I wouldn't be too happy that it's sunny and clear outside. Pretty sure that will benefit the Deacs.
I'm headed over to the stadium, sorry we weren't able to get a live blog together - apparently no one was interested in heading it up. Hopefully we'll all be in good moods next time you hear from me!
I'm headed out to Spry Stadium for tonight's soccer game against UCLA, but because of some other stuff going on I'll probably only make it to the first half. I was going to try to take my computer out there, but this on-and-off rain doesn't make me feel too comfortable about that so we'll have to do without for tonight. Late tonight or tomorrow morning I'll have some sort of report about what I saw.
Have a good evening!
Update: Wake defeats UCLA 3-0
I was at Spry for the entire first half and enjoyed seeing great goals by Lyle Adams and Marcus Tracy. Despite the wet conditions (including one several minute stretch of some pretty hard rain), the Deacs moved the ball well and generally controlled the game. UCLA is clearly a pretty good team, and to grab a 3-0 win like this is pretty impressive. It sounded like coach Vidovich was very happy that the team didn't let up in the second half, and even added another goal from freshman Nick Millington. Definitely a successful night for the Deacs, who will play South Carolina on Sunday afternoon.
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.
5 Good Questions rolls along this week, getting some help from Seth at The Hotty Toddy Blog. His answers to my questions are below, and when he puts them up, I'll link to my questions to his answers. Here are my answers to his questions. Enjoy!
1. Ole Miss played pretty well to start the season against Memphis and it seems like Houston Nutt has the Rebels moving in the right direction. What is Nutt doing to turn the program around?
Coaching. Our last coach was an outstanding recruiter but seemed to be in over his head in regards to running a college team. Nutt has a well established history at Arkansas. He has the leftover talent (our most talented team since the Eli days) and his coaching skills with Coach O's talent is a good match.2. How important is this game against Wake Forest to the Ole Miss football program and its fans? What would a win mean for this team? A loss?
This is an important game for the Rebels. A win would mean 2-0 with a good shot at being 4-0 heading into the Florida game. Also, anytime you can get a win against an Out of Conference team it always helps because wins in the SEC are hard to come by. A loss would hurt but not be devastating as it would be to a ranked Out of Conference team.3. Against Memphis it seems the Rebels went with a running back by committee approach. Do you expect to see this approach all season? How effective do you think it will be in the long run?
Yes. We have several talented RB's. Houston Nutt loves to run by committee as he did at Arkansas. How well it works against WF will be a better gauge of how successful it will be this season.4. Where do you think Ole Miss matches up well against Wake Forest? Where do they match up poorly?
Our O line is strong and should provide a good push for our running game. Our D line is suffering from some big losses but we still have some talent there. Memphis ran the spread offense well against us. Despite the score, they had over 400 yards of Offense. Wake Forest has a talented Offense so we need to improve in the secondary and on the line in order to have a good change of winning.5. Very few people bite on this, but I always ask anyway: What will the final score be on Saturday? How many games will the Rebels win this season?
I think the game will be decided by 7 points or less. As for the rest of the season, I think 6-8 wins is realistic this year.Thanks to Seth for taking the time to answer these questions. For more on Ole Miss, make sure to visit The Hotty Toddy Blog. Read More...
I saw the TV coverage maps for Saturday's game for the first time last night, and Deacons in the middle of the country are in an unfortunate position. Most of Big 12 country (and a few other states) is going to get Cincinnati @ Oklahoma on ABC, and unfortunately Oregon State @ Penn State on ESPN2. This means your only option for seeing the Wake game is to find a friend or sports bar with the GamePlan package.
I feel sorry for those who won't get the game, and I want to provide some help for those who just may not have any other option, and another outlet for those of you who may be watching the game at home and have access to their computer at the same time. I'm going to be at the game, but I'm looking for someone who will have the game on TV to run a live blog here at Old Gold & Blog. It really isn't hard - all you have to do is provide some commentary and play by play, and monitor comments from other readers. If you'd be interested in doing this send me an email and let me know.
As for the news, Deacon Tower's first game this weekend is prompting some more coverage, and Dan Collins profiles running back C.J. Washington. From Edward Robinson in Raleigh, the receivers are off to a good start and having fun. The week 1 blogpoll came out yesterday and full results are here. Wake comes in at #20, and I'm still in the running for the Coulter/Krugman award. Still, I didn't come anywhere close to the Boston College guys - I may regret having picked them to beat Georgia Tech this week, as the CK award curse continued last week for Michigan State (read the post if you don't have any clue what I'm talking about - it's fairly interesting).
5 Good Questions coming later this morning, enjoy!
