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CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- If Saturday's season opener is any indication, repeating as ACC champion is already a long, painful road for Wake Forest.

Starting quarterback Riley Skinner was knocked out with a separated right shoulder in the third quarter, and his Boston College counterpart, Matt Ryan, threw for five touchdowns in a 38-28 victory over the Demon Deacons.

"They say the X-rays look good for what it was," Skinner said. "They never said how long it will be. It's a personal thing. Some people come back real quick and some people, it takes a little longer."

Wake didn't take long to take the lead Saturday. Ryan threw an interception on the game's first play, and Alphonso Smith returned it 21 yards for a touchdown. But Ryan more than made up for it and finished the game with 408 passing yards.

The Deacons' offense also capitalized early, dominating the line of scrimmage and going 67 yards on an 11-play drive capped by Kenneth Moore's five-yard touchdown catch. Moore tied a school single-game record with 15 catches, one shy of the ACC mark.

With BC trailing 14-0, the crowd of 42,292 sat mostly in stunned silence on a perfect day for football -- sunny and 75 degrees.

Skinner, who set 10 school passing records last year as a freshman, started his sophomore season by completing his first 10 passes, including 7-for-7 for 46 yards on his opening drive.

Ryan responded by completing 10 of his next 12 passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns, becoming the fifth quarterback in school history to pass for more than 5,000 career yards.

Wake took its final lead late in the second quarter. Smith caused a fumble by BC running back A.J. Brooks, and the ball was scooped up by Chip Vaughn, who ran 38 yards for a 21-14 Wake lead.

"If we see our offense (struggling), we say as a defense, 'We've got to do something and score,' " Vaughn said. "Cause a turnover or get a pick or block a kick, do something. It's a team game. If they're struggling, we know we have to do our job and score."

But BC and Ryan came back with a five-play, 69-yard drive, finished off by Ryan's 22-yard touchdown connection to Clarence Megwa with 55 seconds left in the half.

Skinner's nemesis turned out to be DeJuan Tribble. The Eagles cornerback intercepted Skinner three times, including twice in the end zone.

The complexion of the game and the Deacons' season changed on the next-to-last play of their second drive of the second half. That's when Skinner ran toward the sideline and was tackled, and a Boston College player landed on his right shoulder. Instead of coming out of the game, he threw his third interception of the day.

"You can't get mad at him," said Wake coach Jim Grobe. "I hugged him and said, 'When you get hurt that bad, you have to let us know.' You can't go back in. You can't throw the interception, come off and then say, 'My shoulder is separated.'

"That's not a very smart thing to do by a smart kid, but he's competitive and he probably felt he did not play his best and he was trying to make up for it."

Skinner said: "I tried to throw, and I really didn't have anything in my arm."

The injury forced Grobe to call on Brett Hodges, who led the team on a 77-yard drive in eight plays, ending with a 12-yard scoring strike to Kevin Harris.

Marcus Williams gave the Deacons one final chance with an interception at the Wake Forest 20, but the offense got only to midfield, turning the ball over on downs.

Wake Forest 14 7 0 7 --28

Boston College 7 14 14 3 --38

Wake--Smith 21 interception return (Swank kick)

Wake--Moore 5 pass from Skinner (Swank kick)

BC--Challenger 19 pass from Ryan (Aponavicius kick)

BC--Gunnell 38 pass from Ryan (Aponavicius kick)

Wake--Vaughn 38 fumble return (Swank kick)

BC--Megwa 22 pass from Ryan (Aponavicius kick)

BC--Robinson 10 pass from Ryan (Aponavicius kick)

BC--Gunnell 5 pass from Ryan (Aponavicius kick)

Wake--Harris 12 pass from Hodges (Swank kick)

BC--FG Aponavicius 27

A--42,292.

Wake Bc

First downs 24 24

Rushes-yards 24-2 27-54

Passing 366 408

Comp-Att-Int 45-60-4 32-52-2

Return Yards 38 44

Punts-Avg. 6-31.3 6-43.0

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-1

Penalties-Yards 2-15 6-45

Time of Possession 34:01 25:59

Individual Statistics

RUSHING--Wake Forest, Harris 4-10, Belton 6-7, Andrews 7-7, Marion 1-1, Moore 4-(minus 5), Skinner 1-(minus 8), Hodges 1-(minus 10). Boston College, Callender 14-49, Brooks 7-18, Team 1-0, Flutie 1-(minus 4), Ryan 4-(minus 9).

PASSING--Wake Forest, Skinner 28-37-3-236, Hodges 17-23-1-130. Boston College, Ryan 32-52-2-408.

RECEIVING--Wake Forest, Moore 15-126, Tereshinski 6-75, Marion 5-46, Brinkman 5-30, Andrews 5-24, Harris 3-25, Selmon 3-18, Boldin 1-14, Lowe 1-6, Bryant 1-2. Boston College, Robinson 9-127, Challenger 5-59, Gunnell 4-54, Purvis 4-50, Jarvis 2-35, Brooks 2-25, Callender 2-19, Flutie 2-16, Megwa 1-22, Ryan 1-1.