Game Day Primer: Indiana Hoosiers vs. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
/
Rashard Fant (16) and the Hoosiers look to get to 3-0 against Wake Forest Saturday. Image: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
Written By T.J. Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)
What: Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Indiana Hoosiers
When: Saturday, September 24 at 3:30 PM
Where: Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Indiana
How to Watch: The game will be broadcast on BTN and you can listen to the radio broadcast on the IU Radio Network.
What’s at Stake: The Indiana Hoosiers will attempt to start the season 3-0 for the second straight season. That may not sound like a big deal but the Hoosiers haven’t accomplished back-to-back 3-0 starts since 2009-2010. Both squads have dreams of a bowl game and a win in the final non-conference contest for each team is seen as critical to those bowl hopes. The Demon Deacons and Hoosiers are both unbeaten, making this one of only four power five conference matchups between unbeaten teams.
A Few Things to Look For
Dominant Defense
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons were expected to have a stout defense and they have not disappointed. They have played Tulane, Duke and Delaware and surrendered only 247.7 yards per game and 12.7 points per game. Through three weeks, they are sixth nationally in total defense. The pass defense has been pretty good but it’s the rushing defense that has truly stood out. Tulane ran for only 3.1 yards per carry, Duke was held to a measly 1.2 yards per carry and Delaware managed only 2.2 yards per carry. In last season’s matchup in Winston-Salem, the Hoosiers produced 416 yards of offense but the Demon Deacons hung around (and managed a late comeback) thanks to 11 IU penalties for 119 yards. The Hoosiers were woeful on third down against the Ball State Cardinals and they need to do much better converting any scoring chances because the Demon Deacons don’t figure to give IU all that many chances.
Reigniting the Attack
Indiana’s offense has taken a backseat to the emergence of Tom Allen’s 4-2-5 defense during IU’s first two games. Richard Lagow and the attack was just fine in week one and they were humming along quite nicely in the home opener against Ball State. Then the final 20 minutes of that game happened and a 30-0 lead dwindled down to a 30-20 final margin as the offense got ultra-conservative and saw its production grind to a halt. IU had 486 yards in the opener and 453 yards in week two (despite doing nothing for the final portion of the contest) so they are still moving the ball quite well but the attack has bogged down when presented with scoring chances and the they are only 8-28 on third down opportunities thus far. The offensive line will need to improve its play because they weren’t great against the Cardinals and the Hoosiers would be wise to cut down on the flags they are drawing (17 through two games). The offense isn’t far off from being an elite group once again but they’ll need to play quite a bit better than they have if they want to earn success against Wake Forest. I think Nick Westbrook, Mitchell Paige and Ricky Jones (who has been invisible so far) can find space against this secondary and, if Richard Lagow has time, the passing game could have a nice day. It will be very interesting to see how the rushing attack fares after a week off and against this top-notch rush defense.
Injury Concerns on Both Sides
The injuries for Wake Forest have been well-noted in various articles on Hoosier Huddle but I’ll repeat them one more time. The Demon Deacons will be without starting quarterback Kendall Hinton and running back Cade Carney after each was ruled out earlier this week. Hinton was injured during the first quarter of last week’s game against Delaware (PCL sprain) and is expected to miss 2-4 weeks while Carney was injured in practice prior to the Delaware game. He ran for more than 100 yards against Duke so his absence will be felt. The Demon Deacons have an experienced player to turn to as John Wolford will take over the offense. Wolford started multiple games (including the first two games of this season) before eventually giving way to the more explosive Hinton. Kevin Wilson believes the Wake Forest offense will remain largely the same, despite the change at quarterback. Matt Colburn will be the primary running back and he had a nice game against Delaware. He’ll be joined by Rocky Reid and Tyler Bell and Wolford is capable of gaining yards with his legs if you forget about his running ability.
The Hoosiers have a few injuries of their own to think about. Simmie Cobbs is likely out for the season after suffering an ankle injury in the Ball State game and Dan Feeney, IU’s All-American offensive lineman and a crucial part of IU’s offensive success, has been in the concussion protocol awaiting clearance from the doctors since exiting the Ball State game late in the second quarter. Camion Patrick, a player we’ve all been waiting a very long time to see on the field, is close to returning to action from a knee injury he suffered in the spring. Patrick is expected to play at both wide receiver and running back once he is cleared by doctors. If Feeney is out, the IU offense will be even harder pressed to find its rhythm against this stingy defense.
Intangibles
There are many “intangible” aspects to a game played with a lot of emotion by 18 to 22 year olds. The Indiana Hoosiers had one goal for the first two weeks of their season: win at Florida International and beat Ball State to start 2-0. It wasn’t always pretty but they played very well for chunks of both games and accomplished their goal. By the time they kick off on Saturday, the Hoosiers will have had two full weeks to rest up, figure out what’s working well and what’s not and make the proper adjustments or tweaks to get ready for this brutal stretch of ten straight weeks playing “Power Five” teams. What adjustments were made? Which players improved their spot on the depth chart? Does IU have some newly installed wrinkles to unleash?
The other intangible will be poo-pooed by some but as Terry Hoeppner, God bless his soul, said during his all-too-brief tenure in Bloomington, “crowds win games.” Kevin Wilson mentioned multiple times during his weekly press conference that he was hoping for a strong crowd this Saturday because he knows this will be a tough game and they could use the support. The crowd was very strong during the first half of the Ball State game but the seats didn’t really fill back up after halftime. This wasn’t some kind of surprising event, rather it was a common trend. Wilson asked the crowd to support them for four quarters: “Our last six games: we’ve won four of them and lost two in double-overtime. Why don’t we hang around for four quarters and see what happens.”
Names to Know:
-Cam Serigne is on the Bud Mackey Award watch list and he’s a capable blocking and receiving threat at tight end. He has only five catches for 72 yards (including a 34-yard reception) on the season but he’s capable of hurting the Hoosiers if he gets loose. The Demon Deacons leading receiver is Alex Bachman (six catches for 96 yards) but no pass catcher has reached the 100-yard mark on the season.
-With Cade Carney out, the Demon Deacons will be relying heavily on Matt Colburn. He has 43 carries for 195 yards and a touchdown. Colburn is a sophomore from South Carolina and he’s been much better the past two weeks than he was in week one.
-The Wake Forest defense has done a tremendous job of not giving up big plays. Tulane had one play of more than 25 yards (46 yard reception), Duke had two plays of more than 25 yards (receptions of 56 and 59) and Delaware did not have a play longer than 16 yards. They are a well-coached and well-positioned unit. The standout players to keep an eye on are defensive back Jessie Bates (18 tackles, 15 solo), linebackers Marquel Lee (18 tackles, 11 solo) and Brad Watson (16 solo, 13 solo) and defensive lineman Duke Ejiofor (6.5 TFLs and 4.5 sacks).