2011 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Football: Wake Forest @ Duke

Both Wake Forest and Duke began the 2011 campaign on a surprising strong note. Wake Forest entered last week’s game against Virginia Tech with a 4-1 record, 3-0 in the ACC, while Duke entered last week’s game against Florida State with a 3-2 record, 1-1 in the ACC. Both were considered by many to be the worst teams in their respective divisions, and both have already exceeded expectations. That said, any thoughts of competing for the ACC championship by fans of the Demon Deacons or Blue Devils should be put to rest after both suffered lopsided defeats at the hands of two of the top ACC programs. Wake Forest lost 38-17 to Virginia Tech after jumping out to an early double-digit lead while Duke was never really in the game in a 41-16 loss to Florida State.

The teams both feature high-powered passing attacks with little in the way of a ground threat. Both Duke and Wake Forest average nearly a three to one passing yards to rushing yards ratio, and both are in the bottom 20 teams in the nation in rushing yards per game. On the other hand, both teams feature top 25 passing attacks. Furthermore, both the Blue Devils and Demon Deacons give up more than 25 points per game, so this matchup of elite private schools in historic Wallace Wade Stadium should be a high scoring affair.

If last season’s matchup is any indication, the fans in Durham should get their money’s worth. Duke and Wake Forest put over a hundred points on the board in a wild 54-48 Demon Deacons victory that saw 49 points scored in the second quarter alone. Last year’s game would mark the high point of Wake Forest’s season, as it was its only conference win, while Duke also finished 1-7 in ACC play. Both teams have improved considerably this season, with Wake Forest coming into the game with a 3-1 record in ACC play, while Duke enters the game at 1-1 in the conference.

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The winner of this game moves a step closer to bowl eligibility, which is a huge deal for these two programs. The loser will face an uphill battle, with no sure wins for either squad on the schedule. A loss to Duke would mean that Wake Forest would need to find two wins among North Carolina, Notre Dame, Clemson, Maryland and Vanderbilt. Duke would be in an even deeper hole, needing three wins with only Virginia Tech, Miami, Virginia, Georgia Tech and North Carolina remaining.

Duke’s Sean Renfree leads a powerful passing attack from the quarterback position. He is completing 69% of his passes on the year, but many of them are shorter underneath passes. Head Coach David Cutcliffe seeks to get his receivers open in space underneath, and his receivers are among the best in the ACC. Conner Vernon, Donovan Varner, Cooper Helfet, and Brandon Braxton each have 20 receptions or more, and they have plenty of space to get open in Cutcliffe’s four- and five- wide sets.

Jim Grobe, the Wake Forest boss, also runs mostly four- and five- wide sets, but he likes to get his quarterback, Riley Skinner, moving around. Grobe takes advantage of misdirection running and play action to create space. Wake Forest has a legitimate offensive star at wide receiver in Chris Givens, who already has 739 yards on 40 receptions. He should have plenty of opportunity to get open against what should be an overmatched Duke secondary. Frankly, neither team’s defense has shown that it has the ability to stop a high-powered passing attack, and while it would be unreasonable to expect the same kind of wild shootout as these teams produced last year, the winning team should be the one that is able to outgun the other while avoiding turnovers.

Wake Forest @ Duke Blue Devils Football Preview