There is a game to be played Saturday in Winston-Salem. One of the teams allegedly has a \u201ccute\u201d offense, and the other has an offense that in part, makes its own coach sick to his stomach. There are a lot of verbal zigzags to be sussed out this week as Wake Forest hosts Liberty.<\/p>\n
The Flames are 2-0 and coming off a win against UAB while using redshirt freshman quarterback Kaidon Salter<\/a>. He is replacing veteran quarterback Charlie Brewer<\/strong> who is out with a broken hand. Salter was 13 of 25 for 202 yards in the win over UAB. His 52% completion rate accounted for zero touchdowns. Still, Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson<\/strong> said he is impressed with Salter. \u201cHe\u2019s a true dual threat guy,\u201d Clawson said Tuesday. \u201cHe was one of the highest recruited quarterbacks in the country a couple of years ago.\u201d Clawson went on to use complimentary adjectives like creative and explosive to describe Salter\u2019s play.<\/p>\n Want to know how Salter\u2019s head coach sees the performance of his first-time signal caller? \u201cAfter seeing his film, he better improve or we\u2019re going to have to do something else,\u201d Hugh Freeze<\/strong> said this week. Wait. It gets better. \u201cIt made me sick watching the film and seeing his progressions.\u201d Freeze\u2019s \u201cupbeat\u201d summation of Salter\u2019s performance was based on the quarterback rarely making it to the second progression before bolting the pocket to run with the ball. He said, his quarterback panicked and ran too much. \u201cThat\u2019s got to change fast,\u201d he said. Clawson called that being a dual threat. It apparently bothered Freeze\u2019s digestive tract.<\/p>\n Freeze said the Flames are lucky to be 2-0. Clawson is more confident in his Demon Deacons\u2019 2-0 start<\/a>. \u201cWe did get better from week one to week two,\u201d he said. He was particularly happy about the results from the latest dual-threat quarterback wake has had to face in Vandy\u2019s Mike Wright.<\/strong> He had 390 yards passing and 250 yards rushing in the two games prior to playing Wake. The Demon Deacons held him to 35 yards passing and 17 yards on the ground.<\/p>\n Of course, the offense was easy to digest. Sam Hartman<\/a> was back at quarterback. All he did in his first game of the season was go 18 of 27 for 300 yards, four touchdowns, and no turnovers.<\/p>\n But much like Salter\u2019s game is apparently open to interpretation, it seems the same may be true of the Wake Forest offense. Liberty defensive lineman Dennis Osagiede<\/strong> referred to Wake\u2019s offense as \u201ccute\u201d earlier this week. Actually, let\u2019s put it in full context because he apparently doesn\u2019t think much of Hartman either. \u201cEvery quarterback folds under pressure. They have that RPO thing where they hold it & that’s cute & all, but at the end of the day if you put pressure in a guy’s face, he’s going to make some type of indecisive throw.”<\/p>\n Yet his coach says he is having problems preparing for the slow mesh offense. He said his scout team is having a hard time imitating it in order for his defense to learn how to defend against it. \u201cIt is a challenge for us,\u201d he said. \u201cNo one has stopped them so it\u2019s obviously effective.\u201d He said the hope is to get Wake to settle for field goals and not give up too many explosive offensive plays. \u201cBut they are creating those against most everybody they play.\u201d<\/p>\n Not to throw too many zigs and zags into the analysis, but predictably Clawson had his own take on what was being said about his offense. It turns out he was not so offended by Osagiede calling it cute. \u201cThat\u2019s a compliment, right? Everyone wanted to be voted in high school like the cutest student or the cutest couple,\u201d he joked. \u201cCompliments come in all shapes and sizes.\u201d<\/p>\n When told Freeze said he was having a hard time preparing to face the slow mesh, Clawson found the claim to be odd. \u201cWhich is interesting that he would say that. Because I would say their offense is the closest thing to resembling ours that we have had to defend. A lot of the concepts that we run, the tempo, the full-field RPO\u2019s, they do a lot of those things too,\u201d Clawson said. \u201cThis is no walk in the park for our defensive staff.\u201d As much as he admires Freeze\u2019s offense, he joked that he will not call it cute.<\/p>\nLucky vs. Good<\/h3>\n
So, That Wake Forest Offense Is…<\/h3>\n
Clawson’s Take<\/h3>\n
Hole To Fill On The Field And In The Locker Room<\/h3>\n