UNC Football: Previewing Wake Forest
Larry Fedora’s debut at the University of North Carolina couldn’t have gone much better. The Tar Heels destroyed Elon 62-0 behind a fast-paced spread offense and a defense that was more stellar than anticipated. With all due respect to Elon, we’ll have a better understanding of where North Carolina truly stands after this weekend’s ACC opener against Wake Forest.
Wake Forest isn’t the most talented team in the conference, but they are one of the most disciplined and well-coached. Head coach Jim Grobe gets the most out of his players and they’re always a tough out – especially at home.
Last weekend, while UNC was celebrating their romp over Elon, the Demon Deacons were trailing Liberty, a Football Championship Subdivision with only 65 scholarship players, deep into the third quarter. Wake Forest would eventually take the lead in the fourth quarter and held on for a 20-17 victory.
Even with that in mind, take Wake Forest lightly at your own risk. While the Demon Deacons lack elite talent and the ideal depth in the trenches, they do have a pretty good talent base and have been known to shock at least one team a season. North Carolina must avoid being that team.
Offense
Grobe has adjusted his offense with Wake Forest quarterback Tanner Price at the helm, going away from a lot of the option and implementing more of a drop-back passing game. It worked out last season with Price throwing for over 3,000 yards with a 20 to 6 TD-to-INT ratio.
While Price loses his main target at wide receiver – fourth-round draft pick Chris Givens – he figures to rely more on converted running-back Michael Campanaro, whom they use in a variety of ways. Last week, Camparano finished with 96 yards receiving on 9 catches and hauled in one touchdown. He ran the ball twice for a total of 11 yards and is even a threat to throw it – 3/4 106 yards 2 TD’s in 2011 – if Grobe is ready to pull the tricks out in the second game of the season.
Wake Forest lost starting running back Josh Harris last week to a mild concussion, but redshirt freshman Deandre Martin did an admirable job as his replacement. Martin finished with 74 yards on 21 carries and scored the game-winning touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Harris seems to be on track to play this week, but don’t be surprised if Martin gets another shot to prove it against a quality opponent. At the very least, I expect the backs to split the carries.
The main concern on Wake Forest’s offense is their offensive line. They introduced four new starters against Liberty and the results were less than stellar. While they only gave up one sack, Price was hurried for much of the night. The running game wasn’t much better for the Demon Deacons, gaining 98 yards on 38 carries (2.5 yards a rush).
Defense
On defense, Nikita Whitlock is the lineman you want to keep an eye on. The undersized Whitlock (5’11” 260 lbs.) was overlooked by all of the major schools despite being the 5A Defensive Player of the Year in the state of Texas. Wake Forest is happy it worked out that way. Whitlock finished his freshman season with 10.5 tackles for loss and was named 2nd team Freshman All-American. As a sophomore, he finished with 14 tackles for loss and was named 2nd team All-ACC.
Despite losing 2nd team All-ACC linebacker Kyle Wilber – 70 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 8 tfl – linebacker is a relative strength for Wake Forest with 5 of the top 6 returning. Riley Haynes and Mike Olson each set their career-high in tackles last week with 10 and 9 respectively.
In the secondary, safety might be an area North Carolina looks to exploit. Wake Forest lost both starters from a year ago including 3rd team All-American free safety Josh Bush. However, North Carolina should always be aware of where corner back Merrill “Bud” Noel is at all times. The sophomore was voted ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year and 1st team All-American after a stellar freshman season. Noel had a school record 19 pass break-ups while tying for first in the FBS with 21 passes defended.