The Demon Deacons of Wake Forest have won three straight games and are looking to build on that momentum on Saturday with a trip to the Carrier Dome to face the Syracuse Orange
After a 0-2 start, Wake Forest changed their season, thanks to stellar play from quarterback Sam Hartman and a stingy defense that forces turnovers with great success Last week’s upset victory over a Virginia Tech’s ranked team were particularly impressive, as the offense struggled as the defense forced three key turnovers from Hokie en route to a 23-16 victory.
Syracuse enters this struggling game, to put it mildly The Oranges are 1-5, with their only win over Georgia Tech at home in late September
Starting quarterback Tommy DeVito got injured two weeks later against Duke, which turned out to be a blow to an already struggling attack Syracuse trailed for some time at top-ranked Clemson last week, trailing just six points in the third quarter before Clemson finally pulled out for a 47-21 victory
Demon deacons play some really good football right now, and the winning formula during their winning streak has been simple: win the turnover battle and launch a balanced offensive attack
The defense hasn’t been spectacular in terms of yardage allowed, but they force turnovers and play well in the red zone Last week against Virginia Tech, the Deacons intercepted three passes while not initiating any turnovers from their part They also kept Virginia Tech at just six points in four trips to the red zone
As long as they don’t turn the ball over on themselves, this type of flexion defense can’t work It might not be the best long-term winning formula, but it’s a good bet the Wake Forest defense will find a way to find some takeout on Saturday against the Syracuse quarterback and his bad line. offensive If Wake Forest can build an early lead, expect star defensive end Carlos Basham Jr and the rest of the deacons rush to create Havoc all day in the Syracuse backfield
Despite losing his main goal in the offseason when star wide receiver Sage Surratt opted out of the season, Wake Forest’s Hartman has been impressive Hartman’s numbers don’t jump off the page, but he was extremely efficient, completing over 63% of his passes without interceptions in the first five games.
Offensive coordinator Warren Ruggiero vows to have a balanced attack that sets the run first The Demon Deacons have a strong 1-2 punch to the ball carrier, while Kenneth Walker III and Christian Beal-Smith have combined over 800 yards and 12 touchdowns, each averaging over five yards per carry
They should have a day on the field against a running defense against Syracuse which is one of the worst in college football and was slashed for 338 yards against Liberty in their last home game
Surprisingly, Syracuse has been an underdog in every game it has been played so far, and it looks like it will be in every game to come as well The Orange has surpassed expectations and covered a historic gap Lost at 5 points last week at Clemson, but there isn’t much to be optimistic about moving forward
Syracuse’s offense has been downright appalling Although a number of factors contribute to their struggles, the bottom line is that the talent just isn’t there on this side of the ball
Rex Culpepper is a tough quarterback with a strong arm, but he has serious accuracy issues and only completes 435% of his passes Outside of Taj Harris he doesn’t get much help from its receptors, which struggle to create a separation as a unit
Perhaps the worst part of this Syracuse attack has been online play The Oranges are so lean and inexperienced up front that they start a former left guard full-back The group didn’t give time in his throwing quarters and also struggled to open the way for running backs as evidenced by a team average of 29 meters per portage
Defense can’t stop anyone from getting the ball rolling but they are good at one area: causing turnovers No college football team has forced more turnovers than Orange, who have 17 points to win in of the first six games Syracuse’s defensive backs have been wild, picking up nine assists and doing whatever they can to help the attack by setting it up with a good position on the pitch
Unfortunately for the Orange high school, injuries are piling up Syracuse’s top player, safety star Andre Cisco, was injured ahead of the Georgia Tech game and will miss the remainder of the season on Saturday at Clemson, the running back cornerback Neil Nunn suffered an ACL tear, becoming Syracuse’s fourth week-one defensive back at two depths to miss time due to injury
Syracuse’s front seven has been a turnstile, averaging 235 yards per game rushing and allowing more than five yards per carry The Oranges have given up over 300 rushing yards in three straight games and are now facing a team of Wake Forest who likes to set the race early to open things up downstream for his star quarterback This has the recipe for being a long day in defense of Syracuse
Both defenses have a knack for causing turnovers, but Hartman is the much more trustworthy quarterback when it comes to handling the ball Expect Wake Forest to establish the run and control the clock early This will put pressure on Culpepper to make big plays in the air, which he hasn’t done consistently Even though the Oranges move the chains they are one of the worst zone offenses country red, scoring just four touchdowns in 13 trips this season
With an unreliable attack and a steadily increasing injury report for Syracuse, it’s hard to see the Orange righting the ship against a well-trained and disciplined Wake Forest team
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