The Wake Forest football team put on their "O" face -- offensive face that is -- on Sept. 28 against the Virginia Cavaliers. Unfortunately for the Deacs, so did the Cavs, and the season of the shootout continued, as UVa. rallied for a shocking 38-34 come-from-behind victory at Groves Stadium.

Cavalier quarterback Matt Schaub simply burned the Deacon secondary, torching them for 312 yards and three touchdowns. The Deacons held one of the Cavs' offensive stars, freshman running back Wally Lundy, to only 25 yards, but were beaten by the equally ballyhooed Schaub, who now ranks third in the nation in passing.

"They threw five or six fades on our corners that we didn't contest very well," Head Coach Jim Grobe said. "That was the game in a nutshell ¯ giving up too many big plays on the defensive side."

A loss due to being outgunned offensively seemed to be the farthest thing from Grobe's Gang at the start of the game. The Demon Deacons, whose only real consistent threat all game was running the ball, marched down the field on the opening drive, culminating with a 29-yard field goal by sophomore Matt Wisnosky, with 10:47 left. Wake Forest's own Four Horsemen ¯ senior Tarence Williams, junior Nick Burney, redshirt frosh Cornelius Birgs and true freshman Chris Barclay walloped the Wahoos all game, as the team finished with 349 total rushing yards.

The two squads played cat and mouse for the rest of the quarter, and the first horn sounded with the Deacs owning a 3-0 lead. Senior wide receiver Fabian Davis and Barclay quickly made sure that lead was increased, as Davis ran for 19 yards on a reverse on the first play of the second quarter. One play later, Barclay burst up the middle for 9 yards for the touchdown, cementing a 10-0 lead with 14:17 left in the half.

Lundy returned the following kickoff 43 yards to set up the Cavs with excellent field position. The Cavaliers responded, moving the Deacs' 14-yard line before senior strong safety Quentin Williams stopped Lundy on a third down to force a field goal attempt. Cav kicker Kris Smith nailed the 32-yarder, making the score 10-3.

Not to be denied though, the Deacon running game continued to successfully pound away at UVa. Birgs would capitalize, zipping through for 15 yards and in for the score. The scoreboard now read 17-3, with 5:41 left in the half.

Now, some offensive fireworks started to go off for both teams. After yet another successful kickoff return, Schaub hit wideout Ryan Sawyer for the 33-yard bomb, forcing the game to 17-10.

MacPherson and company answered Schaub's challenge, beating up on the Cavs' defense themselves. While MacPherson never developed a steady rhythm with any of his wide receivers, with the possible exception of senior Jax Landfried, he did manage to scramble for some running yards of his own.

A few more reverses by Davis and some hard-nosed running by Burney brought them to the 8-yard line, where senior fullback Ovie Mughelli took three plays to force his way into the endzone. With 1:26 left in the half, it was 24-10, but the scoring still wouldn't stop.

On the following short kickoff by Wisnosky, the 'Hoos bobbled the ball, causing a fumble, that found its way into Deacon freshman receiver Chris Davis' hands. After some running down of the clock, Wisnosky booted a 30-yarder to end the half at 27-10.

Virginia, much like their Wake Forest counterparts in the first half, came out of the gates in the third with guns ablazing.

Schaub, with the greatest of ease, found receiver Michael McGrew for 42 yards and then tight end Heath Miller for the short touchdown. Yet again, the football version of Red Rover did not stop, as the Wake Forest offense was sent over once more. Fabian Davis reversed his way to some more rushing yards, and Williams carried half the 'Hoos roster down to the 4yard of UVa. with him.

Two plays later, Mughelli muscled his way for another touchdown. The score now read a comfortable 34-17 in the Deacs' favor, but the scoring would end now ¯ at least for Wake Forest.

With 4:40 left in the third quarter, Virginia launched their final counterattack, and what a dandy it was. For the first time in the game, the Deacons seemed to be shutting Schaub down, but then Lundy, on a halfback toss, tossed a gem to Sawyer for a 37-yard Wahoo score. As the game entered the final session, 10 points separated the Deacs and an embarrassing fourth quarter meltdown.

Grobe's Gang, who couldn't stop moving the ball earlier, just couldn't find a groove when it mattered most in the fourth. An 18-yard punt with 13:26 left, giving Schaub field position near midfield, did not help matters.

After yet another mid-level bomb by Schaub to McGrew brought the Cavs into the red zone, Miller caught his second touchdown of the game, bringing the score to 34-31, with 12:31 remaining on the game clock.

Wake Forest's offense stalled again and again, and Virginia gathered the ball back again. Schaub went back to tormenting the secondary, and after a huge "iffy" pass interference call, he ran the ball in himself from the 7-yard line to clench ahold of the lead, 38-34, in favor of UVa.

The game essentially ended with 0:53 when MacPherson pumped faked one too many times and was sacked on a 4th-down-and-13 at Virginia's 23-yard line.

Wake Forest fell to 2-3 overall, and are 0-2 in the ACC. Virginia improved to 3-2 overall, 1-1 in league play.

The Demon Deacons hope to rebound on Oct. 5, when they visit the Rambling Wreck of Georgia Tech. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. at Bobby Dodd Stadium, in Atlanta, Ga.