Utah State Football: Sizing up Wake Forest
Aggies open up on the road against an ACC team
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Can the Aggies finally obtain that elusive P5 road victory?
The Utah State Aggies will begin their 2019 campaign vs the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. This game is sure to be a good test and benchmark for what the Aggies are capable of in 2019. Game is on August 30th on the ACC Network, 8:00 pm EST.
Location: Winston-Salem, NC
Mascot: Demon Deacon
Conference: Atlantic Coast
2018 Record: 7-6 (3-5 ACC)
Head Coach: Dave Clawson (Overall 28-35). The Demon Deacons have historically had lower expectations competing in the ACC (Steely Dan wrote a blues song about them for crying out loud). Dave Clawson initially struggled in his debut with back-to-back 3-9 seasons.
However, he steadily made progress with 7-6, 8-5, and 7-6 campaigns, respectively. The Demon Deacons on a good day can bludgeon some great teams. A bad day, on the other hand, has lead to some puzzling losses. To succeed in 2019, he’ll need more consistency with his offense and better production (and less injuries) on the defensive Line.
Quick Series Snapshot: Tied 1-1.
The last time USU traveled here in 2017, it was a disastrous performance start to finish. Utah State got bloodied and bruised by a motivated Demon Deacon squad looking to avenge their humbling 36-24 loss in 2014. QB John Wolford played leaps and bounds better as a senior than he did as a freshman. Wolford made the Aggie secondary look downright silly in a dominant 46-10 victory.
Aggie QB Kent Myers immediately set a bad tone by throwing an early pick-six. Despite it being waived off via penalty, Wake Forest’ offense moved the ball at will after that. Quite frankly, the game was never close or competitive. Adding insult to injury, USU took a safety and really only avoided the shutout thanks to a timely 76 yard TD pass from Jordan Love to Gerold Bright.
Demon Deacons, 2018 Season:
Win or lose, Wake Forest started their season off in ugly fashion.
After struggling on the road against Tulane and escaping with an OT victory, the Demon Deacons easily dispatched their FCS foe, Towson. After that, in which the Defense failed to get key stops, Wake Forest dropped back-to-back home games to Boston College and Notre Dame. Boston College was winnable, but Notre Dame never let the Demon Deacons gain any type of offensive rhythm.
After demolishing a very poor Rice Owls team, Wake Forest played their worst game of the season against the eventual National Championship bound Clemson Tigers. Losing 63-3, Wake Forest showed off their hallmark inconsistency as a program and appeared headed for a losing season.
To Dave Clawson’s credit, he didn’t allow his players to give up. They rallied down the stretch against then-ranked NC State and an above average Duke squad to qualify for a bowl game at 6-6. Duke even looked completely helpless in their own stadium!
Despite giving up huge plays to Memphis and falling in an early 28-10 hole, Wake Forest found some magic behind QB Jamie Newman. He made throws into double coverage and even rushed for a score to keep Wake Forest within striking distance.
With under a couple minutes to go, Newman hooked up with WR Alex Bachman to put his team at the goal line. Scoring shortly after, Wake Forest held the lead and amassed the win 37-34 after Memphis failed to tie with a field goal try.
2019 Overview:
Offense: QB Jamie Newman returns as the assumed starter. Though stud WR Greg Dortch has moved onto the NFL, Newman has several key receivers that can pick up where Dortch left off. Sage Surratt averaged over 14 yds per catch last season. Scotty Washington also had flashes of brilliance, averaging just over 12 yds per catch.
On top of great pass catch threats, Wake Forest returns their leading rusher in Cade Carney, who rushed for 1,030 yards in 2018 on 188 attempts. Their will be no lack of weapons for the Demon Deacons, even knowing they’ll need to replace several starts on their offensive line.
Defense: Senior LB Justin Strnad returns to anchor Wake’s front seven. Though not the flashiest player on the field, he did lead the team with total tackles at 105. Even so, Wake Forest doesn’t have the strongest Defense, only coming in at 102nd in the country on scoring Defense last year. Senior DB Essang Bassey also returns this season to hold down what is sure to be a strong secondary.
He’ll need to step up to replace DB Cameron Glenn‘s strong production from last year. On their Defensive Line, Junior DL Carlos Basham is expected to have a starting spot locked down after a strong SO season. Grad Transfer Miles Fox is also expected to contribute heavily at Defensive Tackle. If the line can stay healthy, Wake will assuredly be better. If they get the injury bug like last season, it could get very dicey, very fast for them, though.
Final Thoughts and Game Prediction
Utah State has had a painful history of close losses against P5 teams. Nobody could forget the onside kick in the 2011 Auburn game or the botched field goal attempt vs Wisconsin in 2012. The 2013 game against USC also had us reeling. Even one less special team’s miscue may have sealed Lane Kiffin’s inevitable fate sooner.
More recently, Jordan Love nearly led the Aggies past Michigan State in East Lansing last season. He threw for nearly 300 yards and made some fantastic passes to keep Spartan fans on edge. The Aggie Defense, save the last Michigan State drive, also kept the Spartan Offense largely in check.
Against Wake Forest, it will not be a repeat of the 2017 affair. Even though USU must replace multiple offensive linemen, Wake’s Defensive prowess is not top-tier. Depth isn’t great beyond their two-deep, and a now more experienced Jordan Love certainly has the tools to pick apart the Demon Deacon secondary… just so long as he stays upright.
USU’s defensive line will be in great shape for this match-up. Wake is replacing several starters from their offensive line, so this game very well could be a team strength vs. team weakness affair. Tipa Galeai could potentially have a field day at his new hybrid DE position as well.
If the special teams unit plays up to form, Aggies may even end up escaping with a walk-off field goal.
Final Score Prediction: Utah State 34, Wake Forest 31
