2010 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Football: Wake Forest @ Navy

After opening the season 2-0, including a shootout win over conference rival Duke, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons limp into this weekend’s matchup with Navy on a three game losing streak. Meanwhile, Navy is doing a bit of limping itself. The Midshipmen suffered a heartbreaking opening-weekend loss to Maryland on a goal-line stand by the Terps at the end of regulation, and last week had their eight-game winning streak over Air Force snapped in Colorado Springs. Both teams enter Saturday’s game in need of a bounce-back game to help build some positive momentum for the remainder of the 2010 season.

The Demon Deacons opened 2-0 against somewhat inferior opponents, but any good will earned at that point has been lost. The Deacs were dominated by Stanford and Florida State before dropping their third straight on a last-second touchdown by Josh Nesbitt and Georgia Tech. Offensively, Jim Grobe’s spread rushing attack has performed admirably, despite often playing from behind. The Demon Deacons currently rank 19th nationally in rushing offense, averaging 223 yards per game, the majority of which comes from tailback Josh Adams and quarterback Tanner Price. The Demon Deacons’ biggest challenge is fortifying a defense that has been porous at best all season. Through five games, Wake Forest is ranked 93rd or worse in rushing defense, passing defense, total defense, and scoring defense. In a three-week stretch, the defense allowed 48, 68, and 31 points before holding Georgia Tech to just 24.

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If there was ever a team in need of an opponent with a struggling defense, it’s the Navy Midshipmen. Prior to the season, dual-threat quarterback Ricky Dobbs was being touted as a Heisman candidate. The campaign hardly lasted past the opening weekend and now the Midshipmen are desperately in need of some offense. After averaging over 100 yards rushing per game in Navy’s flexbone offense, Dobbs is rushing for just 54 yards per game, and the Midshipmen are struggling to points on the board. Navy will need Dobbs to get loose against Wake Forest and beyond if the Mids hope to make the postseason again.

Saturday’s game shapes up as a meeting of resistible force (Navy offense) and moveable object (Wake Forest defense). If Navy has any hope of winning and salvaging its season, Dobbs and the flexbone option attack must finally get loose. The bad news for Navy is that, while Wake Forest’s defense has struggled, it didn’t struggle last week against an identical offense in Georgia Tech. That being the case, look for Wake Forest to get just enough offense to hold Navy off and to claw their way back to .500 with the balance of the ACC schedule yet to be played.

Wake Forest Demon Deacons @ Navy Midshipmen Football Preview