{"id":44312,"date":"2022-03-27T13:00:43","date_gmt":"2022-03-27T17:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=44312"},"modified":"2022-03-26T18:23:46","modified_gmt":"2022-03-26T22:23:46","slug":"44312-much-is-expected-of-the-wake-forest-offense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2022\/03\/27\/44312-much-is-expected-of-the-wake-forest-offense\/","title":{"rendered":"Much Is Expected Of The Wake Forest Offense"},"content":{"rendered":"

Much is expected of the Wake Forest offense in the 2022 season. And much must be delivered for the season to be any level of success. After two weeks of camp, the offense looks to be pacing slightly ahead of the defense in the live scrimmage drills. But that is to be expected with the veteran leadership available to head coach Dave Clawson<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Offensive coordinator Warren Ruggiero<\/strong> said this week he is pleased with the progress the offense has made the first couple of weeks. \u201cIt\u2019s solid. We\u2019re progressing day by day,\u201d he said Thursday.<\/p>\n

It Starts Up Front<\/h3>\n

A lot of eyes are focused on the offensive line. Luke Petitbon<\/strong> and George Sell<\/strong> are missing Spring camp, rehabbing from last season\u2019s injuries. And of course, All American Zach Tom<\/strong> will soon be donning an NFL uniform after the draft. That is giving a lot of others snaps in practice, working towards the positional depth that is such a spoken priority for Clawson.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now we\u2019ve got a bunch of young O-linemen getting a bunch of reps,\u201d Ruggiero said. \u201cUpfront we\u2019ve got some guys that are getting some great reps that need those reps; young guys that we need to develop. Those guys are coming along each day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overall, Ruggiero said he likes what he sees from an individual standpoint. \u201cIn the Spring, you\u2019re really looking for individuals who are progressing. A lot of times we are mixing and matching people in different groups.\u201d He said individual growth was the way to ensure improvement for the unit as a whole. \u201cA lot of these guys, [offensive linemen], were guys that were on the scout team in the Fall, so they didn\u2019t get a ton of meaningful reps in our offense. So, it\u2019s really the first time they are getting a ton of reps that are going to help them improve and understand what they\u2019ve got to do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Veteran Leadership<\/h3>\n

The process goes a little smoother when you have one of the more productive starting quarterbacks in the country returning. Sam Hartman<\/a> coming back for a fifth season gives the Demon Deacons more than the stats. It provides them with someone who is going to be expected to be the leader on and off the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cSam knows what he\u2019s doing,\u201d Ruggiero said. \u201cYou know, it\u2019s funny. He comes back for another year and sometimes guys want to sit out and take less reps, and just kind of cruise along. Sam wants every rep,\u201d he added. \u201cSam\u2019s like, \u2018If I\u2019ve got another year of reps in this system, like how good could I be?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Running back Justice Ellison<\/a> concurred about Hartman\u2019s role in the leadership scope. \u201cMan, he\u2019s a team player,\u201d Ellison said. \u201cNo matter how long you\u2019ve been in this program, if you\u2019re messing up, if you\u2019re not doing what you\u2019re supposed to, Sam will get on your butt. That just shows how passionate he is about the team and passionate about this game.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Plethora Of Running Backs<\/h3>\n

Where depth is a point of emphasis at many positions in Spring, running back has plenty of bodies getting in the work in Spring. The Deacs lose last year\u2019s leading rusher, Christian Beal-Smith. <\/strong>He took his grad transfer opportunities to Columbia to play for the Gamecocks this year. But Wake Forest returns Christian Turner<\/strong>, who, along with Ellison, combined for a tick over a thousand yards last season. The position also has Quinton Cooley<\/strong> back. And Clawson is converting quarterback Santino Marucci<\/strong> to running back in order to get him playing time.<\/p>\n

It figures to be running game by committee, as it was last year, and that is fine with Ellison. \u201cWhenever I\u2019m in, in the game or in practice or whatever, I go hard each single rep. Because I know come gametime, every single rep matters.\u201d Ellison said he is spending time with the other running backs because they are all likely to see some action come Fall. He said he gets the group together to work out as a unit at night, working on blocking schemes and doing conditioning work. He said they all need to know that, \u201cIt takes extra time to develop your game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Justice Model<\/h3>\n

Even though it is Ellison\u2019s third year on campus, this will be only his second full year at running back. Still, getting more than a hundred carries last season, and leading the team in yards per carry, (5.1), makes him someone the rest of the group is going to look to for that mindset that Clawson preaches about<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s not a specific recipe,\u201d Ellison said. \u201cIt is about every single day becoming better than you what you were before.\u201d He said just as it is going to be shared carries in camp and during the season, there is going to have to be the same mentality when it comes to the work. \u201cIt\u2019s not like, \u2018Alright, Justice knows everything.\u2019 I don\u2019t know everything. I\u2019m learning,\u201d he added. \u201cWe\u2019re all in this together. It\u2019s not just a one-man show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ruggiero said the focus on depth during Spring camp extends well beyond the 2022 season. \u201cAs long as we can keep three teams out there, [on the practice field], and keep enough guys healthy run three groups, I feel good about what I am seeing.\u201d He said it is as much about preparing for two and three years from now. \u201cThat\u2019s a part of the daily conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Much is expected of the Wake Forest offense in the 2022 season. And much must be delivered for the season to be any level of success. After two weeks of camp, the offense looks to be pacing slightly ahead of the defense in the live scrimmage drills. But that is to be expected with the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1534,"featured_media":44319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7],"tags":[4817,4912,1135,8872,1249,8871],"class_list":["post-44312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-acc","tag-acc-football","tag-christian-turner","tag-dave-clawson","tag-santino-marucci","tag-wake-forest-demon-deacons","tag-warren-ruggiero"],"modified_by":"Tony Siracusa, CFB Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1534"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}