It is an unusual way to turn the book into the second half of the season. Two teams facing each other that have little history against each other. Wake Forest goes to UConn on Saturday looking for any win it can get to try to turn the season around. The two schools have only played each other three times. Wake holds a 2-1 record against the Huskies, with the last game being a win for the Deacs in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in 2007.
Wake Forest goes to Storrs with a 2-4 record. The Huskies, who play as an independent, are 4-2. UConn took a 43-point beating at the hands of Maryland in the season opener. They also lost to Duke by just one score. Conversely, they beat Merrimack, Florida Atlantic, Buffalo, and Temple.
The Mora Landscape
The UConn job is only the second college head coaching job for Jim Mora, who spent most of his career in the NFL. In 2022 he took over a program that had gone 1-11 the previous year. He got the Huskies to 6-6 and a trip to the Myrtle Beach Bowl. UConn dropped to 3-9 last season, causing Mora to go on a public crusade seeking more NIL and Collective money for his program. The result was enough money to reload the roster with 49 players from the Winter and Spring portal windows.
UConn presents a unique challenge for Wake Forest. The Huskies have almost perfection when it comes to a balanced offense. They average 229 yards passing and 220 yards rushing. That’s 449 yards of total offense per game for the mathematically challenged. Hey, we needed a calculator just to make sure.
The Running Huskies
And within those rushing stats is a whole other layer of balance. They have three running backs who each have at least 300 yards rushing on the season. And while the offensive scheme may be one concept, each of the running backs brings a different element to the attack.
Wake head coach Dave Clawson said, “It’s the same play, but because of the types of backs they have, and the nature of the play, you’ve got to be so disciplined,” he said.
Durell Robinson leads the team in rushing with 55 carries for 424 yards and four touchdowns. “He’s a big back,” Clawson said. Cam Edwards has 333 yards on 64 carries. And Mel Brown has 325 yards on 62 carries. Clawson referred to him as more of a “Scat back.” He added, “Whereas Edwards and Robinson might be a little more likely to stretch and puncture, all of a sudden Brown goes in the game and he can beat you on the edge.”
Flipping the field, Clawson said quarterback Hank Bachmeier is healthier going into this game than he was for the Clemson game a week ago. And for Bachmeier, going to UConn means seeing a familiar face. Mora recruited Bachmeier several years ago.
Familiar Faces
In 2017, Bachmeier was a high school junior in Murrieta, CA near San Diego. Mora was the head coach at UCLA. The Bruins never had an actual commitment from Bachmeier. Mora was fired before the end of the 2018 season and Bachmeier found his way from the beach in Southern California to the frozen fields of Boise State.
Mora has not lost site of keeping tabs on Bachmeier. “I have a picture of Hank and I together,” Mora said at his press conference this week. “He’s had a pretty amazing journey. He’s always been a super kid, and he’s always been a really great competitor. So, he’s had his chances and he’s made the most out of them.” When Mora was fired from UCLA, he took a job with ESPN where he did studio work as well as color analyst assignments for games. He recalled that he worked a Boise State game with Bachmeier as the quarterback and how the two re-connected at that time.
Wake Bodies
As for Bachmeier running the Wake Forest offense, Mora said there are a lot of challenges for his team to get ready for. “Wake Forest is a really good football team. You have to ignore their record and look at how they play on the film,” he said. “They’re big, and their physical, and they’re fast, and they’re disciplined.” Mora said Deacs starting running back Demond Claiborne is the best running back his team will have faced all season. The third-year junior is averaging a little over five yards per carry and has 524 yards on the season so far.
Mora said keeping up with Wake’s slow mesh/RPO offense requires endurance from his defensive players. But he said he thinks they are ready.
Clawson said his team is, “As healthy as we’ve been.” Both tight ends Harry Lodge and Cam Hite are expected to be available. Defensive back Capone Blue has been practicing without the red no-contact jersey. Clawson said there was also physical improvement on defensive back Jamare Glasker.
