Five Takeaways From Wake Forest's Win Over Florida State
Any Wake receiver can haunt a team on a given day:
All throughout the season, Wake Forest Head Coach Dave Clawson has made it clear that he has five receivers he feels completely confident throwing the ball to — A.T. Perry, Donavon Greene, Jahmal Banks, Ke’Shawn Williams and Taylor Morin. Each week, Clawson’s statement becomes ever clearer; any one of those receivers can be the one to lead the Deacs.
Against Clemson, it was Banks, who hauled in six receptions for 141 yards and two scores. In a close win over Liberty, it was Williams with five for 129 and Banks with two touchdowns. On Saturday, Perry finally returned as the player that was the bane of every opponent last year. The redshirt junior caught eight passes from Sam Hartman for 91 yards and a touchdown. Even more important, three of those receptions came on third down.
READ: Wake Forest Bounces Back With Road Win Over Florida State
The running backs are playing at a very high level:
After a dismal 21-yard performance against Liberty, the Deacons running back room did fine against Clemson, gaining 100 yards. On Saturday, though, the backs came to life. Justice Ellison eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the first time in his career, scampering for 114 yards and a touchdown. Christian Turner added 64 yards and a score.
Beyond the box score, these two excelled in pass protection. Several pivotal throws from Hartman were made possible by the backs stepping up and holding their ground against a defender.
READ: Five Key Stats From Wake Forest's Win Over Florida State
Sam Hartman doesn’t have to be special every game:
After a school record six touchdown passes against Clemson, Hartman came back down to Earth, but still played a very solid game, completing 22 of 34 passes for 234 yards and two touchdowns. Also, he took care of the ball and didn’t turn it over. Hartman was key in helping Wake control time of possession by over nine minutes, keeping the ball moving and securing 28 first downs.
The Wake Forest defense came to play:
After giving up what could have been a demoralizing game-opening touchdown, the Deacs ripped off 28-straight points to take firm control on the road. A lot of that had to do with the Wake Forest offense heating up, but in that span, the Deacons’ defense also stopped the Seminoles five times in a row, including a fumble recovery. After allowing 559 yards against Clemson, Wake Forest really tightened up on Saturday, only giving up 393 to Florida State.
READ: Game Summary - Wake Forest Defeats Florida State 31-21
The dismantling of divisions in the ACC comes one year too late:
Yesterday’s victory further proved that Wake Forest is a legitimate threat in the ACC, while the rest of the action around the conference showed that the Atlantic is a far superior division. Based on Clemson’s back-to-back tight wins over the Deacs and NC State, it is rather easy to say that those three teams are the best in the conference. Furthermore, you could argue that Florida State and Syracuse, also Atlantic teams, make up the remainder of the top five.
So, instead of seeing a competitive rematch in the championship between Clemson and either Wake or the Wolfpack, the ACC will likely have the Tigers face off with a UNC team that should have two losses, or Pittsburgh, who just lost to Georgia Tech. Maybe even Miami, who fell by two touchdowns at home to Middle Tennessee State. For a Wake team that hasn’t been this competitive in decades, or maybe ever, this reality is extremely hard to swallow.
It’s only the first week of October, but the results for the ACC are basically already decided. Unless Clemson is upset multiple times, they will cruise to the championship game, where they will meet a team with several losses and dominate them.
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