Five takeaways from Wake Forest's win over Boston College
Wake Forest dominated Boston College yesterday en route to a comfortable 43-15 victory. Read our five takeaways from the win below:
Jahmal Banks is the real deal
We’ve said it before, and we will keep on saying it — Banks is that guy. His seven receptions for 79 yards and two touchdowns against Boston College gives him seven scores on the season, the most in the ACC.
READ: Game Summary - Wake Forest Defeats Boston College 43-15
His touchdowns aren’t coming easy. Take a look at the video below. On his first catch, after facing toward the inside, Banks contorted his body to the outside to snag the pass. Then, on his second touchdown, he fought through serious contact to come down with the ball. Two big time plays.
The stats don’t lie, and the film doesn’t, either. It’s time to start recognizing Banks as one of the top receiving threats in the ACC. He is one of the key pieces to Wake Forest’s success this season on offense.
Sam Hartman is one of the elite QBs in the country
The biggest key to the offense's success is Hartman. In a game where he didn’t even seem to be at his best at times, Hartman completed 25 of his 40 passes for 313 yards, five touchdowns and an interception. The redshirt junior also added a score on the ground.
Hartman’s five passing touchdowns put him at 93 in his career, good for third in ACC history behind Tajh Boyd and Philip Rivers. He’s now also fourth all time in career passing yards, trailing Rivers, Kenny Pickett and Boyd.
READ: Wake Forest takes care of business in win over Boston College
Regardless, Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson spent considerable time after yesterday’s game talking about Hartman being underrated on the national stage. Clawson said Hartman should certainly be in consideration for the Heisman Trophy and that the way the media treats him is “disrespectful” to his performance.
Wake Forest owns the red zone
Yesterday, the Deacs were perfect in the red zone, going 6-6. They were also flawless inside the 20 against Army. This season, Wake Forest is an astounding 37 of 39 in the red zone. That type of efficiency has been vital to the team averaging over 41 points per game. Continuing that level of play within the 20 can only mean good things.
The Deacs love the deep ball
Hartman and the Deacs picked apart Boston College’s single-safety scheme in yesterday’s blowout. Along with the five touchdown passes, Hartman completed nine passes of over 15 yards, totaling 175 yards. Another stat to note — when throwing beyond the sticks against the Eagles [over 10 yards], Hartman was 14/23 for 191 yards and five touchdowns.
READ: Key stats from Wake Forest's win over Boston College
The pass rush is hitting their stride
Wake Forest was impressive when rushing quarterback Phil Jurkovec, hitting him five times throughout the game. In general, the Deacs dominated a young and depleted Boston College offensive line, amassing nine TFLs and two sacks, both of which came from DE Rondell Bothroyd.
“We’re playing so well up front with our defensive line,” Clawson said after the game. “[DL coach] Dave Cohen has done such a great job of developing depth and good players. We can roll nine guys in there. Coach [Glenn] Spencer has done a great job developing our linebackers. Chase Jones has become a really good player, Smenda has been productive. Dylan Hazen is coming on. Jaylen Hudson and Quincy Bryant’s stocks are rising.”
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