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WINSTON-SALEM -- The trend had become so frustratingly familiar that Wake Forest's football players could only shrug their shoulders on Saturday when asked to explain how games kept slipping away.

The latest example came with a 28-27 loss to No. 18 Miami at BB&T Field -- the fourth game the Demon Deacons have lost this year by three or fewer points. It came on a day when Wake Forest jumped ahead to a 17-point lead, stayed in front for all but the final 68 seconds, and even had the Hurricanes' hopes pinned down to a desperate fourth-down play.

After Miami marched 59 yards on its final three plays and scored the game-winning touchdown on a 13-yard pass to Travis Benjamin with 1:08 remaining, Wake (4-5, 2-3 ACC) was again left to wonder what could have been.

"Incredibly frustrating," said linebacker Joey Ehrmann. "I give credit to Miami; they're a really good team. But this game was ours, and we blew it."

The ending became even more frustrating when Deacons quarterback Riley Skinner was lost for the final 6:22 with a slight concussion, bringing an abrupt end to an otherwise brilliant performance. Skinner, whose status for next week is uncertain, was 29 of 43 passing for 349 yards with two touchdowns and led an early onslaught that broke Wake out of a recent offensive funk.

Skinner hit freshman fullback Tommy Bohanon with a 3-yard touchdown pass with 2:23 remaining in the first quarter, and followed it up with a 7-yard scoring run up the middle with 10:36 remaining in the first half to extend Wake's lead to 17-0.

Skinner was nearly flawless, completing 14 of his first 16 pass attempts for 145 yards to start a day in which the Deacons finished with 555 offensive yards. Miami struggled with its running game (26 rushing yards) and its passing game was inconsistent. The Hurricanes often couldn't maintain a possession without big-gain plays.

The Hurricanes scored on a pair of five-play drives -- first on a 35-yard reception by Aldarius Johnson, the second on a 3-yard run by Damien Berry -- to cut Wake's lead to 20-14 by the end of the first half. And with Wake Forest maintaining a 13-point edge early in the fourth quarter, Devon Brown fumbled a punt reception at the Deacons' 14-yard line, which the Hurricanes chased down at the 3.

Miami's total time of possession for their four scoring drives was a mere 3:45.

Out of all those big plays, it was the last three that left Wake's players in shock. After sacking Miami quarterback Jacory Harris at the Hurricanes' 41-yard line and forcing incompletions on two more plays, Wake pushed Miami to fourth-and-15 with 1:32 left, leaving one play to potentially decide the game.

The result: A 29-yard completion to Aldarius Johnson to bring Miami to the Wake 30 and keep Miami's hopes alive. It was followed swiftly by passes of 16 and 13 yards to Benjamin to cap the game-winning drive and push Miami in front for the first time.

Wake drove to the Miami 43-yard line in the final 10 seconds and opted to attempt a 60-yard field goal. Freshman kicker Jimmy Newman's attempt fell several yards short.

"That's the worst part of it," said defensive tackle John Russell. "It was difficult to watch, because fourth-and-15, we make the play on that play and we're in here and we're laughing and joking and having a good time."

Miami 0 14 0 14 -- 28

Wake Forest 10 10 7 0 -- 27

Wake--FG Newman 23

Wake--Bohanon 3 pass from Skinner (Newman kick)

Wake--Skinner 7 run (Newman kick)

Mia--A.Johnson 35 pass from J.Harris (Bosher kick)

Wake--FG Newman 42

Mia--Berry 3 run (Bosher kick)

Wake--Givens 44 pass from Skinner (Newman kick)

Mia--T.Johnson 2 pass from J.Harris (Bosher kick)

Mia--Benjamin 13 pass from J.Harris (Bosher kick)

A--30,011.

Miami Wake Forest

First downs 19 33

Rushes-yards 21-26 33-147

Passing 330 408

Comp-Att-Int 22-43-1 35-53-1

Return Yards (-5) (-12)

Punts-Avg. 9-43.0 4-41.3

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 3-3

Penalties-Yards 7-57 8-60

Time of Possession 21:08 38:52

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Miami, Cooper 6-27, Berry 7-26, Benjamin 1-10, M.James 1-7, J.Harris 6-(minus 44). Wake Forest, Adams 9-48, Skinner 7-43, Pendergrass 10-25, McManus 3-17, Ma.Williams 1-7, Bohanon 2-4, Brown 1-3.

PASSING--Miami, J.Harris 22-43-1-330. Wake Forest, Skinner 29-43-1-349, McManus 5-9-0-42, Ma.Williams 1-1-0-17.

RECEIVING--Miami, Hankerson 5-97, Collier 4-78, Benjamin 4-50, A.Johnson 3-74, Byrd 2-13, M.James 1-12, Cooper 1-2, Graham 1-2, T.Johnson 1-2. Wake Forest, Brown 12-101, Ma.Williams 5-81, Adams 5-71, Rinfrette 4-44, Givens 3-60, Ford 3-18, Skinner 1-17, Pendergrass 1-13, Bohanon 1-3.