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State of Wake Football

BeachBumDeac said:
Since this year doesn't count for eligibility, couldn't Terrance Davis theoretically play next year too?
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Yes and yes, Donovan Greene will be considered a freshman for eligibility purposes next year.
 
and Hartman will be a sophomore for eligibility purposes.

If he makes it to his "senior" year he could blow past every passing record Wake has
 
Everybody could potentially return everybody next season. Wake is at an advantage because we have so many good young players.
 
PhDeac said:
Creamy, you think Roberson is leaving for the draft?
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Actually I had in my head Roberson was a Sr.

Would be great for him to come back. If he ends the season as strong as he's started then it wouldn't shock me if he tested the NFL waters.
 
raldeac said:
Scholarship limit still at 85, however.
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It's my understanding that the scholarship limit would increase only for next season and it's up to each individual team to sort it out the following year.
 
BeachBumDeac said:
Since this year doesn't count for eligibility, couldn't Terrance Davis theoretically play next year too?
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Yes.

There won't need to be difficult conversations in 2021. NCAA is raising scholarship limits to 110 to allow players to to return for a "do-over" of this season in 2021.

The reality will hit in 2022, when scholarship limits are supposed to go back to 85. There will be 6th year players fighting with incoming freshmen for scholarships. Who will the coaches want? Will they continue to play grizzled veterans or bring in some fresh talent as freshmen? Getting the proper mix of retaining 5th and 6th year guys, "encouraging" 4th, 5th and 6th year guys to graduate and signing freshmen in 2022 will be a big and difficult task for the coaching staff.
 
I know I am not a fb coach, but having watched lots of Wake fb, I still feel the D needs some schematic upgrades and emphasis. The O still needs a broader cache of weapons (designed plays). I like to Wildcat this year, but running it now about 13 times, we've only run Walker. No pitch outs, hand-offs, or throws. Difficult now for him to make progress with 11 guys on D focused on him. I really don't like the call from midfield nor with 4 or more yards to go, either. 3rd and 1,2, 0r 3 at the goal-line, yes. And the pitchouts have been nice.

But, again, when you watch the other teams, the variety is glaring. One reason I think our D struggles at times, is because they only face our O in practice in 1s vs 1s. I know we have a scout team but if they can run an adequate opponent playbook to really prepare for games, is doubtful. They did seem to do good jobs vs UVa & VT. We give up lots of yards to even mediocre teams simply because they run variety of sets/plays.

Very pleased with Special Teams play. Best under Clawson, IMHO.

A W vs UNC would be great. If it happens, it will likely be a Texas A&M-type shootout game with us having the last possession. Heels have played well at home this year. We did upset them in '79 at Kenan when they had a great backfield similar to this year, with Amos Lawrence and Kelvin Bryant.
 
CreamyGoodness said:
Oh Roberson has been terrific. I'm saying that we lose him after this season.

I hope Groulx proves me wrong. And yes, I'm excited about Keyshawn williams too. He and Morin will share time at the slot for the foreseeable future.

How does Perry compare to Washington at this point in his career? Does Perry have breakaway speed? I'm asking because I really don't know.
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Roberson is a RS-Jr so unless there's some news brewing here he should be back for next year.

A.T. started out.. rough but seemed to be hitting a good stride and moving towards that Scotty Washington mold of just not a lot of YAC but grabbing 15-20 yards every time he touched the ball.

Also hasn't helped that Wake just has been a TOP team and grinding games out. Wake averaged almost 40 passes a game through the first 6 last year.

This year, 28 through 6. How much of that is not trusting in the receivers versus wanting to just control the game and give your defense a rest? Wish I could get an answer but Ruggiero would never answer that truthfully on record.

Slot will be fine, but AT Perry has to get healthy and stretch the field. Something HAS to click for one of Donald Stewart or Nolan Greene down the stretch though. Donald has to practice better and Nolan has to have the light come on eventually(partially be used better)
 
I think we've got a strong running game and we're actually using it to emphasize ball control. The pace is still fast just not breakneck speed.
 
Pilchard said:
Like your confidence in WF's football recruiting. When WF gets the stage where Clawson just re-loads with KWIII level players (who is looking like one of the best 5 RBs in the last 30 years of WF football), look out. FWIW, WF has had two RBs drafted in the NFL common draft era (53 years), Topper Clemmons in the 8th round (NFL draft is only 7 rounds now) in 1986 and Ovie Mughelli in 4th round in 2003.
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Don't forget Marshall and Cooley waiting in the wins.
 
80deacon said:
I know I am not a fb coach, but having watched lots of Wake fb, I still feel the D needs some schematic upgrades and emphasis. The O still needs a broader cache of weapons (designed plays). I like to Wildcat this year, but running it now about 13 times, we've only run Walker. No pitch outs, hand-offs, or throws. Difficult now for him to make progress with 11 guys on D focused on him. I really don't like the call from midfield nor with 4 or more yards to go, either. 3rd and 1,2, 0r 3 at the goal-line, yes. And the pitchouts have been nice.

But, again, when you watch the other teams, the variety is glaring. One reason I think our D struggles at times, is because they only face our O in practice in 1s vs 1s. I know we have a scout team but if they can run an adequate opponent playbook to really prepare for games, is doubtful. They did seem to do good jobs vs UVa & VT. We give up lots of yards to even mediocre teams simply because they run variety of sets/plays.

Very pleased with Special Teams play. Best under Clawson, IMHO.

