Three Stars from Wake Forest's 27-17 Gasparilla Bowl win over Missouri
Wake Forest finished their season on a high note, defeating Missouri 27-17 in the 2022 Gasparilla Bowl. The team relied on strong performances on both sides of the ball to take down the SEC opponent — here’s who shined in Wake’s bowl victory.
QB Sam Hartman
Hartman dazzled in his last game as a Demon Deacon, throwing for 280 yards, three TDs and one pick on 23/36 passing. The performance was enough to boost him into the solo lead for career ACC touchdown passes with 110, passing former Clemson's Tajh Boyd at 107. Hartman was excellent in spreading the wealth against Mizzou, as eight different receivers made at least one catch in the victory. He found slot wideout Taylor Morin for two of his touchdowns, and the other was a 48-yard home run to standout sophomore Jahmal Banks. Hartman finishes his Wake Forest career with 12,967 passing yards, 110 passing touchdowns, 855 rushing yards and 17 rush TDs over five seasons.
"It's more to my team," Hartman said of his performance after the game. "For my defense to have my back and to be able to go down and score and seal the game was kind of a weight off my shoulders. It's a special group here. It starts with [head coach Dave Clawson] and goes down. It's been incredible."
WR A.T. Perry
Though Perry didn’t catch a touchdown, he was still Hartman’s favorite target in what will most likely be his last game for Wake Forest. Perry hauled in 11 catches for 116 yards, carving up the Mizzou secondary all night long. His longest catch of the night was a 28-yarder in the first quarter that moved the Deacs into Missouri territory, eventually setting up the touchdown that gave Wake Forest a 7-0 lead. The duo of Hartman and Perry has been incredible to watch over the past few seasons and will be sorely missed by the Deacon fanbase. Perry’s 2022 season comes to an end with 1,081 receiving yards and 11 TDs, and if he departs for the NFL he leaves Wake Forest with 2,662 yards and 28 scores.
"I just wanted to play this last game with my brothers," Perry said after the game. "It was a special moment, those guys mean so much to me. [I] just kept the main thing [as] the main thing, being consistent and doing my job."
DT Tyler Williams
The Wake Forest defensive had a strong outing against Missouri, getting consistent pressure on Tigers QB Brady Cook and forcing four sacks. Williams came away with two of those sacks and accounted for two of the unit’s 10 TFLs. He graded out at a 74.8 on PFF with a 78.7 pass rush grade and totaled seven QB pressures. Williams’ most important sack came in the fourth quarter, where he dropped Cook for a seven-yard loss on second down, eventually giving Wake Forest the ball back and setting up the touchdown drive that would ice the game.
"We just locked in and started clicking," DT Kobie Turner said of the defensive line's performance. "Once you start something, it's really hard to stop it."
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