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Wes’ Ways To Win – Wake Forest

EXECUTING THE DEFENSIVE GAME PLAN

The Demon Deacons’ offense is like sand. They can slip right through your hands if you’re not playing them tight.

The schemes are a unique, diverse, and physical offense that still contains some famous misdirection. More importantly, that same offense is now more known for accuracy, high production, and very few mistakes.

“What may appear to be a dive, may be an option … and it may be a pitch,” said NFL veteran and Lincoln Financial Sports analyst Rick “Doc” Walker. “They execute their offense very well.”

Led by Riley Skinner, Wake Forest’s offense is a blend of the conventional and unconventional with all the disguises tossed in to make certain plays appear as other plays. (If you can follow along with that last sentence then you might have a chance of understanding Wake’s work.)

Skinner is a special player going from reserve to an Orange Bowl quarterback in the same season.

“Last year he completed 67 percent of his passes,” said Al Groh. “This year he’s completing 72 percent of his passes. Those are awesome numbers in any system. Basically call a pass almost anytime that you want and it’s going to be completed. That’s a pretty nice feeling to have when you are calling those pass plays.”

Behind Skinner – sometimes along side – is Josh Adams , who has found his groove as of late, totaling 353 rushing yards on 53 attempts with four touchdowns in the past three games. He can crash the middle, streak off tackle, and catch a pitch equally well on the way to a projected 800-yard season.

While trying to bottle Adams up, the Cavaliers can worry about Kenneth Moore’s 29 receptions in the last three outings. Wake Forest has only 232 passing attempts on the season yet Moore leads the conference in receptions (60) and is second in the conference in receiving yards (656). Needless to say, Moore makes things happen with the ball.

Cover those weapons and then make sure you have John Tereshinski covered in the flat.

The Wahoos, hopefully, were reminded of the basics of the game last week: Hit, tackle, and wrap up. To say Virginia did a poor job of tackling last week is like saying the Mets only “stumbled” in September. With Wake Forest’s misdirection plays and unfamiliar schemes, first tackles and open field tackles will be huge for Virginia. The large highlight hits won’t just do it. Too many times last week, Wolfpack players bounced off initial hits for extra yardage.

Wake Forest will turn those extra yards into extra points.

KEEP IT AWAY FROM KENNY

One of those men who could make Virginia pay with missed tackles is Moore. A week after Donald Bowens hauled in 202 yards on 11 receptions, Virginia’s secondary might want to study the Wake-UNC game film to see how the Tar Heels limited the playmaker to 41 receiving yards.

In some fashion or another, Moore has found ways to have a stunning affect on four of five Wake Forest victories.

  • Vs. Maryland – 3 receptions, 73 yards
  • Vs. Duke – 11 receptions, 100 yards
  • Vs. Florida State – 3 receptions, 74 yards, go-ahead touchdown
  • Vs. Navy – 15 receptions, 181 yards, 2 TDs

Moore currently leads the ACC in receptions per game (8) and second in receiving yards per game (87.9). … And before I forget, Moore can run. As part of Wake Forest’s diverse offense, Moore won’t get the ball on a one-time “razzle dazzle” play. The senior wideout has rushed 16 times in five games prior to UNC. He tallied eight rushes for 116 yards against Nebraska in Week 2. Moore can be a rushing threat if he lines up as a receiver, as a tailback, or when he comes in motion toward the quarterback and take the hand off as a running back.

To shut down Moore, the best way is to start at the inception. That means stopping Skinner. Don’t expect the sack totals to register high this week as Wake Forest’s offensive line has allowed only 29 sacks in its past 22 games (Virginia has 27 in 9 games this season), but Skinner has 9 interceptions and only 6 touchdown passes on the season.

CONTAIN COVERAGE AND THE NON-OFFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS

The team that most people know for its defense and special teams is last on Virginia’s schedule. Unfortunately for the Wahoos, the team third from last isn’t too shabby either.

“[Wake’s] got a lot of speed, they’ve got a good balance of that, they’re a very athletic team and all three of their units are very proficient. Obviously, their special teams have been excellent. Their defense is scoring a lot of points, they’ve scored nine non-offensive touchdowns this year and 12 in the last two years,” said Groh.

A large part of Wake Forest’s 2006 ACC Championship season was big plays outside of the offense, including a blocked field goal against Duke and multiple late game interceptions against North Carolina and North Carolina State. This year, Wake Forest has continued to make a hobby of finding the end zone without the help of the offense.

Kevin Marion returned one kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown and another 83 yards to set up a one-play drive that resulted in Josh Adams ‘ 14-yard touchdown burst last week against North Carolina. The week before against Navy, Marion returned two kickoff returns of 80 and 46 yards that set up the first two scores and launched the Deacons to a 14-3 lead. To make it short and sweet for you, Marion has returned his last four kickoffs 80, 46, 98, and 83 yards for an average of 76.8 yards a return.

Kenny Moore ‘s 55-yard punt return provided the opening the score in 21-10 win over Army on a day where Wake was held to its lowest offensive output of the year.

Defensively, Wake Forest cornerback Alphonso Smith has as many touchdowns as Virginia’s leading scoring receiver Tom Santi .

Smith’s 30-yard interception return vs. Duke blew the game open in the third. This, of course, was merely a complement to his 100-yard interception return to ignite the Demon Deacons’ comeback against Maryland and a 21-yard interception return that was Wake’s first score of the season against Boston College.

Wake ended its scoring last week when Aaron Curry took his second interception of the day 77 yards to the end zone.

This merely might seem like a bunch of stats and recaps but it clearly shows the impact that Wake has on defense and special teams. Of course with any strength, comes an Achilles’ heel. The Deacons’ pass defense is not air tight. They allow 224 yards passing per game and they have given up a league-worst 13 passing touchdowns. In other words, just because Wake Forest can take away the ball, it should not deter Virginia from avoiding the air.

WATCH THE UNDER

24 isn’t just a show. It’s the over/ under for Wake Forest. Under Jim Grobe, the Deacons are 35-13 when scoring 24 or more and 8-24 when scoring less than that number. With that in mind, it is prediction time: VIRGINIA 28 WAKE FOREST 23.


Wes McElroy is a sports talkshow host for ESPN 840 AM in Charlottesville. The Final Round with Wes McElroy airs week days from 4 to 6 p.m. Listen live on the Web site.

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