Decoding the Deacons: Q&A with Wake Forest beat writer Conor O'Neill

O'Neill just began his third season covering the Deacs

In a previous life, I spent a little time in Winston-Salem getting my start as a sportswriter, covering high school sports for two years before moving on to cover Appalachian State.

Needless to say, I'm excited about getting back to my old stomping grounds, despite not being able to enjoy a stop at Ted's Famous Chicken on Yadkinville Road or put down a few Hoppyums at Foothills.

(I'm happy to offer more suggestions, if you're in the market for barbecue or a few beverages before kickoff)

Best of all, I'll get to see friends and former colleagues like Conor O'Neill, who was kind enough to answer a few questions about the Deacs.

Follow him on Twitter here and check out his work leading up to the game.

The Wake Forest offense is off to another hot start. What’s the reason for their efficiency and why has Jamie Newman been able to excel since taking over?

Eficiency in Wake Forest’s offense first stems from how rarely it commits mistakes. The Deacons have been penalized six times this year and only turned the ball over once (on the second possession against Utah State).

So that leads to Newman, and his 5-1 record as the starter – having played four bowl teams a year ago, a Utah State that will be hard-pressed to fall short of a bowl this year and … well, Rice. Newman excels because his arm talent is remarkable and his confidence in operating the offense has been rising since the win at N.C. State last year. That’s not to say he’s cocky – it just means he has faith in running the offense and making the correct throws and reads.

The focus on Sage Surratt has been mostly on sibling rivalry, but he’s also an excellent receiver. What are the strengths of his game, and how have opponents slowed him down?

Oh, you mean people have written about the Brothers Surratt this week? Imagine that!

Surratt is one of the most-physically gifted receivers I’ve seen, with great body control and hands. He’s as physical before the catch as he is afterward, so he can create separation when he appears covered and can run through arm tackles after the catch.

The Deacs got better on defense as the season went on last year, but so far, the numbers aren’t pretty. Is that a matter of playing a great offense in Utah State, or is Wake still figuring things out on that side of the ball?

Jordan Love is really freaking good. If he’s not a first- or second-round pick in the NFL Draft, something has gone seriously wrong between now and April.

Wake Forest’s fifth-year senior linebacker Justin Strnad has told me a few times now that as long as the Deacons’ offense goes up tempo and runs 80-100 plays per game, their defense is never going to be one that holds teams under 300 yards or anything like that. They’re comfortable knowing they’re not going to be throwing up shutouts.

But they’re confident that they’re better than they were last year, and they’ve got young players who should develop throughout the season as they get baptized by fire, so to speak.

Neither coach wanted to talk WakeyLeaks this week. How much does it matter to the Deacons that two coaches that were involved will be on the opposing sideline?

It matters.

It’s become inherently clear that Dave Clawson isn’t going to talk about Wakeyleaks publicly – I’m not even sure he’d talk if new information came to light (if, say, Tommy Elrod ever talked about it). But it definitely matters.

But their game plan was compromised from the inside. It’s one thing to decode signs and signals during games, it’s another to know exactly what plays are going to be run out of which formations because you’ve been given information on what things looked like on a Tuesday of game week. I just think that’s a wound that stays open, at least to an extent, forever.

What’s your expectation for how things play out on Friday night?

So, without making a winner or score prediction – I think this will be another high-scoring game. North Carolina is clearly giving Sam Howell more freedom to make plays and there’s no reason to believe that stops. Wake Forest’s offense is a well-oiled machine, have been for two-plus years now. Kendall Hinton’s absence will hurt, but Surratt and Jaquarii Roberson are bigger and more physical than typical slot receivers.

If we can cliché this thing up, it’ll be a four-quarter game that comes down to turnovers and penalties. It’s impressive that Howell hasn’t thrown an interception, and Newman hasn’t either, so you know how long that’ll continue for each.