Notre Dame is becoming very familiar with Wake Forest in the Brian Kelly era. This fall we will see the Irish take on the Demon Deacons for the 4th time since 2011. Notre Dame is undefeated so far in the series so we’ve got that going for us, which is nice.
Wake Forest
2016 Record: 7-6
2016 S&P Rank: 60
Offense Returning Production Rank: 1
Defense Returning Production Rank: 49
Clawson’s Progress
Fourth-year head coach Dave Clawson just might be turning things around in Winston-Salem. The Deacons jumped 19 spots in the S&P+ rankings after his first season and then rose another 28 spots to finish the 2016 season. Additionally, their 7 wins last year were the most since 2008.
Their bowl drought was snapped last season, as well. Not only that but they faced a 10-win Temple team in the Military Bowl that had covered the spread in their last 12 games prior to the post-season. The Owls were 11.5 point favorites but were defeated by Wake Forest 34-26.
No More Elko
In case you haven’t heard Notre Dame took Wake Forest’s defensive coordinator Mike Elko. The Deacons also lost 4 out of their top 6 tacklers, including 5th round NFL pick Marquel Lee and his 20 tackles for loss.
One could argue pretty easily that Elko was the straw that stirred the Wake Forest Renaissance drink under Dave Clawson. Using S&P the Demon Deacons defense was an astonishing 88 spots better than their offense. That doesn’t say much about their offense, of course. However, you don’t win football games very often scoring just 7 points (like they did against Tulane) if your defense isn’t very strong.
Obviously, Wake is facing some major questions moving forward on defense.
Get Something from the Offense
If you’re still uneasy about the success of Clawson and whether he’s really rebuilding Wake Forest look no further than their abomination of an offense under a head coach with an offensive background. Not a super great sign when you just lost one of the hotter defensive coordinators in the country.
Needless to say, the 110th ranked S&P offense is disturbing but an overview of their advanced stats is really disheartening. They are virtually 90th ranked or worse in every category. No one has more returning production in the country for 2017 so the excuses are running dry.
Wake is committed to rising junior Kendall Hinton at quarterback. He faced Notre Dame for a handful of snaps in 2015 rushing the ball 4 times but throwing no passes. He won the job last year out of camp but missed the last 9 games with injury. Despite a shaky spring and 3 of 8 passing performance in the spring game Clawson is determined to start him in the fall.
That’s due to Hinton’s athletic ability and the fact that John Wolford (55.5% accuracy, 5.9 YPA) might be one of the worst passing quarterbacks in the country.
Summer Spread: Irish Favored by 8.5 Points
Wake has scored 24 total points in 3 games versus Notre Dame. For you math majors that’s an average of 8 points per game. Their offense has been so bad over the past 5 years that everyone should be thinking long and hard about a Notre Dame cover here.
Buy or Sell: Anything from THIS article
Who the hell knows what’s satire or hot takes for the sake of hot takes but this one is good nonetheless. The Demon Deacons new defensive coordinator making their defense better AND Kendall Hinton winning the Heisman!
Know a Player: RB Cade Carney
White running back alert! Carney missed 3 games last year and still racked up 156 carries as a true freshman last fall, leading all ball carriers on the team. He only averaged 3.78 yards per carry so I can’t say he came on strong late but he did average almost 18 carries per game over the final 5 contests last year.
Outfitter: Nike
Wake Forest has been a Nike school for many, many years. Their uniforms were getting pretty boring in the late Jim Grobe-era but they received a really strong redesign in 2015 that has breathed some life into their pretty limited color scheme and logo.
Most Important Game: at Georgia Tech
This game sticks out like a sore thumb amid an absolutely brutal stretch. An optimist could see Wake starting 4-0 this season but even if they do a stretch of Florida State, Clemson, bye, Georgia Tech, Louisville, and Notre Dame awaits afterward. If they can’t beat the Yellow Jackets a 5-game losing streak is staring them right in the face.
I absolutely sell anything that says a Wake player will win the Heisman. One of the rules of winning it requires that you come from one of the blue blood schools(USC, FL, OSU, Bama, ND, etc).
Poor Rocket weeps.
Also, using a strict definition of blue blood 3 out of the last 6 winners came from non-blue blood schools (Louisville, Oregon, Baylor).
Can we call it the Elko Bowl and create a rivalry trophy for it?
That’s the only way I can muster excitement about playing Wake Forest.
Though, I must agree, the 2015 Nike redesign was on point. I’ve always liked the Black/Gold color combo.
Elko & Lea should be prepared for almost everything Clawson has in his playbook. Losing to Wake would be one of the bigger disappointments I can imagine on this schedule.
Clawson’s like, “We’re gonna throw a pass 12 yards downfield this time!”