Wake Forest’s Claiborne shaken up early in Friday’s season-opening win against Kennesaw State

By Canadian Press on August 29, 2025.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Wake Forest running back Demond Claiborne exited Friday night’s 10-9 win against Kennesaw State before halftime with a rib injury.

The player expected to be the workhorse for coach Jake Dickert’s first season came off the field and headed to the locker room after runs of 13 and 2 yards on the game’s first two plays. He later came jogging out to the field carrying jersey-wrapped pads and checked in for the first of multiple times into the injury tent.

He re-entered the game with 10:24 left in the second. But after a 4-yard carry up the middle on the first snap, he hopped up and immediately came jogging back to the sideline and was spotted doubled over in pain. He later had an icebag wrapped around his left ribs and was out of his shoulder pads by the start of the second half, ending his day with three carries for 19 yards.

The 5-foot-10, 195-pound senior ran for 1,049 yards and 11 touchdowns last year. Dickert didn’t have an update on the exact nature of the injury afterward.

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The Associated Press

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