Duke @ Wake Forest preview
BB&T Field
Last Meeting ( Nov 28, 2009 ) Wake Forest 45, Duke 34
A recent history of close games on its home field against Duke gives Wake Forest reason to be wary in its ACC opener Saturday.
Though the Demon Deacons have won 10 straight in the series, four of the last five at Winston-Salem have been narrow escapes, having been decided by three points or fewer.
Wake Forest beat Duke 45-34 on the road in last year’s season finale. This is far from a glamour matchup, but the game is crucial to two programs striving to get into the bowl mix.
Both teams broke in new starting quarterbacks last week with wins over FCS opponents. Wake Forest (1-0) beat Presbyterian 53-13, setting a school scoring record at home.
Duke (1-0) took down Elon 41-27.
Redshirt freshman Ted Stachitas was effective operating Wake Forest’s new option offense in the first half, completing 7 of 13 passes for 84 yards and gaining 76 yards on 10 carries.
Wake Forest ran 10 different ball-carriers at Presbyterian to rack up 415 rushing yards, but Duke will probably see Josh Harris, Brandon Pendergrass and Josh Adams leading the way Saturday. They combined for 155 yards in the opener, led by redshirt freshman Harris’ 74 yards and two touchdowns on six carries.
Duke sophomore Sean Renfree completed 31 of 39 passes for 350 yards and two touchdowns against Elon.
Renfree’s top targets are Conner Vernon (10 catches for 129 yards) and Donovan Varner (7 for 123 yards and a TD). But they each had a drop in the end zone, the kind of mistakes that will be more costly in ACC play.
Duke’s running game, which was hoping to see a major upgrade from last year, managed 192 yards against Elon, averaging 4.3 yards a carry. Three running backs scored, giving the Blue Devils one more rushing touchdown from the position than they had all of last year.
The 542 yards of offense were the most in the tenure of third-year coach David Cutcliffe.
Duke had some trouble keeping Elon runners from getting to the outside and gave up several long plays. But the Blue Devils pressured quarterback Scott Riddle and came up with some big plays on pass defense, with two sacks and two interceptions.
Duke hasn’t opened its ACC schedule with a road win since beating Virginia 29-24 in 1981.
Wake Forest defensive end Kevin Smith and wide receiver Chris Givens will be available Saturday after sitting out the opener for disciplinary reasons. Coach Jim Grobe reduced their original two-game suspension for good behavior.