Our Cardinals will come back home this weekend for their 3rd ACC game of the season. The game will kick-off the teeth of the schedule for Louisville and it is grind time. The opponent Saturday is one that will be a Trivial Pursuit Sports question someday if it isn’t already. “Who did the Louisville Football Program play in their first BCS Bowl Appearance?” The Wake Forest Demon Deacons will forever be a part of Cardinal lore after that 2007 Orange Bowl and now will be a conference foe. The Cardinals and Demon Deacons have only met once with the Cards taking the Orange Bowl championship 24-13.
Wake Forest is a team that is going through one of those complete program makeovers. They have a new coach in Dave Clawson who was the former coach at Bowling Green. The Demon Deacons return a conference-low 35 percent of their offensive production from a year ago and just 54 percent of their defense. They have 28 freshmen or sophomores on their two-deep, which is tied for fourth-most in the country this season. They have the 72nd-ranked roster talent in college football this year, which puts them at the bottom of the ACC. They just had their first win of the season over an FBS school beating Army at home 24-21, while losing at Louisiana-Monroe (17-10) and Utah State (36-24) on the road. The game against our Cardinals Saturday will be their ACC conference opener.
Wake Forest 2014 OVERALL FBS RANKINGS
PASSING YARDS
220.8
81st
Overall
RUSHING YARDS
42.0
127th
Overall
POINTS FOR
20.3
112th
Overall
POINTS AGAINST
20.3
34th
Overall
On the offensive side of the ball the Deacons lost their three top guys at the skill positions passer, rusher and receiver. Completely reshaping this offense Coach Clawson describes his coaching style as one that utilizes the available talent to maximize success. His philosophy focuses on getting individual playmakers more touches rather than sticking to a rigidly-defined system. His offenses have displayed components of the Pro-Style, Spread and Power Running attacks.
That available talent this season appears to be freshman QB John Wolford who has thrown for 883 yards with 6 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. His main targets in the passing attack are senior WR E.J. Scott who has 17 catches for 220 yards with 4 touchdowns, senior WR Matt James who has 18 catches for 217 yards, sophomore WR Jared Crump who has 16 catches for 172 yards, and freshman TE Cam Serigne who has 21 catches for 219 yards with 1 touchdown. Leading their rushing attack freshman RB Isaiah Robinson who has 30 carries for 82 yards with 1 touchdown, and senior RB Orville Reynolds with 44 carries for 132 yards. Their offensive line is also young and has been plagued by injuries, allowed six sacks at Utah State and seven in the opening loss at UL-Monroe.
Much like their offense the Deacons defense is going through some growing pains. They return just 5 starters on this side of the ball. Their stand-outs are defensive tackle Josh Banks who was named ACC Defensive Player of the Week after the Utah State game where he had seven tackles, a sack, and returned a interception 70 yards for a touchdown. Three of the five returning players on defense are in the secondary. Safety Ryan Janvion who had a career-high 18 tackles in that Utah State Game, senior corners Kevin Johnson and Merrill Noel have combined for 23 tackles. Wake’s passing defense is ranked 32nd in the secondary and they are ranked 20th overall on defense.
VIDEO OF DAVE CLAWSON BREAKING DOWN LOUISVILLE VS WAKE FOREST
The most consistent thing about our Cardinals this season has been the defense. Lorenzo Mauldin, Gerod Holliman, Terell Floyd and the team’s stable of defensive backs have helped the Cardinals once again establish themselves as one of the nation’s best ranking 12th in scoring defense and 7th in total defense. Cornerbacks Charles Gaines, Andrew Johnson and safety James Sample, have allowed opponents to pass for just 178.2 yards per game and has snagged seven interceptions. These guys should feast on that young Deacons offense Saturday.
Our Cardinals offense has been the most inconsistent part of the team this season. Our offensive line woes have played a big part of that. They’ll face a Wake Forest defensive line Saturday that should help them line some things out and they should win the war in the trenches in this game. With LJ Scott, and Michael Dyer 100% in this one along with Dom Brown it should be a big rushing day. I’m a little concerned about the passing game as that is the Deacons biggest strength on defense. True freshman Reggie Bonnafon will have his work cut out for him throwing against their two future NFL corners.
Kind of crazy that the last game against Wake Forest turned out to be the end of an era as Coach Petrino left for the NFL after the Orange Bowl win. And now he’s back for the beginning of a new era and is playing them again for the second game in the series. The outcome should be the same but I expect it will be a little more convincing as Wake Forest is very over matched in this one.
The Beak Prediction:
Louisville 38 Wake Forest 10