wake Forest: Saturday at Florida State

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