Wake Forest Demon Deacons: Bringing Defense and Running to State
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons head to a big showdown with rival NC State armed with some effective tools.
Last week the Wake Forest Demon Deacons were 3-0 and headed on the road to face a Big Ten opponent. This week they are 4-0 and are almost certainly looking at bowl eligibility here in the upcoming weeks. The question is, how soon?
It will not be this week. Even if the Demon Deacons beat the NC State Wolfpack, they will only have five wins. However the Deacs are suddenly the team that looks better of the two programs coming into the game. In part this is because State had a bye, but it also because of how the Deacs beat Indiana.
Indiana should have been a tough matchup. Since the final score was 33-28, it is fair to say that it was. The Hoosiers still rely on a spread offensive system that scores points by getting the ball into the hands of multiple receivers. It has always been the defense that was suspect.
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Enter the Deacs whose problems until recently was scoring the football. Last year’s Deacs would have had a hard time keeping pace. Yet this year’s Deacs did it. Why? The Wake Forest defense took the ball away on several occasions to give their offense a short field. Five interceptions of the Indiana quarterback occurred in the game.
Tough defense has been the carryover for Wake and fortunately it has remained tough. Sure, Kevin Johnson is gone but now the Deacs are developing freshman Jessie Bates. Bates got to show off for his home state folks with two interceptions including a touchdown and a touchdown robbery.
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Turnovers could do wonders for Wake if they could replicate that success against NC State’s offense this weekend.
On the other side of the ball, Wake continues to find ways to run the ball. This time it was quarterback John Wolford who showed a little leg. That was surprising considering his name was not Kendal Hinton. Alongside Wolford was sophomore running back Matt Colburn. Colburn ran for over a hundred yards. He is the second running back to accomplish the feat, suggesting that Wake really has figured out its running game.
Next: Wake Forest is Near Bowl Eligibility
A victory against State would give Wake a 2-0 record in conference and victories over both in state rivals on its schedule.