Gary Hahn's Scouting Report: Wake Forest
Gary Hahn's Scouting Report: Wake Forest
Wolfpack and Deacons meet for 99th time Saturday in Winston-Salem.
Oct. 19, 2005
NC STATE (2-3, 1-3) at WAKE FOREST (2-5, 1-3)
DATE: Saturday, October 22, 2005
TIME: Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. (EDT) Groves Stadium, Winston-Salem, NC (31,500)
RADIO: Wolfpack Radio Network: 2:30 p.m. (EDT)
TELEVISION: None
OPPONENT----Sometimes numbers can be very deceiving. Take last week's Wake Forest at Boston College game for example. The Deacons forced five turnovers including an interception that was returned for a touchdown. They also blocked a punt and had 10 more minutes of possession time than the Eagles. In the end, none of that mattered as Boston College scored the game's final 14 points to win 35-30 and send Wake Forest to another heartbreaking loss.
To make matters worse, the Deacons appeared to have the game in the bag with a 30-21 lead and only 3:36 left on the clock. At that point, the Eagles replaced starting quarterback Quinton Porter with Matt Ryan. The move paid off.
Although the field was soaked and the ball slippery Ryan did his job. He hit Tony Gonzalez for a 38-yard touchdown pass to make it a two-point game with 2:30 left. After the Eagles defense stopped Wake Forest on the next series, Ryan drove BC to the Deacons 26 when linebacker Aaron Curry was called for pass interference.
On the next play, Ryan threw to the left side of the end zone, and Kevin Challenger made an unbelievable foot-dragging touchdown catch against the sideline with 1:18 left for the victory. Challenger kicked his feet across the soaked turf while falling out of bounds to catch the ball. Replay confirmed the reception.
It was the third close loss for the Deacons who were beaten in squeakers by Vanderbilt, and Maryland. The Deaks also had Florida State on the ropes in Tallahassee until the Seminoles scored three times in a nine-minute span in the fourth quarter to win 41-24. The only blowout loss was in week-two, 31-3 at Nebraska. Both Wake Forest wins, against East Carolina and Clemson, were also close.
Wake Forest quarterback, Cory Randolph, played against BC with a sprained ankle and was 21-33 passing for 193 yards and a touchdown. The redshirt senior, who began the season at wide receiver but was moved back to quarterback three games ago, is wearing a boot on his injured ankle and is expected to miss significant practice time this week.
"I have a high ankle sprain which occurred in the last minutes of the third quarter. We're doing a lot of treatment right now, and I should be able to go by Saturday," Randolph said on Tuesday. "I can still run, and I can still do my normal drop back and my normal throws. The only thing it has affected is my cuts." When he's healthy, Randolph is a very mobile and is a threat to run option and quarterback draw plays. He's also completing 71 percent of his passes.
Head Coach Jim Grobe told reporters on Tuesday that sophomore, Ben Mauk, who started the season at quarterback, will take over if Randolph is not ready. Mauk ran most of the plays at Monday night's practice.
"The first night, Ben (Mauk) took a majority of the reps. (Allan) Holland took some reps. We'll just see. Young guys heal in different paces. You never know how things are going to go," Grobe added.
Mauk struggled as the starter in the Deacons first four games. He passed for 152 yards a game and completed 52 percent of his throws, but was intercepted 4 times while tossing only one touchdown pass. In last year's overtime loss at NC State, Mauk was 6-8 passing for 47 yards and ran 3 times for 17 yards.
The strength of the Wake Forest team is its rushing offense that utilizes a lot of motion and misdirection. Because the Deaks run 65 percent of the time for 205 yards a game (tops in the ACC), they also eat up clock and are second in the league in time of possession (32:12). Especially impressive was their 247 yard rushing effort at Florida State.
Chris Barclay (5-10, 180, Sr.) and Micah Andrews (5-10, 205, R-Jr.) are the top two rushers in the conference. Barclay, who averages 113 yards a game, is trying to become the first player in ACC history to lead the league in regular season rushing yards for three straight years.
Right tackle Stave Vallos (6-3, 297, R-Jr.), a Lombardi Trophy candidate, is the leader of a better than average offensive line that obviously run blocks very well. However, the Deaks are in the bottom half of the ACC in protecting the quarterback with 16 surrendered sacks.
If Wake Forest has a go-to receiver it's probably Nate Morton (6-3, 202, R-Jr.). The converted quarterback leads the Deaks with 24 catches and 2 touchdowns. He's also 1-2 passing for 37 yards off reverse action. Redshirt freshman Demir Boldin has come on strong lately and led the team with 4 catches at FSU. Kevin Marion is a redshirt sophomore with blinding speed who caught a 45-yard TD pass in the win over Clemson.
