SYRACUSE GAME REVIEW
Who would have thought that a physical game played in the rain would favor Wake Forest?
Last week I noted the statistical similarities between the Indiana and NC State game (minus the turnovers). However, this week’s game was very different from the other games, likely due to the weather conditions.
Wake and Syracuse were even in turnovers (two apiece) and explosive plays on offense (3 apiece if you exclude Moe Neal’s long run in garbage time). However, Wake outgained Syracuse in total yards (+4 for the game, or +57 before the Syracuse’s garbage time drive), and benefited from another +58 yards from penalties (Wake would draw only one penalty to Syracuse’s six).
However, the real difference in this otherwise close game was Wake’s efficiency. 4 red zone trips yielded 3 touchdowns. The only exception was the drive that ended with the goal line fumble. It is also worth noting that each time Wake generated an explosive play on offense (>20 yards) they converted that drive into a touchdown. 3 explosive plays = 3 touchdowns drives. Then the defense contributed a score to put the game away.
What likely won’t be repeated is winning with the mix of plays run against Syracuse. That had to have been a result of the weather conditions. Remarkably, 76% of the total offense came from either Cade Carney running the ball, John Wolford running the ball, or Cam Serigne’s two longest receptions. Those 3 play types also accounted for 11 of the 15 individual plays of 9 yards or more (Cortez Lewis also had 2, Chuck Wade 1 and Matt Colburn 1).
STATS
TOTAL YARDS (OFFENSE): 330
Wake’s 2nd lowest against BCS opponents this season
SYRACUSE TOTAL YARDS: 326
Wake had held them to 273 yards before the meaningless drive at the end of regulation. That would have topped the Tulane game as the lowest total this season.
WAKE’S EXPLOSIVE PLAYS: 3
Same result as the Indiana and Syracuse games. Wake’s best games in this category were Duke (6) and NCSU (5).
SYRACUSE’S EXPLOSIVE PLAYS: 4
Wake gave up only 3 long plays before garbage time. That would have matched the Tulane and Duke games. Either way it was a significant improvement from the 7 explosive plays surrendered in both the Indiana and NCSU games.
% of RB CARRIES OF 3 YARDS OR MORE: 54%
This game was second only to the Duke game (59%) among BCS games. A nice bounce back from the season-low 33% against NCSU.
DISRUPTIVE PLAYS BY THE DL: 5
Third-best performance this season. Better than NCSU (2) and Indiana (3) but still well short of the totals put up against Tulane (10.5) and Duke (8.5).
PASS TARGETS
Serigne: 4 completions on 7 targets
Lewis: 5 completions on 6 targets
Bachman: 2 completions on 4 targets
Washington: 0 completions on 2 targets
Wade: 1 completion on 1 target
Hines: 1 PI call on 1 target
Claude: 1 PI call on 1 target
Interesting to note that the slot receivers were only targeted twice. They were both kept busy against Indiana and NCSU. Cortez Lewis continues to see more pass targets as the season goes on.
WAKE’S EXPLOSIVE PLAYS
Wolford 37 run
Serigne 25 reception
Serigne 28 reception
OTHER NOTES
Wolford was so important to winning the game, but he didn’t have a great day passing the ball. I wondered whether the wind hindered his throws or whether it was injury-related. Statistically, he actually got worse once the weather conditions improved. He was only 5 for 11 for 62 yards and 1 INT in the second half. I suspect the injury was a factor.
I agree with those of you that felt that Colburn scored a TD on the drive that ended with the goal line fumble.
I noted that 3 of Carney’s best runs came with OLs pulling (is “kicking out” the better term here?). I’ve noted the same thing earlier this year. Against Syracuse, Carney used holes created by a pulling Phil Haynes (twice) and a creative play in which LT Justin Herron came over to right side of the line to execute a seal block. All 3 looked like well-executed plays leading to 10+ yard runs from Carney.
Marquel Lee was brilliant on the day. Full credit to Lee and to the DL for keeping him clean to run around and make plays. Lee originally endeared himself to Wake fans with a knack for inside pass rushes, but has proven that he is capable of doing much more than that.
I haven’t been able to track the news that closely lately, so I’m not sure what has happened to Josh Harris. Can someone fill me in? A’Lique Terry appears to be doing just fine at OC though.
