Friday Five: a look at Wake Forest as Ole Miss faces first road test
A look at the Demon Deacons and five things to watch
Let’s take a look at the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. I watched last week’s Wake loss to Virginia from start to finish so you don’t have to. Not all heroes wear capes.
Last week, Wake Forest suffered an inexplicable 31-30 home loss to the Virginia Cavaliers. The Deacs were up 30-17entering the fourth quarter. They out-gained the Cavaliers by over 100 yards, won the turnover battle, and were better on third down. But Virginia put two long touchdown drives together, sandwiched between a Wake turnover on downs in Virginia territory, took the lead with a little over two minutes left and won the game. Wake was tied or led for 58 minutes of game time. On its final drive to set up a potential game-winning field goal, quarterback Hank Bachmeier completed a pass to Taylor Morin down to the Cavalier 29-yard line, but Morin fumbled when met by a defender. Virginia recovered and won the game.
Here’s what I learned from watching Wake and a few things you should know about the Deacs in general.
Defending the slow mesh
Wake Forest runs a unique offensive attack commonly referred to as the slow mesh. The run-pass option concept (RPO) has become incredibly popular in college football over the last 15 years or so. In its most traditional form, its when the quarterback sticks the football in the running back’s stomach, reads the defense and determines whether to hand it off, keep it or throw the football. The point at which the quarterback has the football in the running back’s mid-section is called the mesh point.
Wake Forest heavily relies on this concept and takes it to another level. You’ll see the quarterback keep the football at the mesh point for an extended period of time. Instead of reading the defense and making a quick decision, the goal is to force the defense to commit to something before the offense has made a decision. It allows receiver routes to develop while the quarterback looks to see where the defense is leaning. Wake doesn’t do this on literally every single play, but you will see this exchange happen on a large portion of its offensive snaps on Saturday evening.
It’s an interesting watch, if nothing else. This system is generally designed to mask below average offensive line play and is most successful against average to below average defensive fronts.
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Bachmeier is a wildly inconsistent passer
If that name sounds familiar, it’s because Bachmeier has been around college football for a while. He played four years at Boise State, started as a true freshman in 2019, transferred to Louisiana Tech last year and is now playing his final season of eligibility at Wake Forest. Bachmeier and Wake were an ideal fit because the Deacs were in search of a one-year stopgap option at quarterback to give their highly-touted true freshman Jeremy Hecklinski a year to get acclimated to college football and their unique offensive system before taking over as the team’s starting quarterback.
Bachmeier went 27-42 for 403 yards and a touchdown in the loss to Virginia. His surface-level stats make it seem ludicrous to declare him an inconsistent passer and to opine that he did not play great, but if you watch the game, that’s the rightful conclusion you will come to. Bachmeier was pretty accurate in the middle of the field, but could not hit water if he fell out of a boat when throwing toward the sidelines. He was just 4-12 on throws outside the numbers that traveled more than 10 yards. Bachmeier had a couple of brutal misses throughout the game that either killed a drive or squandered a surefire touchdown. He’s a decent runner and extended a few plays with his feet, but appeared to be only used in the designed running game when it was absolutely necessary.
Bachmeier was sacked five times and at least three of those stemmed from him holding onto the football too long and not making a decision. He took a fourth down sack to cement the fateful 4th quarter turnover on downs that gave Virginia the football at its own 44, set up with great field position on a drive that culminated with the game-winning score.
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Jasheen Davis doubtful to play
Wake’s defensive front isn’t overly-menacing, but the Deacs have a decent defensive line and a pair of experienced linebackers that are at least productive, from what I saw. Wake’s best defensive player (and maybe the best player on the roster), defensive end Jasheen Davis is doubtful to play in this game due to injury. That should be a major blow to a Wake defense with a shaky secondary that would benefit from a consistent pass rush.
A look at the Wake weapons
Wake has a couple of veteran receivers that have played a lot of football. Morin, the guy who fumbled to seal the win, caught 41 passes for 617 yards a year ago. Donavon Greene was a problem for the Cavaliers. He caught 11 passes for 166 yards and a score in the win.
