UConn v. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (Saturday 10/19/24 @ Noon @Rentschler Field). Game on CBSSN. Audio on Varsity Network/FoxSports 97.9

[KryHavok]

Crud he's up there. Reminds me of Chris Weinke when he was playing for FSU in the '90s, granted he started school late, but still.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[huskymedic]

-> Mora called out the offensive line after the Temple game for not playing to its standard. There were two holding calls in critical situations against the line and, on one play, there were two flags for an illegal formation and unnecessary roughness on guard Ben Murawski. Partially due to mistakes on the line, the Huskies’ running game also averaged just 2.4 yards per carry.

“I definitely agree with him,” Senn said. “We have such a high standard that was set over the last three years… So everybody individually wants to step up and reach that standard, but then as a unit, all five of us always want to be on the same page and I think last week we just missed that five of us being on the same page the whole game.”

The full self-scout involved more than just the offensive line, however, which has been a strength of the team all three years under the direction of Gordon Sammis. <-

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

Have to admit I haven't been to a UConn game since my senior year in 2015. Speaks to the level Jim Mora is at as a head coach bringing us up from the bottom of the barrel in D1 to a respectable football team.

With that being said, anything I would need to know when heading to the game? What time should we line up at the gate (if paying at the gate) for parking if we're looking for max tail gating time. Lots say they open at 8 for general admission and is $20 (can someone confirm please?), so is 7:45 arrival okay? Appreciate the help and look forward to finally catching a UConn football game once again.

P.S. For anyone looking to come, the ticket prices are too good of a deal to pass up for what is shaping up to be a great game! 8 tickets for $120 in row 13 from field all in...

Yep that all sounds reasonable. You can show up at 745 idk if they'll let you in before 8, but probably. I never managed to get there that early.

The gates can definitely take a while to get in, but I am not sure I've ever had it take more than 10-15 mins. So if you just give yourself that extra time (plus maybe 5 to use the bathroom/get to your seats) you should be fine

 

[huskymedic]

 

[gioff2323]

-> Mora called out the offensive line after the Temple game for not playing to its standard. There were two holding calls in critical situations against the line and, on one play, there were two flags for an illegal formation and unnecessary roughness on guard Ben Murawski. Partially due to mistakes on the line, the Huskies’ running game also averaged just 2.4 yards per carry.

“I definitely agree with him,” Senn said. “We have such a high standard that was set over the last three years… So everybody individually wants to step up and reach that standard, but then as a unit, all five of us always want to be on the same page and I think last week we just missed that five of us being on the same page the whole game.”

The full self-scout involved more than just the offensive line, however, which has been a strength of the team all three years under the direction of Gordon Sammis. <-

I’m skeptical - I find the unit struggles against P4/ strong P5 teams. They may have a standard, but they were manhandled up front, leaving few lanes for backs and little time for qb to work thru progressions. JF needs a ton of time as he tends to zero in on option 1 and moves off far too slowly; not too mention his lack of escapability.

 

[Jetskies]

I’m skeptical - I find the unit struggles against P4/ strong P5 teams. They may have a standard, but they were manhandled up front, leaving few lanes for backs and little time for qb to work thru progressions. JF needs a ton of time as he tends to zero in on option 1 and moves off far too slowly; not too mention his lack of escapability.

I am skeptical too.

Unfortunately we are not even CLOSE to skilled enough (vision/reading-wise) at the QB position, to compensate for a poor OL performance. Our opponents know this and will probably design their defenses with instability and confusion on the line, as a focal point.

RE: Joe F - at his level of experience, he is who he is - it won't get better (hopefully wont' get worse)
Nick is showing who he is - maybe his passing/coverage reading gets better, but against a P4 opponent? im not betting on it (but hoping for it).

to have any shot at a win vs. Wake, I believe we will need the single best performance of the year so far, from our OLine.

once the OLine's play breaks down as it did with Temple, we are extremely vulnerable.
Character win or not, we showed our hand to the rest of our schedule.

I hope hope hope to see Cole Welliver take some meaningful snaps at UConn, one day.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[ZOOCONN]

I think Temple is a good team. They faced Army and Navy who are now both 5-0, with Navy having an excellent post season chance this year. I rewatched Q4. Not sure how Navy lost.

Just don’

I said this after the game, I wasn’t happy with our performance but temple was not as bad as their record would indicate. Their losses came against teams that I believe were somewhere in the neighborhood of 22-4, that’s high quality opponents.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[GoConn]

Really disappointed with the amount of open seats I'm seeing online.

 

[GoConn]

Also, the Wake coach said "UConn looks like a P4 team"

 

[cellocgg]

Really disappointed with the amount of open seats I'm seeing online.

the lower bowl looks completely occupied if you search by seat

 

[temery]

the lower bowl looks completely occupied if you search by seat

Sounds like a punch line to a potty joke.

 

[RedStickHusky]

I’m skeptical - I find the unit struggles against P4/ strong P5 teams. They may have a standard, but they were manhandled up front, leaving few lanes for backs and little time for qb to work thru progressions. JF needs a ton of time as he tends to zero in on option 1 and moves off far too slowly; not too mention his lack of escapability.

