A year after surviving a battle in Winston-Salem, Notre Dame returns the favor, hosting Wake Forest in South Bend, the final home game of the season. For the Irish, every game is must-see TV, with an undefeated season on the line and a home record that’s included nothing but nail-biters. For the Demon Deacons, it an opportunity to play well against a good team, something that hasn’t happened yet this year for Jim Grobe’s squad.
At 5-5, Wake finds itself needing a win against either the Irish or Vanderbilt to become bowl eligible. As a three-touchdown underdog on Saturday, the Deacs will need to play their best game of the season to keep things interesting. Getting us up to speed on the state of Wake Forest football is Martin Rickman, editor of Blogger So Dear.
Can Wake Forest looking to stage one of college football’s more improbable upsets this Saturday? Martin was kind enough to give us a closer look at the Demon Deacons’ chances to steal a victory.
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1) As you’d expect from a team with a 5-5 record, Wake Forest has had an up and down season. At its best, what is this Demon Deacon team? At its worse, how bad does it get?
At its best, this team is a .500 team. Honestly. The defense is inconsistent and gives too much of a cushion in the secondary. It doesn’t limit big plays. The offensive line is a disaster. Tanner Price doesn’t trust his receivers aside from Michael Campanaro. The running game is unreliable. The playcalling is suspect. The coaching is conservative to a maddening level. Jim Grobe doesn’t trust his players this year, and the schedule is so weak, somehow with all the wounded on the offensive line, the suspensions and the injury to Campanaro in the middle of the season, the team is 5-5 and a win away from bowl eligibility. Funny how that works sometimes.
At its worst, this team lost to Maryland, almost lost to Army, got blasted by Florida State and was embarrassed by N.C. State and Clemson.
2) Last season, Brian Kelly was incredibly complimentary about the personnel Jim Grobe had on the field, and the Deacs played the Irish really tough. He said similar things in his weekly press conference, particularly about the defensive personnel. For someone that’s only seen highlights and box scores, is Kelly just offering coaching flattery or is there some good talent on Jim Grobe’s defense?
There is good talent on the defense, and that is one of the more frustrating issues this season. The defense was supposed to be the strong point. Nikita Whitlock was coming off a spectacular season a year ago, the linebacking corps was retooled and the secondary had some truly gifted athletes. But aside from some nice stretches here and there, the defense has been a huge disappointment. Part of that is from being on the field so much due to the ineptitude of the offense, but some of it is straight getting beat in coverage. A unit that was supposed to be a huge strength is just another representation of a lackluster year overall.
3) How much of the team’s inconsistency can be put on the offensive and defensive lines? What has been the problem there?
The offensive line has been decimated by injuries, but has been better than I expected knowing how patchwork it all was. Honestly, the lack of a consistent No. 2 receiver is one of the biggest issues on the offensive side of the ball. It completely messed with Tanner Price’s psyche.
The defensive line, I don’t know. It was supposed to be solid. But when you go with a scheme that emphasizes speed over size, you have to get to the quarterback and bring pressure. This team does not do a very good job of that.
4) In Tanner Price, Josh Harris, and Michael Campanaro, Wake Forest has three top-flight talents on offense. If the Demon Deacons are going to pull off the upset, what do you expect from them?
It’s going to have to be perfection for the trio. Notre Dame’s defense is second-to-none this season. Wake’s offense has its work cut out for it. But, I’ll play this game. Price needs to make throws in tight windows when he has the opportunity to take shots. Harris needs to fight for yards after contact and break a couple runs into the second level. Campanaro needs to catch everything thrown his way and break tackles. The entire team needs to take care of the football. Let’s start there.
5) A lot of Notre Dame fans are struggling to understand how Kansas State is ranked ahead of the Irish, especially when you look at common opponents and strength of schedule. As someone without a dog in this fight, how do you rank the three remaining undefeated teams? Where does Notre Dame fall on the spectrum of title contender-to-lucky to be there for you?
I actually wrote about this with Mark Ennis of East Coast Bias and Louisville’s ESPN 680 on Saturday when we were trying to put together our top 10. Notre Dame came in third for both of us, behind Oregon and Kansas State, and I realize that’s a bit of a sore subject for Irish fans, but we looked at how defense-heavy Notre Dame is and the recent struggles at times. But it’s really not far off.
I expect one of the three undefeateds to lose in the next two weeks anyway, so this won’t be an issue. Bottom line: Notre Dame takes care of business in the next two games, it’s all but assured the Fighting Irish will be playing for the National Championship.
6) Obviously, last year’s game was a tight contest and Wake Forest was in it until the end. What do you expect on Saturday?
Pain.
This game is not going to be close. But fans in South Bend are good hosts, so Wake fans making the trip will have a great time. And it’s always fun to play a night game against a Top 5 team.
If we’re making a prediction, let’s say 34-10. I honestly don’t know if it will even be that close.
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For more leading up to the game, follow Martin on Twitter @MartinRickman and check out the other great stuff going at Blogger So Dear, where haiku game recaps are the norm.