The Deacons have a plus-one turnover margin and have lost 3 fumbles and thrown 8 interceptions. They've also committed as many penalties as NC State (48) but for fewer average yards a game (65).
Defensively, the Deacons are pretty young and they've had plenty of ups and downs. They play hard, but they've given up a lot of yards and points. Wake Forest is last in the ACC in total defense (406 ypg.) and pass defense (267 ypg.) and next to last in scoring defense (30.6 ppg.). The Deaks are respectable against the run (139 ypg.), but have trouble getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks and are last in the ACC in sacks (8 in 7 games). Only Duke has given up more Red Zone touchdowns than the 16 surrendered by the Deacons.
However, Wake Forest, isn't bad on third down defense (35%) and that could be important given that NC State is last in third down efficiency (29%). The Pack's inability to convert on third down has been a big part of its offensive inconsistency.
Tackle Goryal Scales (6-0, 273) is the glue that holds a pretty inexperienced defensive line together. The Redshirt senior is a third year starter. There's more experience at linebacker. Both Pierre Easley (6-0, 245, R-Jr.) and Jon Abbate (5-11, 245, R-So.) are second-year starters. Abbate is very aggressive and is one of the team top-three tacklers. Last season he was honorable mention All-ACC.
The safties are also second-year starters. Josh Gattis (6-1, 212, R-Jr.) leads the team in tackles (49) and interceptions (3) while Patrick Ghee (6-0, 202, R-Jr.) is second in stops (45). Both starting corners are young and are first-year starters. Redshirt freshman, Alphonso Smith (5-9, 185) leads the ACC in passes defended and has 8 break-ups and 2 interceptions. Riley Swanson (5-11, 188, R-Jr.), making only his third career start, is listed as the other corner.
Ryan Plackemeier is the ACC all-time punting leader and a leading candidate for the Ray Guy Award. The senior leads the league with a 39.7 net average (45.5 overall). At FSU he was really impressive, hammering punts of 50, 51, 52, 59 and 61 yards. Redshirt freshman, Sam Swank, has made 12-16 field goal attempts, including 3 of 4 from beyond 40 yards. However, 22 of his 32 kickoffs were returned. The Deacons are last in the ACC in kickoff returns (15.4) and 11th in punt returns (5.5).
Kickoff coverage has not been a strong point either. Wake Forest is 9th in the ACC (37.5) and will be challenged by NC State's Darrell Blackman, nation's top kick returner (41.6).
Both teams need a win badly. A loss would drop the Deacons out of bowl contention and assure a losing season. State needs to win 4 of its last 6 games to qualify for a bowl.
"It's kind of a desperate situation for both of us. Both teams have their backs up against the wall. Both teams have got to have this win to save their seasons. It's going to be a dogfight out there," said Wake Forest defensive end Matt Robinson.
NOTES: The Pack is seeking its second straight ACC road win...In the last 3 games, NC State's opponents have averaged 78 plays to the Wolfpack's 60 and have outrushed the Pack by an average of 184 to 54 net yards a game. In those three games, the Wolfpack's average yards per rush has been only 1.4 which has no doubt had some effect on third down conversions (12-of-40). That lack of third down efficiency has contributed to State's defense being on the field an average of 10 minutes longer than its offense during that three game span... Pack linebacker Stephen Tulloch is averaging 13.4 tackles per game (No. 2 ACC and No.3 NCAA) and has 9 tackles for loss and 2 sacks...Tight end T.J. Williams is No. 4 in the ACC with 4.2 pass receptions per game...State quarterback, Jay Davis, is fourth in the ACC in passing yards per game (233) and is No.5 in passing efficiency (131.6), has thrown for 200 or more yards in 11 of his last 13 games totaling of 2,938 yards and 15 touchdowns during that span...Darrell Blackmon leads the ACC in all purpose yards per game (141.4)... After holding six straight opponents to less than 300 yards, the Wolfpack has surrendered more than 300 yards in each of its last 3 games. The defense gave up 321 yards in a loss to North Carolina, 443 yards in its victory at Georgia Tech and 489 yards in a loss to Clemson... In 67 games under Chuck Amato, the Wolfpack has entered the fourth quarter with the score differing by seven points or less 33 times...Wake Forest has won 2 of the last 3 games against NC State at Groves Stadium.
INJURIES--NC State: FS Miguel Scott (ankle sprain)-questionable; DE James Martin (knee sprain)-questionable; QB Marcus Stone (knee sprain)-probable;LB Oliver Hoyte (ankle sprain)-questionable.Wake ForestQB Cory Randolph (ankle sprain)-questionable; OT Louis Frazier (knee, season)-out; OG Brodie Overstreet (eye)-out; DB Kevin Patterson (appendectomy)-out; TE John Tereshinski (knee)-probable.