It's a numbers game in the box; if we can't take advantage of single man coverage, they can load up on the run. This has kind of always been our problem as we have rarely, if ever, been threatening in the passing game. FWIW though, it was JF "escaping" that led him to find Buckman on the sideline on the game winning drive.

 

[JohnFSilver]

Not unless CRDA resolves problems with the lack of metal detectors/staff to increase throughput at the gate.

Plenty of times it's on the lack of effort by people to get their ass in line to begin with. I see it every time I walk toward the stadium.

It's both. The tailgate is also an optical illusion. People think they are closer than it is, and the metal detectors are a train wreck. I saw a guy be unable to bring in his vape pen to the game. Why?

 

[Platt81]

It's both. The tailgate is also an optical illusion. People think they are closer than it is, and the metal detectors are a train wreck. I saw a guy be unable to bring in his vape pen to the game. Why?

Is this a serious question? More importantly why does he need to bring his vape pen in? The chemicals blown out of those will eventually be determined to be more dangerous than second hand smoke, people should just be able to use it in their seats? If so then hell let everyone light up cigarettes too in their seats.

 

[gopher2]

It's a numbers game in the box; if we can't take advantage of single man coverage, they can load up on the run. This has kind of always been our problem as we have rarely, if ever, been threatening in the passing game. FWIW though, it was JF "escaping" that led him to find Buckman on the sideline on the game winning drive.

I agree that our inability to throw in recent years has been our single biggest problem. But as for the JF to Buckman pass, that was a one-off thing. Nine times out of 10 JF does not escape in that situation. I was amazed when he did.

 

[Redding Husky]

Wake Forest Scouting Report

8/29/24 vs NC A&T W 45-13
9/7/24 vs UVA L 31-30
9/14/24 vs MISS L 40-6
9/28/24 vs Louisiana L 41-38
10/5/24 @ NC State W 34-30
10/12/24 vs CLEM L 49-14

History:

• UConn is 1-2 against Wake Forest all time.
• Last win against them was on 11/15/2003 in Winston-Salem, NC. 51-17.
• Wake won our last matchup on 12/29/2007 in Charlotte, NC during the Meineke Car Care Bowl. 10-24.

RATINGS:

Team	Massey	Sagarin	ESPN
UConn	95	89	73
Temple	126	145	124
Buffalo	98	121	108
Wake Forest	88	93	94
NC State	79	82	85
Clemson	12	13	11

TEAM RANKS:

Stats	UConn	Wake Forest	Buffalo	NC State
Total Offense (pts/game)	44	76	113	77
Passing (yards/game)	85	49	130	70
Rushing (yards/game)	19	86	91	111
Total Defense (pts/game)	43	121	61	110
Passing (yards/game)	37	105	92	79
Rushing (yards/game)	68	97	78	70

Team Notes:

• Head Coach Dave Clawson has been with Wake since 2014, leading them to seven bowls over that time and winning ACC Coach of the Year in 2021 where Wake went 11-3, beating Rutgers in the Gator Bowl.
• 4-8 last year, only one conference win against Pitt.
• Lots of transfer losses on the offensive side of the line. WR Jahmal Banks to Nebraska, WR Ke’Shawn Williams to Indian, and WR Wesley Grimes to NC State. RB Justin Ellison also to Indiana.
• New look secondary after losing 3/4 starters. Two to the NFL Draft, safety Malik Mustapha (4th, SF) and cornerback Caelen Carson (5th, DAL).

Offense:

The QB for Wake is super six-year senior, #9 HANK BACHMEIER. You might remember the name from being a 3000 yard passer while at Boise State in 2021. He red-shirted and transferred after Boise fired the OC during his senior year there moving to Louisiana Tech and finally Wake for his final year of eligibility.

Wake Forest is best known for its RPO offense. Clawson added some interesting wrinkles to this offense which some people dub "Slow-Mesh RPOs". You'll often find Wake starting in 11-personal (3 WRs, 1 TE, one RB). QB and RB usually side-by-side in shotgun. TE is almost always a blocking TE. WRs are usually 2 on one side, 1 on the other. What makes this RPO offense different is that the QB is reading one or more players on defense (LB + S). The QB will hold the ball longer, the RB will linger around the QB, while the WRs will run some variation of dig routes (pivot-in), pivot routes (quick cut outside), go routes, hook routes, and slant routes. One WR is most likely a decoy used to free up the other WR. The QB is looking to see if both of his reads are committed to the run before passing. In this scheme, the OL's job is to create running lanes and not so much push defenders down field. If there is less than five rushers, the OL will often double one man to make the lanes wider.

In addition to the RPO schemes, you'll also see a lot QB designed runs to make use of the 6'2" 215 frame of Bachmeier. Often times they'll pull a tackle to be the lead blocker for these QB runs. Then Wake will mix in spread formations especially in their up-tempo offense.

