Steele Pizzella Throws for 432 Yards in First Start as No. 14 Wake Forest Routs Merrimack 77-0

Steele Pizzella threw for 432 yards and three touchdowns in the first half of a first career start, and No. 14 Wake Forest scored 11 touchdowns in a 77-0 rout of FCS Merrimack on Saturday at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Wake Forest (8-1, 5-1 ACC) won its sixth straight game and led 49-0 at halftime of its Homecoming game. Merrimack (4-6) saw a two-game winning streak end in its first game against a Power Four program and its first against a team ranked in the FBS top 25.

The Demon Deacons played without starting quarterback Gio Lopez, who was held out as a precaution after injuring a lower right leg against Virginia a week earlier. ESPN reported before kickoff that Lopez would be available to start at SMU next week. Pizzella, a redshirt freshman from Southern California, had appeared in nine games and thrown 10 passes before Saturday.

A slow first possession, then a flood

Wake Forest's first drive ended without points. Facing fourth and 2 at the Merrimack 11, Pizzella threw incomplete and the Warriors took over on downs with 11:45 left in the first quarter.

It was the last time all afternoon that a Wake Forest drive stalled in Merrimack territory. The Demon Deacons went 73 yards in seven plays on their next possession, and Ty Clark III scored on a 1-yard run at 8:26. The two-point try failed, leaving the score 6-0.

Merrimack then went for it on fourth and 4 from the Wake Forest 47 and threw incomplete. Wake Forest needed two plays to cash in. Pizzella found Carlos Hernandez for a 38-yard touchdown at 5:59, the first touchdown pass of Pizzella's career, and Connor Calvert's kick made it 13-0.

The next Wake Forest drive covered 96 yards in seven plays. Pizzella capped it with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Hernandez with 58 seconds left in the quarter for a 20-0 lead.

Twenty-nine points in the second quarter

The second quarter belonged to Pizzella and a receiving corps that kept finding open grass. A 36-yard completion to Jamar Searcy keyed a 94-yard drive, and Searcy finished it with a 3-yard touchdown run at 11:06. A two-point run made it 28-0.

Drayden Dickmann scored on a 6-yard run at 7:57 to end a 56-yard drive, and Pizzella hit Kam Shanks for a 30-yard touchdown at 5:03 to make it 42-0. That drive covered 78 yards in four plays and 1:17.

Merrimack's best moment of the half went nowhere. Rushuan Tongue intercepted AJ Hairston Jr. at the Wake Forest 34 with 3:26 left in the half, and although that Wake Forest possession ended in a punt, the Demon Deacons got the ball back and scored again before the break. Jack Foley's 73-yard catch set up a 13-yard Pizzella touchdown run with 1:23 left. The two-play drive took 19 seconds, and Wake Forest went to the locker room ahead 49-0.

Pizzella did not play after halftime. In two quarters, the redshirt freshman completed 23 of 28 passes for 432 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, and added 63 rushing yards and a score on seven carries.

Goal-line stand, then 99 yards

Gannon Jones took over at quarterback in the third quarter, and Merrimack produced its best drive of the day. The Warriors drove to fourth and goal at the Wake Forest 1, but Kerrington Lee and Monroe Partin stopped Hairston for no gain at 6:29, and Wake Forest took over on downs.

The Demon Deacons answered by going 99 yards in four plays. Jones threw short over the middle to Dickmann, and Dickmann turned the catch into an 87-yard touchdown at 4:21 for a 56-0 lead.

Merrimack's next possession ended in a punt, and Shanks returned Mike Ryan's 41-yard kick 79 yards for a touchdown at 1:23 of the third quarter. Calvert's extra point made it 63-0.

Pick-six ends Merrimack's longest drive

Merrimack put together a 15-play, 50-yard drive that ran 10:15 off the clock and carried into the fourth quarter. It ended the same way most of the Warriors' afternoon did. Joshua Patterson intercepted Cole Meehan and returned it 98 yards for a touchdown at 6:08, pushing the lead to 70-0.

Wake Forest's final score came with Grant Lawless at quarterback. Kyndall McCaleb broke a 39-yard run to the Merrimack 1, and Ryan Henley scored from 1 yard out with 1:29 left. Calvert's ninth extra point of the day set the final at 77-0.

Eight different Wake Forest players scored touchdowns. Hernandez, Dickmann and Shanks each scored twice, and the Demon Deacons scored on offense, on a punt return and on an interception return.

By the numbers

Wake Forest outgained Merrimack 730 to 202 and had 31 first downs to 11. The Demon Deacons threw for 546 yards on 27 of 33 passing and ran for 184 yards on 28 carries. Wake Forest did not turn the ball over and converted 4 of 7 third downs.

Merrimack went 3 for 19 on third down and 1 for 3 on fourth down. The Warriors held the ball for 36:40 to Wake Forest's 23:20, a reflection of how quickly the Demon Deacons scored; three of Wake Forest's touchdown drives took fewer than 80 seconds. Merrimack had 102 rushing yards on 38 carries and 100 passing yards on 16 of 35 attempts, with two interceptions.

Wake Forest was penalized 11 times for 115 yards. Merrimack had eight penalties for 74 yards.

Foley led all receivers with six catches for 162 yards. Hernandez caught four passes for 89 yards and two touchdowns, Dickmann had two catches for 89 yards, and Antonio Meeks added five catches for 80 yards. Shanks finished with three catches for 49 yards and a touchdown, plus four punt returns for 118 yards and the score. Jones went 2 of 3 for 89 yards and a touchdown, and Lawless went 2 of 2 for 25 yards.

Partin led the Wake Forest defense with nine tackles. Frank Cusano and Ashaad Williams each made five, and Gabe Kirschke had the Demon Deacons' only sack.

Merrimack's side

Hairston, who led Merrimack's wins over New Hampshire and Wagner, completed 11 of 27 passes for 80 yards with an interception. Meehan went 5 of 8 for 20 yards with the pick-six. DeMarcus McElroy led the Warriors with 26 rushing yards on nine carries, Michael Robinson added 21 on eight, and Austin Palmer caught five passes for 48 yards.

Micah Green made eight tackles to lead Merrimack, Rajahn Cooper added five, and Markeith Hogan recorded the Warriors' only sack. Punter Mike Ryan was busy all day, kicking 10 times for 430 yards, a 43.0 average.

Merrimack entered the game 0-6 all-time against FBS opponents, according to CBS Sports. The Warriors arrived in Winston-Salem off back-to-back home wins.

What it means

For Wake Forest, the result was never in doubt, but the quarterback question was the story. Pizzella's half gave the Demon Deacons a look at their depth behind Lopez, who limped off late in the third quarter of the 51-7 win over Virginia with the leg injury. Coach Jake Dickert said during game week, according to a CBS Sports preview, that "when you play nameless, faceless opponents, it's just about the standard of what you want to do," and the Demon Deacons answered with a shutout.

The schedule now turns serious. Wake Forest (5-1 ACC) plays at SMU (7-2, 5-2 ACC) on Nov. 14 at noon ET at Gerald J. Ford Stadium. The Mustangs have one more ACC loss than the Demon Deacons.

Merrimack returns to FCS play after a stretch that included a 19-14 win over Wagner and a 24-17 win over New Hampshire. The Warriors play at Monmouth on Nov. 14 at noon ET at Kessler Stadium in West Long Branch, New Jersey.

Sources: ESPN box score (opens in a new tab) and play-by-play. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: Wake Forest Athletics (file photo).