No. 9 in the first College Football Playoff rankings to be released, but suffered their season's first loss on the road against North Carolina; though North Carolina is an ACC opponent, the game did not count as a conference game since it was scheduled between the two schools in order to play each other more often than ACC scheduling would otherwise allow. In their home finale, the Demon Deacons earned their first win over a ranked opponent when they defeated No. 16 NC State by a field goal. The Deacons returned to the top ten in time for their matchup with Clemson, though the Tigers defeated Wake in convincing fashion, handing the Demon Deacons their first conference loss of the season. Despite this, Wake Forest secured its spot in the championship game in its final regular season game on November 27, defeating Boston College by a score of 41–10. Game summary Fake slide controversy On the first drive of the game, Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett scored a touchdown on a 58-yard run to put the Pittsburgh Panthers up 7-0. During the run, around the Demon Deacons' 40-yard line, Pickett dipped his right knee as though he were going to slide and give himself up. Pickett did not slide and continued running for a touchdown. The "fake slide" was immediately the subject of controversy. In college football, a defensive player who makes contact with a quarterback who is giving themselves up can be subject to a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty or possibly ejection. As a result, defensive players usually let up and avoid continuing a play when a quarterback initiates a slide. Pickett acknowledged that his fake slide intentionally took advantage of this, saying, "Yeah, it was intentional. I just kind of started slowing down and pulling up and getting ready to slide. I just kind of saw their body language and they just pulled up as well." After the game, many acknowledged the play as innovative and clever while simultaneously arguing it was a rules loophole that should be closed. For example, Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson acknowledged there was no rule preventing Pickett from fake sliding and praised such a play as "brilliant" while pointing out that it placed the defense at a huge disadvantage. Former NFL referee Gene Steratore said, "I wish they would implement a change in the rule effective immediately just to get rid of it.