Wake Forest Defense Diced Up in First Half Against Miami
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It's halftime in Winston-Salem. The No. 5 Miami Hurricanes lead the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 24-7.
It was a pretty dominant half for Miami, outside of a Wake Forest touchdown on its opening drive. The Canes scored on all three of their first drives and got a field goal going into the half to grab a three-score lead. Let's go through the highlights.
1st Quarter
The first quarter mainly consisted of just two drives, one for each team, both ending in early touchdowns.
Miami got the ball first, and they really took advantage. They took over seven minutes off the clock and capped off the drive with a touchdown after 13 plays. Despite Wake not giving up any big plays, a penalty and several positive plays out wide allowed the Canes to move the ball efficiently up the field.
Wake Forest's opening drive just about matched Miami's. It took just under six minutes off the clock in 11 plays. Gio Lopez went 4-for-5 on that opening drive for 55 yards, including a huge 10-yard touchdown pass to Kamrean Johnson. That was one of two big catches he came up with on that drive.
2nd Quarter
To start the quarter, Miami put together another strong drive. They were able to establish the run game with Mark Fletcher, and Darian Mensah found a wide-open receiver on a 21-yard touchdown pass. Through the first two drives, Mensah was 13-for-13 and looked to be in total control of the Miami offense.
Following this, Wake went three-and-out, putting the Miami offense back on the field in quick order. Wake's inability to put any pressure on the quarterback gave Mensah many clean pockets to work out of for big completions. Mark Fletcher capped off Miami's third drive, going three-for-three on drives ending in seven points.
The next drive for Wake Forest had the same result as the prior one. A three-and-out took the offense off the field quickly. This one came at the hands of a third-down drop by tight end Will Loerzel.
Miami was able to drive the ball up the field on what ended up being the final possession of the first half. They ended up having to settle for a field goal, though, thanks to some good red zone defense from Wake.
Overall, Wake was looking for a lot of answers after a half that saw Darian Mensah complete all 20 of his attempted passes and Malachi Toney have over 100 yards receiving with a half of football still to be played. The only thing to do in the second half is make some adjustments to try and slow those guys down.
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Justin is a student at Wake Forest University. He is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and aspiring finance major interested everything sports. In his freshman year, Justin completed an internship with the Wake Forest Ticketing Department where he gained some valuable insight into the sales and operations aspects of collegiate athletics. Before working with Wake Forest On SI, Justin was a contributing writer for Wake Forest’s student publication The Old Gold and Black. Currently, Justin serves as a student manager on the Wake Forest Men’s Tennis team. In his free time Justin enjoys spending time with his family and friends on the golf course and traveling.