Two of the more unique and potent offenses in major college football will square off this afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
Wake Forest, under head coach Jim Grobe, has been a leading pioneer of the spread-style offense that has swept the nation. Navy, under head coach Paul Johnson, is the country's foremost practitioner of triple-option offense.
Both coaches know it will be extremely challenging to slow down, much less stop, the other team's attack.
"We haven't seen anybody slow these guys down. They've only punted around six times (actually eight) in six games," Grobe said.
Navy (4-2) leads the Bowl Subdivision in rushing with an average of 345.5 yards per game. Junior quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada directs an explosive unit that has scored 30 points or more in four straight games.
Kaheaku-Enhada leads Navy in rushing with 536 yards and eight touchdowns. Fullbacks Eric Kettani and Adam Ballard have combined for 717 yards and seven touchdowns. Slot backs Shun White and Reggie Campbell are averaging 7.8 and 7.5 yards per carry, respectively.
Nobody knows about the difficulties of preparing for the option better than Grobe, who ran that type of offense as an assistant at Air Force and as head coach at Ohio. Grobe joked that facing Navy is "payback" for all those years he caused headaches for opposing defensive coordinators.
"You just don't see anybody doing that anymore, so (Navy is) very unique ? and they do it better than anyone we've ever seen," Grobe said. "Knowing things you'd like to do to stop the option is one thing. But being able to prepare for it in a week, getting the scout team to perform at the same speed of a game, is quite another.
"There are so many problems that go into preparing for this offense that knowing what to do doesn't always do much for you. You've got to be able to practice it, and nobody can do a very good job of that."
Because of Grobe's option background and an athletic defense that ranks 22nd nationally against the run, Wake Forest (4-2) might have a better chance than most of Navy's opponents. Defensive end Jeremy Thompson (team-high six sacks), linebacker Aaron Curry (44 tackles, 5.5 for losses) anchor a unit that is holding opponents to 100 yards rushing per game. Cornerbacks Chip Vaughn (team-high 49 tackles) and Alphonso Smith (four interceptions) are also key figures on a defense that has forced 18 turnovers and returned five for touchdowns.
"This defense we are going to see this weekend is the best we've played against all year. I don't think there's any doubt about that," Kaheaku-Enhada said.
Navy defensive coordinator Buddy Green is equally concerned about the Wake Forest offense, which employs a ton of formations and runs a myriad of plays out of each. The Demon Deacons use misdirection and counter plays to keep opponents off-balance and will bring a wide receiver in motion on nearly every play to show the threat of a direct handoff or reverse.
"They make you defend the whole field, both horizontally and vertically, with both the running and passing game," Green said. "They can hurt you in a lot of ways and you never really know what's coming."
Sophomore quarterback Riley Skinner is the trigger man of the attack, which produced 236 yards rushing versus Nebraska and 366 yards passing against Boston College. Skinner has completed 71 percent of passes (91-for-129) for 891 yards and four touchdowns.
Wide receiver Kenneth Moore has been a dual threat with 434 yards receiving, 229 yards rushing and five touchdowns. Moore is averaging 10.6 yards on his team-leading 41 receptions.
Redshirt freshman Josh Adams has been the top tailback, rushing for 364 yards and three touchdowns. Tight end John Tereshinski, a big target at 6-foot-3, 240 pounds, has 19 catches for 254 yards.
Navy faced a similar offense against Air Force, which is coached by former Wake offensive coordinator Troy Calhoun. However, Johnson said "world-class speed" at the skill positions makes Wake more dangerous.
"They are going to spread you out so if you miss tackles they are going to gash you," Johnson said.
Navy ranks 102nd out of 119 teams in total defense, allowing 33.7 points and 447.7 yards per game. The Midshipmen missed more than 30 tackles in last week's 48-45 double-overtime victory over Pittsburgh.
An already young and inexperienced unit will be further depleted on Saturday as starting safety Ketric Buffin suffered a broken arm against Pitt. Backup Jesse Iwuji (ankle) is also out, so seldom-used junior Kevin Snyder will get his first career start.
"Our goal is to have more big plays on defense than the combined number of missed assignments and missed tackles and we haven't been close in any game this year," Johnson said.
