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DURHAM -- A game with more numbers but a considerably smaller jackpot than Powerball did pay out something to Wake Forest on Saturday.

While Riley Skinner and Duke's Thaddeus Lewis took their turns erasing various records books, the Demon Deacons took a 45-34 victory for personal reasons.

"This feels better than anybody outside of our locker room can imagine," Skinner said after throwing for a school-record five touchdowns and winning the meeting of the two prolific passers.

Lewis became only the second player in ACC history to eclipse 10,000 career passing yards. Skinner fell one completion short (.0004) of establishing the league's standard for career completion percentage. Both teams finished with inglorious 5-7 records that didn't seem to fit with all the history.

As far as the Demon Deacons were concerned, however, the key statistic was 33 -- the school-best win total for the 22 seniors.

"This game was a statement about how much we cared about playing football," defensive tackle John Russell said.

At first, it was a statement of the numerically absurd. The Devils hit for touchdowns of 56 and 62 yards in their first six plays from scrimmage, and the Deacs nearly matched them. They required 10 snaps to find the end zone twice.

"Kinda reminded me of Arena League," Wake running back Kevin Harris said.

Wake then changed coverages, limited the deep ball and kept on trucking on its own.

"The thing I'm most proud of was that we settled down and started to make them earn it," coach Jim Grobe said.

The day's final touchdown underscored what separated this Wake team from its recent predecessors. Alex Frye's 37-yard interception return with 3:26 left was the team's first non-offensive touchdown of the season. Two years ago, Wake went 9-4 on the strength of 10 such scores.

The 2009 Deacs outgained the 2006 ACC championship team by nearly 100 yards a game, but they stood 93rd nationally in turnover margin before Saturday. The champs were sixth in that department, which explains why they were 5-0 in games decided by seven or fewer points. The 2009 team was 2-5, including consecutive defeats by three, one and three points.

"It's a play here and a play there," Russell said. "The biggest thing the '06 team had was confidence. It's easier to play hot and on fire for four quarters and 60 minutes when everything's going well. We came here today and showed the tenacity of that 2006 team."

Duke will also wonder about how close it came to postseason in the second year of coach David Cutcliffe's obviously successful reconstruction program. It will lament a season-opening loss to Richmond that it couldn't quite overcome. It may also wonder what Lewis, who played with bumps, bruises and bandages all year and especially when his backup was lost for the season, might have done if he had been healthy all year.

"He couldn't walk two weeks ago, and he played," Cutcliffe said. "He couldn't walk on Wednesday. His thigh was, I think, two and a half inches bigger than the other one. I can't say enough about his courage."

Wake Forest 14 7 14 10 -- 45

Duke 14 3 3 14 -- 34

Duke--Varner 56 pass from Lewis (Snyderwine kick)

Wake--Brown 28 pass from Skinner (Newman kick)

Duke--Kelly 62 pass from Lewis (Snyderwine kick)

Wake--Givens 54 pass from Skinner (Newman kick)

Wake--Brown 8 pass from Skinner (Newman kick)

Duke--FG Snyderwine 51

Wake--K.Harris 13 pass from Skinner (Newman kick)

Duke--FG Snyderwine 33

Wake--Ma.Williams 1 pass from Skinner (Newman kick)

Duke--Lewis 1 run (Snyderwine kick)

Wake--FG Newman 44

Wake--Frye 37 interception return (Newman kick)

Duke--Varner 21 pass from Lewis (Snyderwine kick)

A--21,420

Wake Forest Duke

First downs 26 19

Rushes-yards 34-127 19-68

Passing 372 387

Comp-Att-Int 28-38-0 28-48-1

Return Yards 40 (-3)

Punts-Avg. 3-46.0 5-37.4

Fumbles-Lost 3-0 1-0

Penalties-Yards 5-68 4-57

Time of Possession 34:15 25:45

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Wake Forest, Adams 7-42, K.Harris 8-32, Pendergrass 7-30, Givens 1-16, Brown 3-9, Bohanon 2-8, Skinner 3-(minus 5), Team 3-(minus 5). Duke, D.Scott 10-41, Hollingsworth 6-19, Moore 0-5, Boyette 1-2, Lewis 1-1, Team 1-0.

PASSING--Wake Forest, Skinner 28-38-0-372. Duke, Lewis 28-48-1-387.

RECEIVING--Wake Forest, Ma.Williams 8-119, Brown 8-82, Givens 5-78, Parker 2-28, Pendergrass 2-7, Rinfrette 1-37, K.Harris 1-13, Bohanon 1-8. Duke, Varner 11-174, Vernon 8-93, Kelly 3-93, Huffman 2-8, D.Scott 2-7, B.King 1-7, Williams 1-5.