As much of a struggle as Thursday’s opener was for Wake, at least one member of its offense is convinced that his unit isn’t as far off as it might have looked as it prepares for its ACC opener next week at Duke. Remember that Wake beat Virginia Tech in double overtime two years ago, 6-3, and then beat Boston College last season, 3-0. Clawson commended that ball security while bemoaning his team’s inability to create explosive plays against what he said was pressurized man-to-man coverage by Tulane, which essentially dared Wake Forest to win with passes to the outside and throws over the top.
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After the game, Wake’s third-year head coach Dave Clawson said, “Our defense did a great job, the only points they gave up were off the penalty and they did a remarkable job”. “Play after play after play, at times on a short field, and we had a lot of guys really step up”. “Certainly that was the disappointment of the night, but I’d rather be coaching those mistakes being 1-0”. We are 1-0, now we have a lot of corrections to make. The Demon Deacons were held to 175 yards of total offense. Even in the ACC, you occasionally need talent to win; as was the case in 2015, said trait is not abundant on the Demon Deacons 2016 roster.
Tulane finished with 280 total yards for the game and held a almost 10-minute advantage in time of possession. The impact of that hit forced a fumble by Tulane quarterback Glen Cuiellette. “They kept us in the game”.
Wolford and Kendall Hinton alternated snaps at the start of the scoring drive, a 12-play, 53-yard march for a 7-3 lead with 4:12 left in the first half. But each time it did what it had to do to prevent the go-ahead score, getting a blocked 43-yard field goal by Chris Stewart and a decisive stop by Wendell Dunn on a fourth-and-three play at the Wake 14 with just under five minutes remaining.
New coach Willie Fritz has to be encouraged with his team’s ability to almost pull off a victory on the road in his debut. “Overall, I felt fine”. I was just ready to just play and show people what I could do because it’s been so long.
WAKE FOREST: It’s only one game, but there are already some huge questions about the offense. To put the Demon Deacons’ yardage numbers in perspective, they averaged 216.3 yards in 2014 – when they ranked last in the Bowl Subdivision in total offense. The team managed just 10 first downs, 79 rushing yards, and 96 passing yards.
It’s going to be worth watching how Clawson handles his quarterbacks the rest of the year.
“They were playing a lot of man coverage and a lot of blitz, and when you do that, you’ve got to make plays on the outside”, Clawson said. “We didn’t make any plays on deep balls”.
– THE SERIES: Tulane has won both previous meetings between the schools with similar profiles – small, private, academically elite – but they haven’t met since 1995.
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It was only after Hinton stayed in for six straight plays late in the first quarter and early in the second period that the Deacons finally gained some continuity. Sherman Badie ran for 22 yards to the Wake Forest 29.
