Deacons have relatively clean bill of health
Wake Forest will likely have quarterback Robby Ashford available for Saturday’s game against SMU.
The sixth-year quarterback is listed as probable on the first availability report published ahead of Saturday’s game. He is the only Wake Forest player carrying any designation other than “out.”
There are 16 Deacons who will miss the game. Only a few of them have played in games this season and among the new names of injured players, none is an expected contributor.
Ashford suffered an injury on his right hand — presumably in Wake’s 30-23 win at Virginia Tech earlier this month. He made the trip but did not play at Oregon State in the Deacons’ last game, which was Oct. 12.
Deshawn Purdie started against the Beavers and threw for 270 yards and four touchdowns.
Right tackle Fa’alili Fa’amoe was also injured at Virginia Tech. He was knocked out of the game early in the fourth quarter and did not play at Oregon State. His absence from the availability report is perhaps the best news for Wake’s offense against a stout SMU front-7.
Demond Claiborne, as noted earlier this week, is feeling as strong as he has since the season started.
Among the players who will miss Saturday’s game — cornerback Ashaad Williams and tight end Harry Lodge are the biggest losses who haven’t been ruled out for the season. Williams has missed the last three games; Lodge has missed the last two.
On the SMU side of things
The Mustangs also have a quarterback listed as probable.
Kevin Jennings has been playing through an ankle injury for most of the season. He’s listed as probable. He threw for 290 yards and rushed for another 20 last weekend at Clemson, so it didn’t appear to bother him too much.
The biggest question for SMU is defensive end Cameron Robertson. He’s listed as questionable; with a grade of 83.5, he’s the Mustangs’ highest-graded defensive player on Pro Football Focus.
Also listed as questionable for SMU are defensive end DJ Warner, cornerback Jaelyn Davis-Robinson and linebacker Brandon Miyazono. Each of them has played at least 150 defensive snaps this season.
The full availability report can be viewed below.
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