When Navy defensive coordinator Buddy Green studied film of the Wake Forest offense in preparation for today's EagleBank Bowl, he didn't spend a whole lot of time reviewing the first meeting between the schools.
Wake Forest put forth one of its poorest offensive performances of the season during a 24-17 loss to Navy back on Sept. 27 in Winston-Salem. Quarterback Riley Skinner was responsible for five of his team's six turnovers while the Demon Deacons managed a mere 43 yards on 31 rushing attempts.
Skinner, who has a well-earned reputation as an accurate passer who makes few mistakes, called it the worst game of his career and has vowed to make amends. Meanwhile, head coach Jim Grobe decided as a result of that loss that Wake needed to develop more offensive balance.
Since then, the Demon Deacons have made a conscious effort to run more effectively. Offensive coordinator Steed Lobotzke has put more emphasis on the ground game and the results have been noticeable. Wake Forest is 5-1 in games in which it rushed for 100 yards or more. The lone exception was a 16-10 loss to Florida State in which Wake churned out a season-high 195 yards on the ground.
"There's no question that Wake has made more of a commitment to the run. Over the last five or six games of the season, they used more two-back sets and really tried to establish the run," Green said.
Wake rushed for 156 yards on 46 attempts in a 12-7 victory over Clemson, the game that immediately followed the loss to Navy. The Demon Deacons closed the regular season by gaining 158 yards on the ground in a 23-10 victory over Vanderbilt.
"We've seen a change in Wake Forest since when we played them earlier. In their most recent games, they have been running more," Navy linebacker Clint Sovie said. "I expect them to come out and try to pound the ball against us."
Due largely to the fact it fell behind early and trailed the entire game, Wake Forest used a lot of three- and four-receiver sets and threw the ball 40 times against Navy. The Midshipmen countered by dropping eight men into coverage. Skinner tried to force too many passes into traffic and the result was the four pickoffs.
"Earlier in the season, we were running the spread offense too much. Since then, we've developed a better running game," wide receiver D.J. Boldin said. "The last time we played Navy, we were too one-dimensional. This time around, we need to get tough and run the ball against them."
Redshirt sophomore Josh Adams started at tailback against Navy, but redshirt freshman Brandon Pendergrass emerged as the primary ball-carrier later in the season. Adams has been limited by a sprained ankle and bruised shoulder during the second half of the season. He carried the ball just 14 times over the final five games. Pendergrass, who leads Wake in rushing with 528 yards, has been hampered by a sprained knee and sprained ankle.
As a result, junior Kevin Harris, who opened the season as the third string fullback, will start today's game. Harris rushed for 36 yards and a touchdown on seven carries against Vanderbilt, earning a "battlefield promotion," according to Grobe. However, Adams, Pendergrass and C.J. Washington also figure to see action today as the Demon Deacons rotate tailbacks.
"We're going to have to use three tailbacks, maybe even four, in this game," Grobe said. "That's the way we've been this season. We've been kind of a flip-a-coin (situation) each week to see which guy is going to be healthy enough to go out there."
An effective rushing attack would draw the defense up to the line of scrimmage and make it easier for Skinner to throw. The red-shirt junior had a somewhat disappointing season, but still completed 221 of 352 passes (62 percent) for 2,181 yards and 12 touchdowns.
"We won't have a chance if Riley doesn't play better than he did in the first meeting with Navy. Riley would be the first to admit he played very poorly, but you have to give the Navy defense credit because they put a lot of pressure on Riley and did a great job of breaking on the ball," Grobe said.
While establishing the run will be important for Wake Forest's offense, stopping the run is the focus of its defense. Navy has used its patented triple-option offense to pile up 710 total yards in its last two meetings with Wake.
"It will be my third time playing them since I've been here at Wake. Each time we've played them we've gotten better on defense, but they've also gotten better on offense," said senior linebacker Aaron Curry, the Butkus Award winner who leads Wake with 101 tackles. "I think the most important thing for our defense is to execute the defense called and play at the same level of intensity that they play and play at the same speed that they play."
Starting quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku is healthier than he's been at any point this season and that's not good news for the Demon Deacons. Kaheaku-Enhada led Navy to two touchdowns and a field goal in less than two quarters in last year's meeting with Wake before being knocked out of the game. The senior from Hawaii directed the Midshipmen to 17 points and 197 yards of total offense before leaving late in the first half after aggravating a hamstring injury.
"When Kaipo has been in the game, Navy has given us fits. He's as good an option quarterback as I've ever seen in terms of reading the defense and doing all the intangibles that go into executing the system. He rarely makes a bad decision," said Grobe, who spent 12 seasons as an assistant at Air Force.
Slot back Shun White leads Navy in rushing with 1,021 yards and eight touchdowns. Fullback Eric Kettani needs 68 yards today to join White in the 1,000-yard club.
"Navy's whole offense is so explosive. They have so many different weapons," Grobe said. "Kaipo is a breakaway threat when he keeps, Shun White is a very dangerous runner while the fullback is a real horse."
OF NOTE: Navy will wear the new Nike Enforcer uniforms it unveiled against Army. Those specially-designed uniforms, which are based on the Marine Corps colors, feature dark blue pants with the blood red stripe. "The players like it and the recruits like it," Niumatalolo said when asked about why Navy is going back to the look. "Kids think it's cool. Uniforms are a big deal to young guys; they are a big deal in recruiting. It was special for the Army-Navy game, we're going to wear them again in the bowl game, but then we're going to go back to our traditional look."? Steve Beck, executive director of the EagleBank Bowl, said slightly more than 30,000 tickets have been sold for today's game. "If the weather is nice and we have a good walk-up crowd, we could have 35,000 people in the stands. That would be outstanding for a first-year bowl," Beck said.
