In 2006, Wake Forest ran 829 total offensive plays. Of these, 542 were runs, 287 were pass attempts, giving them a 65%/35% run/pass ratio. Last week against Boston College, Wake gained 41 yards on the ground, losing 39 of them for a net of two yards on 24 attempts. Since they couldn't get the run game going, the Demon Deacons choose to put the ball in the air 60 times, completing 45 for 366 yards with four interceptions.
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Indications from some media articles are that Wake Forest has changed their offense to some wacky passing fancy Texas Tech scheme. Reading other articles indicates that this clearly isn't the case, but that Wake is focused on being balanced offensively.
Wake is going to come out against us and try to establish the run right away. They have to. They're not going to come out and start throwing the ball all over the place with a first-time starter at quarterback. Their best chance at winning this game is to try to stay in it by controlling the clock and keeping our offense off the field. If Wake is able to establish any sort of running game, then everything else gets easier. They can then begin to mess with our defense by running misdirection plays, and then key off that with trick plays and play-action. Wake's offensive line has a good amount of experience compared to our defensive line, so it's not a given that we'll stop the run as well as Boston College.
Nebraska will start out by establishing the run as well because if you can run the ball on the road, you're going to win a very high percentage of your games. The same thing applies for us, if we can establish the run early, everything else will be easier. Expect our offense to be balanced, somewhere in the 60/40, 55/45 run/pass ratio for play calling We should have a big day in the air. Keller's number one target, Maurice Purify, will be back on the field, and last week Boston College lit up the Wake Forest secondary for 408 yards.
If either of these teams are forced into a position where they're throwing the ball 65-70% of the time it's a pretty sure bet that they're going to lose.
We'll have more about Wake Forest tomorrow in our "Bill Callahan Keys to Victory" entry.
Some other good previews out there:
Hi-Plains Drifter - Interview With the Enemy: What to expect if you're going to the game.
However, you will see a plethora of black and gold striped bow tie clad preps. Not to be outdone, the females will pull out their knee length formals. Apparently it’s tradition here to wear your Sunday best to football games.
I'd like to see that. Send me pictures if possible, please.
Big Red Network - Why Nebraska Will Win Saturday - They make a good point. Nobody is making the case for Wake Forest.
Husker Extra - has a scouting report on Wake Forest.
John Delong made a mistake - in saying that there won't be a lot of Husker fans at the Wake Forest game. Check the comments.