Wake Forest Demon Deacons 2015 Football Preview
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons went through a heck of a year in 2014. That was not a good thing necessarily. A competent defense watched as the offense failed to come up with points throughout the year. Then they magically had got a hard fought win over Virginia Tech to offer something of a silver lining on the year.
This year the Deacons need to take the next step and finally some more points on the board. They will have a starting quarterback in John Wolford that has a year in the pocket under his belt. They need to find some running backs.
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The second year of a new regime offers opportunity. The new coach has made his adaptations to the scheme and is starting to recruit the people to fill them in the future. Instead of trying to put square pegs in round holes, the pegs and holes should make more sense now.
Coach: Dave Clawson – 2nd year (93-89)
Remember that Clawson was brought in to build the program. In his previous coaching stops, Clawson allows adapted to the available offensive personnel while installing his system in place. At Wake, Clawson was handed little to work with by the Grobe administration. The result was last year. Clawson therefore has to build quickly to retain the confidence of the fanbase.
Field: BB&T Field
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Last Season: 3-9 (1-7 ACC)
Offense, or the lack of it, defined last season. Freshman starter John Wolford had his share of growing pains but little support around him to help him through. The real help he got was on the other side of the ball where the Wake Forest defense often looked like it knew it would have do things to win games. That led to tremendous efforts against Louisville and Monroe where they still lost. More common were the blow outs. Wake finally found a team who was willing to slug it out with low scores when they beat Virginia Tech in double overtime by a 6-3 score.
Offense:
In his previous stops, Coach Clawson liked to build the offense around a running game. He will have to do so from scratch here. Unlike Bowling Green, he does not even have personnel to go full pass happy during the transition. Pressure will likely fall to Wolford to get the team moving on third downs. Wake is a team that needs to show they can play on schedule when thinking of down and distance. Until then, teams will be filling the box and daring Wolford to beat them through the air.
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Saturday Blitz
Defense:
A fair number of the playmakers from last year’s defense return. Linebacker Brandon Chubb still holds down one of the two linebacker spots. In front of him is defensive tackle Tylor Harris, who has seen his name appear on preseason watch lists this year. Behind Chubb is safety Ryan Janvion, who has been involved in his share of plays over the last two years. That middle strength should allow the 4-2-5 defense of the Deacs something to build on. They will no doubt miss cornerback Kevin Johnson though.
Schedule:
9/3 – Elon Phoenix
9/12 – AT Syracuse Orange
9/19 – AT Army Black Knights
9/26 – Indiana Hoosiers
10/3 – Florida State Seminoles
10/10 – AT Boston College
10/17 – AT North Carolina Tar Heels
10/24 – NC State Wolfpack
10/30 – Louisville Cardinals
11/14 – AT Notre Dame Fighting Irish
11/21 – AT Clemson Tigers
11/28 – Duke Blue Devils
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Busting Brackets
Prediction – 3-9 (0-8 ACC)
The Deacs will be better, but their schedule got harder on them. Also the teams around them either got better or will be playing the Deacs at home. The Deacs also have two weeks in October with rivals UNC and NC State back to back. Then November gives them ranked Clemson and ranked Notre Dame, both on the road, back to back. Patience will be needed. Maybe Clawson has another trick up his sleeve like the Virginia Tech game last year.