Blue and Gold Illustrated

Nov. 16, 2015 Issue

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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GAME PREVIEW: WAKE FOREST ting at 3-6 coming off the one-point loss to Louisville, and there is an outlier of fans that are asking, 'What's wrong?' There is already some growing senti- ment like, 'Why isn't the offense mov- ing the ball better?' And, 'Why is the offensive line still struggling?' When in essence there's n o t h i n g w ro n g , this is about exactly where they should be right now. "I think if you take this year 's team and put them on last year's sched- ule, you get prob- ably five, maybe six, wins. But this year's schedule just was not very con- ducive to making a run at a bowl game. Notre Dame on the road as a noncon- ference game, that's not something a re- building program needs in the grand scheme of things." Irish defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder 's unit could see a mixed look at the quarter- back position. Sophomore and incum- bent starter John Wolford has played in eight games this year, completing 88 of 149 passes (59.0 percent) for 1,143 yards with seven touchdowns and eight inter- ceptions. Freshman Kendall Hinton, a three-star dual-threat quarterback from the class of 2015, has also seen action in eight games but is less accurate, completing 89 of 171 passes (52.0 percent) for 907 yards with three touchdowns and five inter- ceptions. Hinton does have increased capabilities with his legs though, leading the team in rushing yards (316), carries (82) and touchdowns (six). "John Wolford got an ankle sprain in the second game of the season that was further injured the next week, so he's been ham- pered," Johns said. "Then Hinton took over the duties and excited the fans a lot with his dual-threat capabilities, but then he got dinged up late in the Flor- ida State game. "It really wasn't until this last game against Louisville that Clawson really tried to split reps. He put in Wolford for the first few series; he didn't move the ball well. So he put Hinton in for a few series; he also didn't move the ball well, although you have to give credit to Louisville's defense there for shutting down the zone read. So then they went with Wolford for pretty much the whole second half. Facts & Figures NOTRE DAME VS. WAKE FOREST Game Info Date: Nov. 14, 2015. Site: Notre Dame Stadium (80,795). Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. ET. Television: NBC. Radio: This broadcast can be heard live on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (channel 129). Series Facts: This is the third meeting be- tween Notre Dame and Wake Forest. The Irish lead the series 2-0. Coaches: Notre Dame — Brian Kelly (53-21, sixth season); Wake Forest — Dave Clawson (6-15, second season). Noting Wake Forest: With 320 career at- tempts, fifth-year senior punter Alex Kinal needs to punt only three times against Notre Dame to break the NCAA's career record of 322, held by Duke's Brian Morton (1997-2000) … The Demon Deacons are one of the best defensive teams in the country in the red zone, allowing a score only 72 percent of the time, which ranked 11th nationally through Oct. 31 … Seventy-four players on Wake Forest's 103-man roster are either freshmen or sophomores.

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