Wake Forest, under head coach Jim Grobe, has been a leading pioneer of the spread-style offense that has swept the nation. Navy, under head coach Paul Johnson, is the country's foremost practitioner of triple-option offense.
Both coaches know it will be extremely challenging to slow down, much less stop, the other team's attack.
"We haven't seen anybody slow these guys down. They've only punted around six times (actually eight) in six games," Grobe said.
Navy (4-2) leads the Bowl Subdivision in rushing with an average of 345.5 yards per game. Junior quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada directs an explosive unit that has scored 30 points or more in four straight games.
Kaheaku-Enhada leads Navy in rushing with 536 yards and eight touchdowns. Fullbacks Eric Kettani and Adam Ballard have combined for 717 yards and seven touchdowns. Slot backs Shun White and Reggie Campbell are averaging 7.8 and 7.5 yards per carry, respectively.
Nobody knows about the difficulties of preparing for the option better than Grobe, who ran that type of offense as an assistant at Air Force and as head coach at Ohio. Grobe joked that facing Navy is "payback" for all those years he caused headaches for opposing defensive coordinators.
"You just don't see anybody doing that anymore, so (Navy is) very unique ? and they do it better than anyone we've ever seen," Grobe said. "Knowing things you'd like to do to stop the option is one thing. But being able to prepare for it in a week, getting the scout team to perform at the same speed of a game, is quite another.
"There are so many problems that go into preparing for this offense that knowing what to do doesn't always do much for you. You've got to be able to practice it, and nobody can do a very good job of that."
Because of Grobe's option background and an athletic defense that ranks 22nd nationally against the run, Wake Forest (4-2) might have a better chance than most of Navy's opponents. Defensive end Jeremy Thompson (team-high six sacks), linebacker Aaron Curry (44 tackles, 5.5 for losses) anchor a unit that is holding opponents to 100 yards rushing per game. Cornerbacks Chip Vaughn (team-high 49 tackles) and Alphonso Smith (four interceptions) are also key figures on a defense that has forced 18 turnovers and returned five for touchdowns.
"This defense we are going to see this weekend is the best we've played against all year. I don't think there's any doubt about that," Kaheaku-Enhada said.
Navy defensive coordinator Buddy Green is equally concerned about the Wake Forest offense, which employs a ton of formations and runs a myriad of plays out of each. The Demon Deacons use misdirection and counter plays to keep opponents off-balance and will bring a wide receiver in motion on nearly every play to show the threat of a direct handoff or reverse.
"They make you defend the whole field, both horizontally and vertically, with both the running and passing game," Green said. "They can hurt you in a lot of ways and you never really know what's coming."
Sophomore quarterback Riley Skinner is the trigger man of the attack, which produced 236 yards rushing versus Nebraska and 366 yards passing against Boston College. Skinner has completed 71 percent of passes (91-for-129) for 891 yards and four touchdowns.
Wide receiver Kenneth Moore has been a dual threat with 434 yards receiving, 229 yards rushing and five touchdowns. Moore is averaging 10.6 yards on his team-leading 41 receptions.
Redshirt freshman Josh Adams has been the top tailback, rushing for 364 yards and three touchdowns. Tight end John Tereshinski, a big target at 6-foot-3, 240 pounds, has 19 catches for 254 yards.
Navy faced a similar offense against Air Force, which is coached by former Wake offensive coordinator Troy Calhoun. However, Johnson said "world-class speed" at the skill positions makes Wake more dangerous.
"They are going to spread you out so if you miss tackles they are going to gash you," Johnson said.
Navy ranks 102nd out of 119 teams in total defense, allowing 33.7 points and 447.7 yards per game. The Midshipmen missed more than 30 tackles in last week's 48-45 double-overtime victory over Pittsburgh.
An already young and inexperienced unit will be further depleted on Saturday as starting safety Ketric Buffin suffered a broken arm against Pitt. Backup Jesse Iwuji (ankle) is also out, so seldom-used junior Kevin Snyder will get his first career start.
"Our goal is to have more big plays on defense than the combined number of missed assignments and missed tackles and we haven't been close in any game this year," Johnson said.
