Much like Syracuse, Wake Forest has relied on its defense to keep its team afloat for a good part of the season.

The Orange (2-4, 0-2 Atlantic Coast) makes its first in-conference road trip of the season when it takes on the Demon Deacons (2-4, 0-2) on Saturday at noon. It’ll be a matchup between two teams in the lower half of the Atlantic Division with defenses that have compensated for largely struggling offenses.

“They do a very good job of taking away your inside gaps,” SU head coach Scott Shafer said during the ACC coaches’ teleconference Wednesday morning. “They get after it up front and create some penetration. I think their secondary is very good and the linebackers are very sound, especially in the box, taking away those seams and making you try to make plays on the outside.”

While Wake Forest’s offense is dead last in the nation in yards per game, its defense is sixth in the ACC in passing yards allowed per game.

In his weekly teleconference on Tuesday, Shafer said WFU’s defense will feature a few different looks, but they’re similar to what SU’s seen this season. Though the Demon Deacons’ offense has struggled mightily, Shafer said on Tuesday he expects Wake Forest to produce a “great” offensive game plan, having had a bye week to prepare for the Orange.

Both teams’ offenses will be run by first-year signal-callers, but Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson pointed to the 34 upperclassmen on SU’s two-deep depth chart as he spoke highly of the Orange’s experience.

“When you look at Syracuse, it’s how physical they are. They’re a very veteran offensive line,” Clawson said on the ACC coaches’ teleconference. “Overall, it’s a very experienced football team. With that, comes a very physical football team which we know they are.

“That’s our biggest challenge with Syracuse, is how experienced and how physical they are.”

Published on October 15, 2014 at 2:25 pm

Contact Phil: pmdabbra@syr.edu | @PhilDAbb