Wake Forest Demon Deacons: 5 Big Games for 2016
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons will be looking for improvement in five key games this seasons.
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are looking for a step forward this football season in the third year of Coach Dave Clawson. John Wolford is now a battle tested junior and Clawson recruits have been in the system now for two years.
The conference still does not have very high expectations for the Deacons. The Deacons were picked at the bottom of the Atlantic Division once again. The Deacons have been pretty good at getting at least one win that they shouldn’t in their schedule. They also need more of them.
That statement might suggest that every game is important for the Deacons in year 3. Yet these pieces are to decide what the five most important are. Therefore there must be games on the Deacons’ schedule that value higher. We’ll take a stab at identifying those in time order.
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- Tulane Green Wave – September 1
Tulane has not been very good, but neither has Wake. The first week of the season would be a good time for teams to mess things up if their expectations are out of whack. If Wake can silence Tulane then it will be a sign that the team can meet their own preseason expectations.
- AT Duke Blue Devils – September 10
Duke is the cross division rival of the Deacs and it is in a little bit of a transition with the loss of key team leaders on the defense to graduation. Throw in the low opinion of the Deacs right now and this could be a game to steal since the Duke defense may not be set this early in the season.
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- Army Black Knights – October 29
This is a game to help tell us how far the improvement has come since last year. Wake got involved in a close fought match in West Point due to injuries. The best sign for the Clawson tenure would be if Wake soundly defeats the option oriented Black Knights.
- Virginia Cavaliers – November 5
The Cavs are the lowest rated team in the other division and have a new coach to boot. Getting them at home represents a big opportunity to notch a conference win.
- Boston College Eagles – November 26
The home finale of the Deacs is against another team that was locked into a close game with Wake last year. A victory would be another sign of growth for the Deacons.
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There they are. Wake could be in for a breakthrough season, but they do have a tall order to get there.