By far, the best skill player on Wake is #1 Demond Claiborne (81 carries, 471 yards, 7 TDs). He's their all-purpose back, often lining up next to the QB in shotgun, but sometimes on the line as WR in spread formations. He'll get half the carries and will catch balls out of the backfield. Claiborne has speed, power, and wiggle. They also have a quartet of good receivers in #2 TAYLOR MORIN, #11 DONOVAN GREEN, #81 DEUCE ALEXANDER, and #5 HORATIO FIELDS. Each is over 200 yards receiving with at least 16 receptions.

Overall, Wake is going to be one of the more balanced (50% run, 50% pass) offenses we've seen, and one of the most schematically interesting. Lots of motion, lots of misdirection, lots of ways to confuse our defense. They are as balanced with their passing game as we are with our run game.

Defense:

The heart and soul of Wake's defense is #45 NICK ANDERSON, a junior DB. He leads the team in tackles and is a team captain. Still, the DB group is an extreme weakness for the team. This group lost studs last year as mentioned before and relied on transfers to fill in. Those transfer, like #3 CAPONE BLUE from Kent State, have been OK at best. This will be one of the weaker DB groups we will play against. Bad tackling, blown coverages, bad routes, undisciplined. Wake is bottom five in all of FBS in passing defense categories.

Their rushing defense is only slightly better, being bottom 40 in all major rushing categories.

As a whole, Wake's defense is the reason why they are at the bottom of FBS. Not just bottom of the ACC, but bottom of FBS. #128 in opponent yards, #121 in opponent points. They measure bottom 20% in all major defensive categories.

My Takes:

I don't get the sense that Bachmeier is 100% comfortable with this slow style RPO offense. It puts a lot of pressure for on the QB to make multiple reads in a short amount of time when his preference is air-raid, pro-style schemes. That's the reason why he transferred to LA Tech. While he hasn't been great with his command of the offense (63% completion, 55 avg QBR), he's still putting up great bulk numbers (112 completions, 1300 yards, 7 TDs, 2 INTs). This is not to say that I think he's a bad QB, just bad scheme fit. UConn would be in the B12 right now if we had a QB like him over the past few years.

The problem with Wake isn't the offense, which is averaging 40 points a game (minus the Mississippi and Clemson game). It's entirely the defense which is giving up 40 points a game (minus the FCS game). So they've lost a lot of close, one score games. Every game this season has Wake's opponents with multiple 20+ yard plays because of blown coverages or missed tackles, including the FCS game.

As great as the slow-mesh RPO sounds, it has a number of weaknesses. And our 3-3-5 defense has some utility that can beat this. Any sort of consistent penetration will force Wake to abandon it. To that end:

• Disguise our coverage pre-snap. In the 3-3-5, you can disguise who’s dropping into coverage and who’s staying in the box, making the QB’s decision-making harder. We can also rotate safeties. Start with two high safeties (cover 2 look) and rotate into a single high safety (cover 3 or cover 1) at the snap.
• Disguised our blitzes. The extra defensive back in a 3-3-5 can either blitz from the edge or drop into coverage.
• Heavy edge pressure. Show 4-3 or 4-2. Use our linebackers and safeties to apply pressure from the edges. This forces the QB to decide whether to hand off or pass much faster than he’d like. Bonus if our DEs make it to QB and start rattling him.
• Have a spy on the QB. Make him un-reactive to the initial developments of the play, confusing the QB.
• Mix schemes. Have the DBs play man, have the LBs play zone. This takes away all the designer routes and short throws intended to relieve pressure from the QB. Could really use our best man-cover DB back in Chadwick.

Those of you that watched NC State vs Wake would know that NC State also employs a 3-3-5 defense. For a good chunk of the game, the Justin Joly-lead NC State was winning. This was with their backup QB who replaced the injured starter in the middle of the game. NC State had a 10 point lead in the 4th but simply made mistake after mistake to keep Wake in the game.

I rewatched the highlights of the UConn game against Temple. Temple absolutely dared us to throw, dared us to do anything besides wide zone runs. Their edge defenders went laterally as soon as the ball was snapped. Their linebackers filled the cutback lanes. We didn't adjust, at least not until the fourth quarter. I do think OC Sammis is a quick learner so at least he knows how to counter that now.

On offense, given Wake's porous pass defense we should probably aim for a more 50/50 split. We don't really need downfield shots. 5-7 yards passes to Bell and Sheffield and let them break tackles.

Predictions:

I know the Temple game was scary for some of y'all. But our A-game is comparable to a top 40 team. One that is fully capable of blowing out Wake and winning out the rest of the season.

The biggest question for me is: which UConn offense is going to show up against Wake? Because if it's the inspired FAU/Buffalo/Merrimack offense, the one that controlled the time of possession, then we win by three TDs. We take aways Wake's best weapon, their offense, and keep them off the field.

If the Temple/Maryland offense shows up, then we'll lose by 21.

My guess is, it'll be somewhere in between. 35-28, good guys.

As a Texan, I appreciate your use of “y’all”.