OT: The Wake Forest program success story

loyolacat

Redshirt
Oct 21, 2006
2,686
41
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I remember that overtime win at WIsconsin when Damien Anderson ran untouched into the end zone for the winning score in overtime.....Wisky had no idea who had the ball........we had the gut to try and do something different....so give Wake credit recruit to the scheme......Seems like Fitz has decided that we will not be a legitimate program until we can win with the traditional B10 old school system....out batter and bruise them....but we will need to win the recruiting battles first.
 

techtim72

Junior
May 10, 2010
6,614
249
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Finally Clawson is getting some buzz. People in the know always have recognized his talents. I have followed him since he won a national championship at Richmond. He has been amazingly loyal at Wake. I don't know what he values in his career, but if say Franklin leaves for USC, PSU should be knocking on his door.
 

techtim72

Junior
May 10, 2010
6,614
249
63
I remember that overtime win at WIsconsin when Damien Anderson ran untouched into the end zone for the winning score in overtime.....Wisky had no idea who had the ball........we had the gut to try and do something different....so give Wake credit recruit to the scheme......Seems like Fitz has decided that we will not be a legitimate program until we can win with the traditional B10 old school system....out batter and bruise them....but we will need to win the recruiting battles first.

Agreed. I think Fitz views building a team that first must win games when the weather turns cold. That means smash mouth, numbers and size on the lines. Nothing wrong with that but when you see guys like Hinton going to Michigan you realize how difficult it is to accomplish.
 

Katatonic

Sophomore
Oct 23, 2004
86,854
134
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Here's a similar article...




When they got to Wake and realized the talent that they had, running a classic drop-back passing game was out of the picture. In their first three seasons, only one team in the country allowed more sacks; nearly 10% of all drop-backs found their passers on the turf. Ruggiero joked that by the time the quarterback took the third step of his drop, the play would end up a sack. Now, Clawson says half of their passing plays start out as runs which makes it easier for the offensive line. Run blocking as much as possible can help level the playing field against some of the best pass rushers the Clemsons or Florida States or Miamis of the conference can line up. They can’t simply tee off on what they assume will be a passing play because so much of what Wake does starts out as a run. The runs themselves have also come behind more double team blocking, which is easier for offensive linemen to execute.


This coaching staff tailors the scheme to make up for the deficiencies.

Still, every O-lineman from the Wake team from a few years ago was on an NFL team.

That's also developing players.

And oh, unlike Fitz/McCall, knew they had to pass against Army (458 yds thru the air/5 TDs).
 

Hungry Jack

All-Conference
Nov 17, 2008
36,351
1,901
67
WF may very well win the ACC and go undefeated. That will pose a conundrum for the Playoff Committee.
 

Sheffielder

Senior
Sep 1, 2004
9,630
426
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Happy to root for Wake, even as every other ACC program hides behind the "it's just a down year for us" defense.
 

NJCat

All-Conference
Mar 7, 2016
21,203
1,325
113
The playoff dream dies today, 58-55 loss to UNC. This was a non-conference game so the Deals still control their own destiny in the ACC.
 

HawkCat

Junior
May 29, 2001
7,914
279
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The playoff dream dies today, 58-55 loss to UNC. This was a non-conference game so the Deals still control their own destiny in the ACC.
It was not a non-conference game, but they are in different divisions of the ACC.
 

NJCat

All-Conference
Mar 7, 2016
21,203
1,325
113
It was not a non-conference game, but they are in different divisions of the ACC.
Actually, it was.

The legend of undefeated Wake Forest continues Saturday as the No. 9 Demon Deacons head to Chapel Hill to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels in a non-conference game.

Yes. You read that correctly.

Despite the fact that both schools do, in fact, play in the ACC, their game on Saturday will not count toward the conference standings, meaning a Wake loss wouldn’t do anything to prevent what will almost certainly be one of the stranger conference championship matchups in recent years.