Wake Forest put forth one of its poorest offensive performances of the season during a 24-17 loss to Navy back on Sept. 27 in Winston-Salem. Quarterback Riley Skinner was responsible for five of his team's six turnovers while the Demon Deacons managed a mere 43 yards on 31 rushing attempts.
Skinner, who has a well-earned reputation as an accurate passer who makes few mistakes, called it the worst game of his career and has vowed to make amends. Meanwhile, head coach Jim Grobe decided as a result of that loss that Wake needed to develop more offensive balance.
Since then, the Demon Deacons have made a conscious effort to run more effectively. Offensive coordinator Steed Lobotzke has put more emphasis on the ground game and the results have been noticeable. Wake Forest is 5-1 in games in which it rushed for 100 yards or more. The lone exception was a 16-10 loss to Florida State in which Wake churned out a season-high 195 yards on the ground.
"There's no question that Wake has made more of a commitment to the run. Over the last five or six games of the season, they used more two-back sets and really tried to establish the run," Green said.
Wake rushed for 156 yards on 46 attempts in a 12-7 victory over Clemson, the game that immediately followed the loss to Navy. The Demon Deacons closed the regular season by gaining 158 yards on the ground in a 23-10 victory over Vanderbilt.
"We've seen a change in Wake Forest since when we played them earlier. In their most recent games, they have been running more," Navy linebacker Clint Sovie said. "I expect them to come out and try to pound the ball against us."
Due largely to the fact it fell behind early and trailed the entire game, Wake Forest used a lot of three- and four-receiver sets and threw the ball 40 times against Navy. The Midshipmen countered by dropping eight men into coverage. Skinner tried to force too many passes into traffic and the result was the four pickoffs.
"Earlier in the season, we were running the spread offense too much. Since then, we've developed a better running game," wide receiver D.J. Boldin said. "The last time we played Navy, we were too one-dimensional. This time around, we need to get tough and run the ball against them."
Redshirt sophomore Josh Adams started at tailback against Navy, but redshirt freshman Brandon Pendergrass emerged as the primary ball-carrier later in the season. Adams has been limited by a sprained ankle and bruised shoulder during the second half of the season. He carried the ball just 14 times over the final five games. Pendergrass, who leads Wake in rushing with 528 yards, has been hampered by a sprained knee and sprained ankle.
As a result, junior Kevin Harris, who opened the season as the third string fullback, will start today's game. Harris rushed for 36 yards and a touchdown on seven carries against Vanderbilt, earning a "battlefield promotion," according to Grobe. However, Adams, Pendergrass and C.J. Washington also figure to see action today as the Demon Deacons rotate tailbacks.
"We're going to have to use three tailbacks, maybe even four, in this game," Grobe said. "That's the way we've been this season. We've been kind of a flip-a-coin (situation) each week to see which guy is going to be healthy enough to go out there."
An effective rushing attack would draw the defense up to the line of scrimmage and make it easier for Skinner to throw. The red-shirt junior had a somewhat disappointing season, but still completed 221 of 352 passes (62 percent) for 2,181 yards and 12 touchdowns.
"We won't have a chance if Riley doesn't play better than he did in the first meeting with Navy. Riley would be the first to admit he played very poorly, but you have to give the Navy defense credit because they put a lot of pressure on Riley and did a great job of breaking on the ball," Grobe said.
While establishing the run will be important for Wake Forest's offense, stopping the run is the focus of its defense. Navy has used its patented triple-option offense to pile up 710 total yards in its last two meetings with Wake.
"It will be my third time playing them since I've been here at Wake. Each time we've played them we've gotten better on defense, but they've also gotten better on offense," said senior linebacker Aaron Curry, the Butkus Award winner who leads Wake with 101 tackles. "I think the most important thing for our defense is to execute the defense called and play at the same level of intensity that they play and play at the same speed that they play."
Starting quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku is healthier than he's been at any point this season and that's not good news for the Demon Deacons. Kaheaku-Enhada led Navy to two touchdowns and a field goal in less than two quarters in last year's meeting with Wake before being knocked out of the game. The senior from Hawaii directed the Midshipmen to 17 points and 197 yards of total offense before leaving late in the first half after aggravating a hamstring injury.
"When Kaipo has been in the game, Navy has given us fits. He's as good an option quarterback as I've ever seen in terms of reading the defense and doing all the intangibles that go into executing the system. He rarely makes a bad decision," said Grobe, who spent 12 seasons as an assistant at Air Force.
Slot back Shun White leads Navy in rushing with 1,021 yards and eight touchdowns. Fullback Eric Kettani needs 68 yards today to join White in the 1,000-yard club.
"Navy's whole offense is so explosive. They have so many different weapons," Grobe said. "Kaipo is a breakaway threat when he keeps, Shun White is a very dangerous runner while the fullback is a real horse."
OF NOTE: Navy will wear the new Nike Enforcer uniforms it unveiled against Army. Those specially-designed uniforms, which are based on the Marine Corps colors, feature dark blue pants with the blood red stripe. "The players like it and the recruits like it," Niumatalolo said when asked about why Navy is going back to the look. "Kids think it's cool. Uniforms are a big deal to young guys; they are a big deal in recruiting. It was special for the Army-Navy game, we're going to wear them again in the bowl game, but then we're going to go back to our traditional look."? Steve Beck, executive director of the EagleBank Bowl, said slightly more than 30,000 tickets have been sold for today's game. "If the weather is nice and we have a good walk-up crowd, we could have 35,000 people in the stands. That would be outstanding for a first-year bowl," Beck said.