Who would have thought that a physical game played in the rain would favor Wake Forest?
Last week I noted the statistical similarities between the Indiana and NC State game (minus the turnovers). However, this week’s game was very different from the other games, likely due to the weather conditions.
Wake and Syracuse were even in turnovers (two apiece) and explosive plays on offense (3 apiece if you exclude Moe Neal’s long run in garbage time). However, Wake outgained Syracuse in total yards (+4 for the game, or +57 before the Syracuse’s garbage time drive), and benefited from another +58 yards from penalties (Wake would draw only one penalty to Syracuse’s six).
However, the real difference in this otherwise close game was Wake’s efficiency. 4 red zone trips yielded 3 touchdowns. The only exception was the drive that ended with the goal line fumble. It is also worth noting that each time Wake generated an explosive play on offense (>20 yards) they converted that drive into a touchdown. 3 explosive plays = 3 touchdowns drives. Then the defense contributed a score to put the game away.
What likely won’t be repeated is winning with the mix of plays run against Syracuse. That had to have been a result of the weather conditions. Remarkably, 76% of the total offense came from either Cade Carney running the ball, John Wolford running the ball, or Cam Serigne’s two longest receptions. Those 3 play types also accounted for 11 of the 15 individual plays of 9 yards or more (Cortez Lewis also had 2, Chuck Wade 1 and Matt Colburn 1).
STATS
TOTAL YARDS (OFFENSE): 330
Wake’s 2nd lowest against BCS opponents this season
SYRACUSE TOTAL YARDS: 326
Wake had held them to 273 yards before the meaningless drive at the end of regulation. That would have topped the Tulane game as the lowest total this season.
WAKE’S EXPLOSIVE PLAYS: 3
Same result as the Indiana and Syracuse games. Wake’s best games in this category were Duke (6) and NCSU (5).
SYRACUSE’S EXPLOSIVE PLAYS: 4
Wake gave up only 3 long plays before garbage time. That would have matched the Tulane and Duke games. Either way it was a significant improvement from the 7 explosive plays surrendered in both the Indiana and NCSU games.
% of RB CARRIES OF 3 YARDS OR MORE: 54%
This game was second only to the Duke game (59%) among BCS games. A nice bounce back from the season-low 33% against NCSU.
DISRUPTIVE PLAYS BY THE DL: 5
Third-best performance this season. Better than NCSU (2) and Indiana (3) but still well short of the totals put up against Tulane (10.5) and Duke (8.5).
PASS TARGETS
Serigne: 4 completions on 7 targets
Lewis: 5 completions on 6 targets
Bachman: 2 completions on 4 targets
Washington: 0 completions on 2 targets
Wade: 1 completion on 1 target
Hines: 1 PI call on 1 target
Claude: 1 PI call on 1 target
Interesting to note that the slot receivers were only targeted twice. They were both kept busy against Indiana and NCSU. Cortez Lewis continues to see more pass targets as the season goes on.
WAKE’S EXPLOSIVE PLAYS
Wolford 37 run
Serigne 25 reception
Serigne 28 reception
OTHER NOTES
Wolford was so important to winning the game, but he didn’t have a great day passing the ball. I wondered whether the wind hindered his throws or whether it was injury-related. Statistically, he actually got worse once the weather conditions improved. He was only 5 for 11 for 62 yards and 1 INT in the second half. I suspect the injury was a factor.
I agree with those of you that felt that Colburn scored a TD on the drive that ended with the goal line fumble.
I noted that 3 of Carney’s best runs came with OLs pulling (is “kicking out” the better term here?). I’ve noted the same thing earlier this year. Against Syracuse, Carney used holes created by a pulling Phil Haynes (twice) and a creative play in which LT Justin Herron came over to right side of the line to execute a seal block. All 3 looked like well-executed plays leading to 10+ yard runs from Carney.
Marquel Lee was brilliant on the day. Full credit to Lee and to the DL for keeping him clean to run around and make plays. Lee originally endeared himself to Wake fans with a knack for inside pass rushes, but has proven that he is capable of doing much more than that.
I haven’t been able to track the news that closely lately, so I’m not sure what has happened to Josh Harris. Can someone fill me in? A’Lique Terry appears to be doing just fine at OC though.
