Robby Ashford passed for 303 yards and three touchdowns and also rushed for two touchdowns to lead Wake Forest to a 43-29 victory over Mississippi State on Friday night in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl at Charlotte, N.C.

Ashford, who earned MVP honors, completed 20 of 33 passes with one interception and rushed for 50 yards on 14 carries for the Demon Deacons (9-4). It is just the fourth time in program history that Wake Forest have won nine or more games in a season.

Ty Clark III had a touchdown reception while recording 164 scrimmage yards (91 rushing, 73 receiving) for the Demon Deacons. Kamrean Johnson and Jack Foley also had scoring receptions and Koredell Bartley returned a kickoff for a score for Wake Forest.

Kamario Taylor completed 13 of 22 passes for 241 yards and one touchdown and added 63 yards and a score on 18 carries for the Bulldogs (5-8). Taylor was carted off the field with 1:52 remaining with a potentially serious left lower-leg injury.

Taylor was the quarterback due to Blake Shapen opting out to prepare for the NFL draft.

Sanfrisco Magee caught a touchdown pass and Kyle Ferrie kicked four field goals for Mississippi State.

Mississippi State received a bowl berth despite its losing record because of a shortage of available teams due to Notre Dame, Iowa State and Kansas State opting out and several other schools reportedly declining invitations.

The Bulldogs trailed by 18 late in the third quarter before making a charge.

Taylor scored on a 1-yard run and then tossed a two-point conversion pass to Seydou Traore to end the third quarter as Mississippi State moved within 30-20.

The next time the Bulldogs had possession, Magee caught a 42-yard scoring pass from Taylor as Mississippi State moved within three.

Ashford scored from the 1 for a 36-27 Wake Forest lead with 4:07 left. But Neaveh Sanders blocked the extra point and Kelley Jones scooped up the ball and raced 86 yards for the defensive two-point conversion to leave the Bulldogs down seven.

The Demon Deacons got the sealing score when Ashford sent a third-down shovel pass to Clark, who saw a huge hole and raced for a 62-yard touchdown to make it 43-29 with 2:15 remaining.

Wake Forest opened the third quarter with a three-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to boost their six-point halftime lead to 23-9.

Ashford threw a long pass to Foley, who turned the 64-yard play into his first college score. Ashford then added a two-point conversion run.

After Ferrie kicked a 36-yard field goal to bring the Bulldogs within 11, Ashford scored on a 2-yard run to give the Demon Deacons a 30-12 advantage with 4:19 left in the third.

With Wake Forest trailing 3-0, Bartley fielded the kickoff at the goal line, was in the clear at his own 40 and finished off the 100-yard return with 12:33 left in the opening period. Wake Forest converted a two-point conversion when Sawyer Racanelli lofted the pass over the line to Eni Falayi.

–Field Level Media

Wake Forest is eager to make school history in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

Mississippi State will be trying to avoid making history when it meets the Demon Deacons on Friday night in Charlotte, N.C.

Wake Forest (8-4) won six of seven before losing to Duke, 49-32, in the regular-season finale on Nov. 29.

“I feel like this group has unfinished business,” first-year head coach Jake Dickert said. “We have an opportunity to get to nine wins and be one of the top four teams in Wake Forest history. We kind of fell on our face in the Duke game. I think there is a little bit of an edge from that football game for our guys wanting to finish.”

Wake Forest won 11 games in 2006 and 2021 and won nine games in 2007.

Wake Forest will be missing a few key players for the bowl game. Second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference running back Demond Claiborne is focusing on the NFL draft and three other key players — defensive lineman Mateen Ibirogba and wide receivers Chris Barnes and Micah Mays Jr. — are entering the transfer portal and won’t participate.

The defense will lean even more heavily on first-team All-ACC safety Nick Andersen, who tied for third in the conference with 94 tackles.

Ty Clark will replace Claiborne as the starting running back, but it will be quarterback Robby Ashford who will be counted on the most to lift the offense.

Dickert said adding a bowl victory to notable wins against SMU, Virginia and North Carolina has the available players excited.

“These seniors don’t want to just participate in the game,” he said. “They want to be the champion of the game. We’re going to put a banner up here. It is either going to say ‘participant’ or ‘champion.’”

The university rewarded Dickert with a contract extension for the turnaround after consecutive 4-8 finishes under former head coach Dave Clawson. Those teams not only weren’t bowl eligible, but they couldn’t back into a bowl berth the way Mississippi State (5-7) did when there weren’t enough six-win teams to fill all the bowl slots after opt-outs.

Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby said his team “definitely” didn’t expect to receive a bowl bid when the selection process began. But when the opportunity arose, Lebby said it was “a no-brainer” to accept.

But if the Bulldogs lose they will become just the seventh bowl team to finish 5-8.

“There’s a ton of positives,” to being able to prepare for and participate in a bowl game, Lebby said, especially with a handful of new assistant coaches joining Lebby’s staff, most notably former Bulldogs head coach Zach Arnett, who’s returning as defensive coordinator.

The Bulldogs will be missing only one key player — quarterback Blake Shapen, who is focused on preparation for the draft. Shapen started 11 games this season but was hobbled late in the season.

Freshman Kamario Taylor saw significant playing time in two games before starting in Shapen’s place against Ole Miss in the Nov. 28 regular-season finale. He rushed 20 times for 173 yards and two touchdowns and passed for 178 yards with an interception in the 38-19 loss.

–Field Level Media