Wake didn’t do much in terms of running the football, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. The Deacs ran it 41 times for 165 yards in the loss. Junior running back Demond Claiborne saw half of those carries with 21.
I don’t think there is any single component of this offensive attack that Ole Miss should have much trouble with. One last note I’ll leave you with is this one: Wake has another veteran quarterback on the roster, Michael Kern, who is also in his sixth year and has been with the program five years. If Bachmeier struggles in this game, would 11th-year head coach Dave Clawson turn to Kern? I haven’t seen this hinted at anywhere, but am curious if its possible should things go awry for Bachmeier and Wake early in this game.
Now that you know a little more about Wake Forest, here are five things I’ll be thinking about as the game progresses.
1. The offensive line
Same story, different week. Who are the starting five? Lane Kiffin mentioned earlier this week that he felt like the team would get a couple of guys back from injury for this game. Other than the offensive line, which we’ve discussed at length, the rest of the team is pretty healthy. I figure he’s talking about Southern Miss transfer Gerquan Scott, who I heard will be available to play. I figure he’s the eventual starting center. Maybe the Rebels get Caleb Warren back? He had a knee procedure toward the end of preseason camp. I really have no clue what to expect there. But if Warren runs out there, that’s terrific news for Ole Miss.
What the starting five looks like, how the Rebels rotate, if at all, and how healthy they come out of this game on the offensive line is a very relevent subplot.
2. A litmus test for the defensive line
As I mentioned earlier when discussing the slow mesh offense, it really works well against average to below average defensive lines, but becomes somewhat ineffective against good defensive lines. Let’s use the Wake-Clemson series history as an example. In the Dabo Swinney era, Clemson always has a top-tier defensive line. Dating back to 2015, this is Wake’s point total by year against the Tigers: 12, 45 (2OT), 27, 13, 3, 3, 14, 13 and 13. It’s worth noting the 45 and 27 point outputs in 2022 and 2021 came with Sam Hartman, the best Wake quarterback in a long time, running the offense. Wake won 11 games in 2021.
Anyway, this is a good litmus test for the Rebels’ revamped defensive line. If this unit is as good as many think it is, then they should have little to no trouble neutralizing this offensive attack.
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3. Running back rotation
Once again, same story, different week. I have written about this repeatedly, but as Ole Miss plays its first formidable opponent, are we really going to see another week without Ulysses Bentley IV as a factor? Will it really be solely Henry Parrish and walk-on Matt Jones? I am curious to find out.
I feel like this week will help make the picture a little more clear as to whether the staff is trying to be cautious with Bentley’s workload early in the year, whether or not he’s injured, or whether he’s simply been passed over in the running back room.
4. Will the passing game be let loose?
Seems like a silly headline given the remarkable pace Jaxson Dart has begun the season on. But in fairness, I suck at writing headlines. I am curious to see if we get a more adequate picture of just how dominant this passing game can be against a power four opponent with Dart and the stable of pass-catching options he has. Wake’s shaky and thin secondary should be no match for the Rebels’ on offense. Ole Miss should be able to throw at will and abuse the Demon Deacon corners.
5. How will the Rebels handle the road?
This is more of a vague thought, but I am curious to see how this team handles being on the road against a power four opponent for the first time. The game is a sellout. That might be a little misleading. The stadium only holds 30,000 and some change, and a Wake reporter I talked to said he thinks that’s largely due to the amount of Ole Miss fans that will be in attendance. I am curious to see how the Rebels handle being the biggest game on another team’s schedule as a top-five, playoff contender.
Does Ole Miss make a couple of mistakes and let Wake hang around for a couple of quarters, or do the Rebels play clean and efficient football and obliterate the Deacs from the opening whistle. Kiffin has repeatedly praised the maturity, selflessness and collective focus of this group. Maybe we learn a little bit more about what he’s been saying on Saturday evening.
We’ll have postgame coverage on Sunday.