DURHAM, N.C. (AP) -- Scottie Montgomery scored three touchdowns in Duke's school-record 34-point first quarter and the Blue Devils held off Wake Forest 48-35 Saturday, seriously damaging the Demon Deacons' postseason hopes.

Wake Forest (5-5, 2-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) will have to upset No. 13 Georgia Tech at home next weekend to become bowl eligible for the first time since 1992.

Duke (3-7, 3-4) scored its most points since beating Wake Forest 51-26 in 1994. The Blue Devils also secured their most ACC wins in a season since that year.

The wild game featured two 99-yard kickoff returns -- one by Montgomery on the opening play of the game and one by Wake Forest's John Stone, whose school-record score with 5:06 left in the third quarter moved the Demon Deacons to within 13 points with plenty of time left.

However, Duke, coming off a 58-7 loss at Clemson and playing without starting quarterback Spencer Romine (foot) and star place-kicker Sims Lenhardt (groin), won with a strong performance by the ACC's worst defense, which intercepted Wake quarterback Ben Sankey four times and sacked him five times

The Blue Devils sealed the win by stopping Wake Forest wide receiver Jamie Deese an inch short of the goal line with 5:33 left.

Duke, outscored 76-10 this season in the first quarter, struck for three scores in less than two minutes of possession time against a stunned Wake Forest team.

After Montgomery's return of the opening kickoff, a 48-yard run by Letavious Wilks on Duke's next series set up Kevin Thompson's 10-yard scoring pass to Richmond Flowers. Following an interception, Duane Epperson scored on a 13-yard run for a 20-0 lead.

Thompson's 28-yard pass to Montgomery with six minutes left in the opening period increased the lead to 27-0. A bad pitch by Sankey led to Duke's fifth TD of the period two minutes later _ a 6-yard run by Montgomery.

The Demon Deacons had committed only 11 turnovers all season, but coughed the ball up four times in the opening half as Sankey threw three interceptions and lost a fumble.

Duke's previous high point total for a quarter was 32 in the fourth quarter against Penn in 1954. The 34-point first quarter was one shy of the ACC mark set by Clemson against Wake Forest in 1981.

Sankey did throw three TD passes in the second quarter, but his third interception led to a 10-yard scoring run by Wilks 4:46 before intermission, and Duke led 41-21 at halftime.