Freshman running back Jalen Mitchell rushed for168 yards, Hassan Hall scored two touchdowns and Louisville shrugged off a slow start Saturday to rout visiting Wake Forest, 45-21, in an Atlantic Coast Conference game.

Quarterback Malik Cunningham went 16-of-22 passing for 195 yards and two touchdowns as the Cardinals finished their season 4-7 overall and 3-7 in the conference. Louisville finished with 453 yards of total offense and went 7 of 14 on third-down conversions.

Sam Hartman went 17-of-41 passing for 224 yards with two scores and an interception for Wake Forest (4-4, 3-4). Hartman saw a string of 242 passes without an interception end late in the second quarter.

The Demon Deacons trailed just 28-21 after Hartman found Jaquarii Roberson for a 37-yard touchdown pass with 13:24 left in the game. But the Cardinals blew it open with a 23-yard touchdown run by Jordan Watkins, a 40-yard James Turner field goal and Cunningham's 22-yard scoring strike to Marshon Ford in the last 7:17.

Playing for just the second time since Oct. 31, Wake Forest initiated scoring on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Hartman to Taylor Morin with 8:04 left in the first quarter. The Demon Deacons only needed to drive 24 yards after a high snap forced punter Ryan Harwell to run for a 2-yard loss on fourth down.

Louisville's offense sputtered in the first quarter, but Hall evened the score at 7 midway through the second quarter with a 2-yard run, capping an eight-play, 80-yard drive.

After Nick Sciba's 45-yard field goal restored a lead for Wake, the Cardinals scored two touchdowns in the final 4:09 of the half. Cunningham's 5-yard run gave them their first lead, and Hall punched in from the 1, five plays after Monty Montgomery ended Hartman's interception-less streak.

Louisville upped the margin to 28-10 with 8:03 left in the third quarter when Cunningham fired a 4-yard scoring strike to Francis Sherman, but the Deacons responded with Sciba's 31-yard field goal less than two minutes later.

--Field Level Media