Wake Forest at Maryland Preview

It's an early one tomorrow, with the Deacs taking on the Maryland Terrapins in a noon matchup on Raycom sports (find out what network it will be on in your area). If we're going to play a noon game, though, I'd rather it be on the road.

It's incredibly difficult to figure out this Maryland team. They beat Clemson and then get crushed by Virginia. They're 4-2 overall and 1-1 in the ACC. They start out with a bad win over Delaware and a loss to Middle Tennessee State before bouncing back for a win over Cal. Who is this team?

Clearly they're capable of big wins, which means Wake cannot be taking them lightly. At the same time, I feel pretty confident Wake is the better team in this game. Certainly Maryland has caused problems for the Deacs over the years, and playing in College Park isn't always easy, but I definitely feel like Wake has the upper hand.

Burning questions about this week's game:

1. Will the defense keep up the near-perfect performances?
For three straight games the defense has been the only thing keeping Wake afloat. I know we all want to see the offense improve, and hopefully they will, but th defense has to keep up the intensity.

2. Will the red zone play calling improve?
The offense showed some pretty significant improvement last week against Clemson, but still only managed 12 points. The other offensive statistics would indicate a better performance, so what was wrong? The Deacs couldn't make anything happen once they got in the red zone. Running the "Wild Deac" from the 1 yard line? Bad idea. Fix it.

3. Is Saw Swank going to play? Will the rest of the team stay healthy?
Swank is still questionable for this week's game, and I know we all want to see him kicking. I'm okay with having Popham handle the punting duties, and even the kickoffs if necessary. As long as Swank can kick the field goals I'll be happy. It isn't being talked about all that much, but this two game road swing is really one of the more important stretches of the season. The Deacs aren't playing the biggest names, but these are two good ACC teams on the road, and coming out with two wins is huge. A key to that is keeping everyone else healthy for both games. Hopefully that happens tomorrow.

Predictions: I think Wake will score more points this week, but it may be with a bunch of field goals (Heather Dinich predicted 21-20 Wake, but I have no idea how she expects Wake to score 3 TDs and no field goals. In the last two seasons Wake has scored only touchdowns one time - against Army early in the 2007 season). Wake could score three touchdowns, but there will be a couple of field goals too. I'm predicting a Wake win, 20-13.

Let me know what you think. Have your own prediction? Share with the class.