For fans, going 0-2 at the start of the conference schedule ramps up the anxiety, the intensity, and the need to see a win. For a football coaching staff, every week brings a certain level of urgency to win. So where does one side coincide with the other? What level is Wake Forest’s sense of urgency going to Blacksburg to face Virginia Tech on Saturday?
After starting 3-0 against presumably lesser competition, the Deamon Deacons are 0-2 in ACC play after an inconceivable loss at home to Georgia Tech and the traditional loss to Clemson.
Wake Looking for Answers
While this was always going to be a transition year in some sense, (this publication had predicted a 7-5 regular season, with the potential for 6-6), the reality has been hard to watch at times. The team that was touted as having lots of snaps but not many starts has been unable to put together even one half where the defense and offense were on equal quality footing. A team that used to light up the scoreboard now comes away with empty trips in the red zone, can’t protect the quarterback, and when they do, the first-year starter commits errors that make him look like, well, a first-year starter.
So what are the answers as Wake goes on the road to play a Virginia Tech team that has its own struggles? The Hokies are 2-4 overall and 1-1 in conference play. They have beaten a woeful Pitt team and then got thumped by a top-five team in Florida State. The difference in Blacksburg is that Brent Pry is still trying to build his program from scratch in year two. Wake has years of experience on the field.
So what is the sense of urgency for Wake Forest? Are the Demon Deacons all the way at Defcon 2? Or are they still relaxed and confident at Defcon 5?
Fans Looking for Sense of Urgency
“I mean there is a sense of urgency every day, every week,” Wake head coach Dave Clawson said Tuesday. “You don’t turn that switch on and off because you lose two.” Clawson said it’s the way his players and coaches are wired. “It’s just how you operate as a coach. You really go into every game thinking that next game is going to dictate your whole season.” He was trying to stress that there are no varying levels of urgency based on the previous week’s results. And in doing so went so far as to say, “Maybe it’s from my first year as a head coach when we were 0-11 [at Fordham]. But for 24 years I feel like I’m coaching for my job every single week.”
That’s not to imply Clawson’s future at Wake Forest is in jeopardy. It isn’t even in the same state as “in jeopardy.” But the product on the field is leaving a lot to be desired. The defense has been good for most of the season, and at times been very good. The offense is leaving a lot to be desired every week.
Certainly, injuries must be taken into account. Clawson said Tuesday that he would be surprised if offensive lineman Nick Sharpe plays at all this season. Offensive lineman Spencer Clapp has been trying to play through injury. By Tuesday or Wednesday, the signs are positive, and then by the end of the week, he is a scratch, as was the case for Clemson. Running back Justice Ellison has been in and out of the lineup with a recurring ankle issue. Saturday at Clemson he had one carry and had to leave the game. His status for this week is probable, but it is a lot of hours between now and kickoff in Blacksburg.
The Analysis
On the defensive side of the ball, Clawson has come to the conclusion that linebacker Chase Jones is likely out for the year. He has missed every game as he goes through concussion protocols. That lessens the depth at the position, but Clawson said he is pleased with the production he is getting out of Jacob Roberts and Dylan Hazen.
“Jacob Roberts is clearly a good player. Dylan Hazen has become a really good linebacker,” Clawson said, adding that the latter had a very good game against Clemson. “He’s playing both linebacker positions, which isn’t easy.”
Most of the focus, winning or losing, goes on the quarterback. Even in his fourth year in the program, Mitch Griffis has struggled in his first year as the starter. Clawson said he saw some upside in the improvement scale last week in the loss to Clemson. “We grade every play. And so the overall grade in terms of his execution level and not making mistakes was higher,” Clawson said. “But the ultimate grade for the quarterback is winning the football game.”
He added that losing by one score causes the film room study to hyper-focus on whether they had made this play or that play, and the difference it would have made. He was deliberative in describing plays where others, on both sides of the ball, missed assignments or didn’t execute, making it clear that this was not going to fall completely on Griffis’ shoulders. “If you watch that game, he got the absolute crap kicked out of him. And he kept playing and he kept competing,” Clawson said. “I’ve said it for three weeks, we’ve got to play better around him.”
VA Tech
That doesn’t get easy this week, just because VA Tech has a poor overall record. The Hokies are eighth in the country in passing yards allowed, giving up only 159 yards per game through the air. They are giving up nearly 200 yards per game on the ground.
The Hokies offense has a potential storyline twist this week. Starting quarterback Grant Wells has been out with a leg injury suffered way back in week two against Purdue. Redshirt sophomore Kyron Drones has filled in with a completely different look to the offense. Wells is a more proficient passer than Drones, but Drones is a difference-maker with his legs. The transfer from Baylor has nearly 300 yards rushing to go with four touchdowns. Wells is expected to pick up his practice availability this week, and Wake’s defense could see both Hokie quarterbacks on Saturday.
While everyone involved with Wake Forest football is waiting for that complementary game when both the defense and offense play to the level of presumed capabilities, Clawson said, “I think we’re close, but that’s easy to say and harder to do.”
Familiar Faces
Spend enough time coaching and you pretty much have a history with most of the coaches on the other sideline. This week is a little different. VA Tech head coach Brent Pry actually played one year for Dave Clawson. Pry was a safety at the University of Buffalo in 1991 when Clawson was the defensive backs coach.
Pry remembered it this week as, “When I was a bad DB and he had his hands full.”
Clawson when told of Pry’s recollection of their time together could not help but chuckle. “I definitely had my hands full with him. Brent is a personality,” Clawson said. “He was tough. He wasn’t scared of contact. His dad was a hard-nosed football coach, and he raised a hard-nosed son.” Clawson chuckled again through his reminiscing. “Certainly, some long conversations with him about things and I ‘ll leave them there.”
