Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Army Black Knights Preview
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons had a wakeup call of sorts last week against the Syracuse Orange. On the plus side, the Deacs scored ten more points on the Orange than they did last year. The bad news is that they lost to consensus sixth place team in the ACC Atlantic Division. This week they are playing another team that is based in New York in the form the Army Black Nights. The Black Knights offer one of the more unique challenges in college football. They believe in option football, and it will be run run run from the Black Knights on Saturday.
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Opponent: Army Black Knights (0-2)
Date: September 19
Time: Noon
TV: CBS Sports Network
Venue: Michie Stadium (West Point, NY)
X – Unleash John Wolford
Wolford has been terrific in the first two games of the season. Unfortunately it was not enough to beat Syracuse. Against the smaller defensive backs and defensive line of Army, Wolford should be in a much better place. He might need every bit of it too, since Army took Fordham and UConn to the very limit before coming up empty in both games.
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Y – Stop the Option
ACC teams have the benefit of having Georgia Tech in the conference, so playing the option is not completely foreign to them. However Georgia Tech plays in the Coastal division with Clemson as its yearly rival game, so Wake does not see the option much. They did play Army last year, which should give them some benefit. However that was a nail biter of a game that ended 24-20 in Winston-Salem. Wake needs a big game by the defensive line to beat off the cut blocking that is bound to happen.
Z – Substitute
If the defense cannot get off the field, they need to get new guys on so that the option does not grind them down over the course of the game. The offense needs to be aware of this issue too. Although it may be tempting to go quick strike on Army, that will only play into their offense’s scheme of grinding drives.
Prediction: 27-24, Wake