TAMPA, Fla.—Sam Hartman completed 23 of 36 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns in what was expected to be his final game with Wake Forest, a 27–17 win over Missouri in the Gasparilla Bowl on Friday night.
The redshirt junior now will look at entering the NFL draft or the transfer portal.
Hartman threw his 108th career touchdown pass to set an Atlantic Coast Conference record on a 5-yard strike to Taylor Morin that made it 7–0 in the first quarter. He had been tied with Clemson’s Tajh Boyd (2010–13), and ended up with 110 overall.
Hartman came up 33 yards short of joining North Carolina State’s Philip Rivers (13,484 from 2000–03) as the only quarterbacks in ACC history to reach 13,000 passing yards.
A.T. Perry had 11 receptions for 116 yards for Wake Forest (8–5)
Brady Cook threw for 215 yards on 29–of–48 passing for Missouri (6–7). He also rushed for 38 yards on 14 tries.
Missouri took its first lead, 17–14, when Cody Schrader scored from 4 yards out with 5:45 remaining in the third quarter. He finished with 54 yards on 13 carries.
Wake Forest went ahead 20–17 just 1:16 later when Hartman hooked up with Jahmal Banks for a 48-yard touchdown. Matthew Dennis missed the extra point, which ended the Demon Deacons’ streak of 269 consecutive successful tries, dating to Nov. 18, 2017.
Hartman and Morin hooked up for a 16-yard touchdown with 2 1/2 minutes to play,
Justice Ellison put the Demon Deacons ahead 14–3 on a 1-yard TD run five minutes into the second quarter. He had 64 yards on 21 attempts.
After Jaylon Carlies picked off a pass by Hartman in the end zone, Cook connected on a 1-yard touchdown pass to Demariyon Houston to get Missouri within 14–10, 2 1/2 minutes before halftime.
