Terrel Hunt and Syracuse welcome Tanner Price and Wake Forest to the Carrier Dome on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. for the second time in three seasons. The Orange is coming off of a bye week, while the Demon Deacons nearly knocked off No. 7 Miami (Fla.) on Saturday before falling 24-21. Emma Lingan, a WFU beat writer from the Old Gold & Black, offered her insight on the first conference meeting between SU and Wake.

The Daily Orange: Syracuse head coach Scott Shafer has compared Michael Campanaro to Denver Broncos wide receiver Wes Welker. Stylistically, is that a fair comparison?

Emma Lingen: I think that’s a good comparison. Campanaro has just been unstoppable, especially this season. He’s always found a way to get open, no matter what the situation. He’s Price’s favorite target and defenses have a hard time getting around him.

The D.O.: On the other side of the ball, there’s been a lot of praise for nose guard Nikita Whitlock. He’s undersized, so what does he do to make up for that?

E.L.: He’s definitely proved that good things come in small packages. I think that’s exactly it, though, is that he takes a lot of offenses by surprise. They don’t expect as much out of him because of his size, but I think he’s very opportunistic. He comes out straight out of the gate always fired up and ready to go.

I think prior to the game against Miami last weekend, he had a tackle for loss in every game this season. He always finds a way to capitalize on the opportunities given.

The D.O.: That game in 2011 went into overtime. How much does that game come up?

E.L.: A little bit. I think right now, the team is more just focused in general on maintaining the momentum that they had gained from the two straight wins over NC State and Maryland. There was a little bump in the road against Miami, obviously, but I think they’re very confident, from what I can tell, about where they are right now. So what happened in Syracuse in 2011 is not as much of a concern because there’s just a different vibe around the team now.

The D.O.: What’s the big takeaway from that game against the Hurricanes? Is it more positive or negative?

E.L.: At first, Wake Forest fans were heartbroken after that, but I think after a little time to reflect on it, they really did see that it is more of a triumph than a failure because, yes, the outcome was disappointing that it came down to two fourth-quarter touchdowns by Miami. But I would think the fact that the defense was able to hold them to 24 points, that they did lead the game for 49 out of the 60 minutes. That just shows how far they’ve come this season, especially because a lot of people were worried that when they went to play Miami, the same thing would happen there that happened against Clemson earlier in the season. They beat them 56-7. I think the game against Miami proved that they are a different team now.

The D.O.: Price started that game in 2011. Now a senior, how much has he grown since that sophomore season?

E.L.: I think Tanner Price deserves a lot of credit because he has received some criticisms from Wake Forest fans, especially in the last two years. But I think the only thing that he’s guilty of is doing exactly what the coaches are telling him to do. And I think he did a little experimentation this year to find out what was best for him, and that’s why maybe the first part of the season didn’t pan out as well as we thought. I think it’s pretty much been determined that he runs well enough to do the option offense, but he’s definitely more comfortable as a pocket quarterback.

The spread offense has been working out really well. We can see that in the first drive of the Miami game. That was one of their best drives, I think, of the season.

Published on November 1, 2013 at 1:08 am

Contact David: dbwilson@syr.edu | @DBWilson2