#20 Wake Forest vs. Ole Miss: Game Preview

After an impressive victory at Baylor last week it’s impossible not to be excited about tomorrow’s home opener against the Ole Miss Rebels. Not even a hurricane (okay, maybe tropical storm) can temper the excitement Wake fans are feeling about this one. Come 3:30 Saturday afternoon BB&T Field will be full of fans and another new era of the Wake Forest football program will be ready to begin.

The Details:
Date: Saturday, September 6, 2008
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Location: BB&T Field, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Stadium: BB&T Field
Broadcast: ABC/ESPN2, ISP Radio Network (TV coverage maps)

Deacon Tower hopes to be christened with a victory Saturday, and I think the Demon Deacons are ready to do just that. The game marks only the second time in history that Wake has faced Ole Miss on the football field, having defeated the Rebels 27-3 in Oxford during the 2006 ACC championship run.

Jim Grobe will be looking for his sixth victory in a home opener, having won five of his previous seven. Furthermore, a Wake Forest victory will be number 400 in the history of Demon Deacon football.

The Rebels, led by new head coach Houston Nutt and sophomore quarterback Jevan Snead, looked good in their opener last week, defeating Memphis 41-24. It was the most points the Rebels had scored in a game since 2003. I don’t think they’re going to get close to that record again this week.

Ole Miss’s defensive line has been decimated by injuries, and will be without three fourths of the projected starting line – tackles Peria Jerry and Ted Laurent and end Greg Hardy are all out. Facing a weaker defensive line than originally expected should be a big advantage for the Deacs, whose offensive line is still developing. Perhaps this will allow the running game to get going a bit more this week.

Wake has no injuries to starters currently, and sophomore receiver Jordan Williams is not listed in this week’s injury report. He wasn’t listed last week and still sat out, so it remains to be seen if he will play, but he will be available.

Wake’s defense proved what everyone thought they already knew last week – that they’re very very good. I expect them to rattle young quarterback Jevan Snead and keep the running game from ever getting much momentum

I feel very confident about this game, and since it seemed to work pretty well last week, I’m going to ask some questions that we can hopefully answer after the game.

1. What effect will Hurricane/Tropical Storm Hanna have on this game?
Projections continue to show the storm hitting farther east and being farther north by the time we kick off, but it still seems very possible that we’ll see some wetness and maybe some gusty winds as well. If the rain is gone by game time it should be a great environment for fans since it will be cool, but for the players wind could definitely be an issue. The field turf is designed to hold up pretty well in wet weather, so unless it’s actually raining during the game I don’t think we’ll see too much of an issue there.

2. Will the offensive line’s pass protection hold up? Will the run blocking improve?
Last week the pass protection was pretty stellar. Skinner was only sacked once and almost always had plenty of time. Hopefully the line will continue that this week. I would love to see some improvement in the running game. I place most of the blame for last week’s running woes on the line, so hopefully they have a better performance this week. Given the state of Ole Miss’s defensive line I feel pretty good about that happening.

3. Can the receivers avoid dropping passes?
D.J. Boldin had a couple of pretty bad drops last week, and there were a couple of others who dropped passes as well. It will be more difficult to get away with mistakes like that this week.

4. Will Ole Miss avoid turnovers? Will Wake be okay if they do?
Last week Wake benefited from several Baylor turnovers. Granted, the Deacs turned it over a couple of times too, but I think the Rebels may be a bit better at holding on to the ball. I don’t want to see Wake relying on gifts like that this week.

5. How beautiful will Deacon Tower be?
The answer to this question seems pretty obvious already, but I have a feeling we’ll be even more amazed by it in person.

As for my predictions, I said earlier this week that I thought Wake would win by 14-17 points. I’ve seen plenty of projections that have Ole Miss scoring 27+ points and I just don’t understand how anyone thinks they can do that against Wake’s defense. Wake’s running game has more success this week (one back will go over 100 yards) on the way to a 31-17 victory over the Rebels.

Should I be asking different questions? Are my predictions absurd? Let me know in the comments.