A W vs UNC would be great. If it happens, it will likely be a Texas A&M-type shootout game with us having the last possession. Heels have played well at home this year. We did upset them in '79 at Kenan when they had a great backfield similar to this year, with Amos Lawrence and Kelvin Bryant.
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I do agree that it's surprising how few wrinkles we have compared to most teams, especially given that we probably have players with higher football IQs (and IQs in general) than most teams. We don't ever run trick plays on offense. We rarely, if ever utilize jet/orbit motion. No jump passes or anything out of the wildcat other than a straight run. Very few screen passes. Obviously our base product is awesome, and the offensive results speak for themselves. A few new wrinkles seemingly would keep defenses more honest and only make the offense more effective overall.

Haven't followed the defensive play calling that closely this year. It's obviously worked pretty amazingly over the last 2.5 games. In the past, I've been surprised how seemingly rarely we blitz, especially on obvious passing downs.
 
PhDeac said:
Walker can’t enter the draft until after next season. I’m sure we will have a replacement lined up by then.
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Exactly Ph. We are now in "next man up" mode. Last year was just a season ending crisis in tons of key injuries at the wrong positions that derailed what could have been a 10-2 regular season. Other than that we have tons of great players now getting developed by Claw & his staff who come in ready to play now. Plus they come in ready to work hard, study hard and know they better stay out of trouble. So what if we are getting 3* for the most part. If they will do what our coaches say, they are turning into 4* players with shots of playing further. I really like where our PROGRAM is right now.
 
Some good points made on this subject. Glad to learn that the scholarship number is 110 for next year. That is good news to be able to retain the more valuable players, get xfrs, etc, but not without a problem area. Selecting which players, just cold facts I assume, and with income money way down this year and being on a strict budget, how do teams other than the powerhouse money programs pay for the extra scholarships? How will Wake address this? It seemed the Deacon Club was limited this year, coaches took a pay cut, etc.
 
tigerswood said:
I do agree that it's surprising how few wrinkles we have compared to most teams, especially given that we probably have players with higher football IQs (and IQs in general) than most teams. We don't ever run trick plays on offense. We rarely, if ever utilize jet/orbit motion. No jump passes or anything out of the wildcat other than a straight run. Very few screen passes. Obviously our base product is awesome, and the offensive results speak for themselves. A few new wrinkles seemingly would keep defenses more honest and only make the offense more effective overall.

Haven't followed the defensive play calling that closely this year. It's obviously worked pretty amazingly over the last 2.5 games. In the past, I've been surprised how seemingly rarely we blitz, especially on obvious passing downs.
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It's frustrating but it is working. We've embraced the long mesh RPO as a consistent trick play that makes it tough to pull out any other wrinkles. I guess the focus is just getting everyone in sync so the system works like it's supposed to.

The defense is interesting. I guess we don't want to blitz too much because LB play is still a weakness. The secondary has been strong and the DL has been getting solid pressure. So we've been able to make plays without getting too crazy with the blitz packages.
 
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Walker already has 1,100 career rushing yards and 15 rushing TD's and still has 3.5 years of eligibility left.
 
raldeac said:
Some good points made on this subject. Glad to learn that the scholarship number is 110 for next year. That is good news to be able to retain the more valuable players, get xfrs, etc, but not without a problem area. Selecting which players, just cold facts I assume, and with income money way down this year and being on a strict budget, how do teams other than the powerhouse money programs pay for the extra scholarships? How will Wake address this? It seemed the Deacon Club was limited this year, coaches took a pay cut, etc.
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The limit is 110, but don't think many/any teams are going to max out in 2021. First, as others have mentioned, the 85 scholly limit returns in 2022; so, teams will want to flatten the curve of in the scholly limits; otherwise the roster turnover from 2021 to 2022 would be massive. Second, schollies cost money and every athletic department is hurting for money. Obviously, if a stud senior wants to return (like Boogie Basham), of course, every college will find room to keep top players, but don't get the feeling any coaches are granting an extra year for every 4th and 5th year player on the roster. Whenever coaches are questioned about it, including Clawson, they are very non-committal about how they are handling ships in 2021. For most programs, I think only those that are material contributors are going to get "invited" to return. Even with the expanded rosters, think there will be a flurry of transfer activity after this season.
 
CamLemons said:
Roberson is a RS-Jr so unless there's some news brewing here he should be back for next year.

A.T. started out.. rough but seemed to be hitting a good stride and moving towards that Scotty Washington mold of just not a lot of YAC but grabbing 15-20 yards every time he touched the ball.

Also hasn't helped that Wake just has been a TOP team and grinding games out. Wake averaged almost 40 passes a game through the first 6 last year.

This year, 28 through 6. How much of that is not trusting in the receivers versus wanting to just control the game and give your defense a rest? Wish I could get an answer but Ruggiero would never answer that truthfully on record.

Slot will be fine, but AT Perry has to get healthy and stretch the field. Something HAS to click for one of Donald Stewart or Nolan Greene down the stretch though. Donald has to practice better and Nolan has to have the light come on eventually(partially be used better)
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Nope..I just thought Roberson was a senior...Great to have been wrong on this one! He's a hell of a piece to return next year

And yeah agreed, it all comes down to either AT or Nolan stepping up to finish the year if we are going to somehow get to 7 wins.
 
Going to be interesting to see if teams max out 110 football scholarships while universities are facing budget crises.
 
PhDeac said:
Going to be interesting to see if teams max out 110 football scholarships while universities are facing budget crises.
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Very good point - probably the genesis of some big deacon club push to keep everyone on scold (across all sports)

We’ll see very quickly where our D is once we play UNC. In hindsight we played lights out D against them last year.
 
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