Know Your Opponent: Wake Forest
by Justin Cates
November 18, 2006

I’d like it to be known that when the Hokies last headed to Winston-Salem I said that Wake was an up and coming program and that they would be a team on the move in the coming seasons.

Well, well, well; here we are three football seasons later and Wake Forest is 9-1, ranked 14th in the nation, and sitting atop the ACC’s Atlantic Division standings. They have the best record in the conference and are coming off a 30-0 win at Florida State; the first shutout of FSU at home in the Bobby Bowden era no less.

Jim Grobe is one of the leading candidates for national coach of the year and he’s done a tremendous job. The first thing a Tech fan notices after glancing at Wake’s roster is the number of former Hokie recruiting targets on the list. Grobe has been able to recruit Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and even Florida. He’s able to offer playing time, a top-notch academic environment and a very unique school.

Wake Forest is the second-smallest school fielding division 1-A athletic teams and is often the forgotten school on Tobacco Road due to their years and years as the proverbial doormat of the ACC.

That’s all out the window now however, and the Hokies look to have a tough match on their hands Saturday night.

These teams are virtual mirror images of each other. Mediocre offenses that mainly run the ball against top-notch defenses loaded with playmakers.

The Deacons lost starting quarterback Ben Mauk for the year to injury in their season opener against Syracuse, but r-freshman QB Riley Skinner came in and has done a solid job leading the Deacs’.

Skinner leads the ACC in passing efficiency with a mark of 145.82 and it all starts with his tremendous accuracy. Skinner has completed 109 of his 159 passes on the year, good for a 68.6% completion percentage. Skinner has 1,259 yards on the season and 7 touchdowns to go with just 3 interceptions.

Skinner is a solid quarterback who has some nice weapons to throw to including deep-threat Willie Idlette, who is third on the team in receiving, and Nate Morton who leads the team in yards with 410 for the year. Kenneth Moore leads the team in catches with 26 for 253 yards but he recently moved to running back where he has 50 carries for 231 yards and a touchdown.

Wake has struggled to run the ball all season largely due to another key injury suffered in the third game of the season. Highly touted running back Micah Andrews was lost for the season and Wake has been utilizing a running back by committee game plan ever since. Even so, the Demon Deacons rank 40th nationally in rushing but are only 101st in overall offense due to their minimal yet deceptively effective passing game.

Prediction      

This game looks to be a defensive battle on all fronts. The Hokies now once again rank first in the nation in total defense but Wake’s strength is their D. They rank 14th in rushing defense, 8th in scoring defense and look to stop the Tech running game early.

Look for Wake to stack the line and force the Hokies to pass like the last few teams have done against Tech. Brandon Ore has been unable to surpass the 100-yard mark the last two games following his back-to-back 200-yard plus outbursts largely due to that pressure.

Wake’s strength on defense however is their linebackers. John Abbate leads the team in tackles with 75 on the season and redshirt sophomore Aaron Curry has 56 tackles including a team-high 7.5 for loss.

Strangely enough, the Hokies don’t even have the best special teams unit in this game. Wake’s kicker Sam Swank is 15-21 on field goals this year including a staggering 5-7 from beyond 50 yards. He also handles the Deacon punting and they rank 8th nationally in net punting, far above the Hokies at 76th best.

Despite all that, the Hokies love defensive battles and if the D can create some turnovers and even get a score look for Tech to come out on top.