The Fighting Irish moved quickly on their first drive of the second half: Two impressive back-to-back runs from Jonas Gray brought Notre Dame to the one yard line, and after a failed quarterback sneak, Gray zipped around the left edge to tie the game at 17-17.
On the ensuing Fighting Irish drive, WR Michael Floyd made an amazing corner catch in the end zone, boxing out two Demon Deacons defenders while snatching a looping toss in corner of the endzone, tapping a second toe for good measure and a Notre Dame 24-17 lead.
However, after the Irish defense forced another punt, quarterback Tommy Rees delivered yet another toss into double coverage on a flea flicker pass, netting Wake Forest an interception and a huge return. The return expanded on yet another terrible call against the Irish as tackle Zach Martin drew a late hit penalty for knocking Josh Bush out of bounds on what looked like a perfectly legal hit.
Fortunately for Notre Dame, Brandon Pendergrass fumbled in the red zone, ending the scoring threat.
With the fourth quarter starting, the Notre Dame defense will look to stop the driving Demon Deacons from staging a late comeback.