Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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GAME PREVIEW: WAKE FOREST On PaPer BY BRYAN DRISKELL WAKE FOREST RUNNING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME RUN DEFENSE Wake Forest has struggled to run the football, ranking 110th nationally with 110.0 yards per game and 122nd with 3.1 yards per attempt through Oct. 31. The Deacons have more games with fewer than 100 yards (four) than they do games of more than 150 yards (two). Three different running backs have started for the Deacons, and none have been able to provide much productivity. In fact, Wake Forest's leading rusher is its backup quarterback, freshman Kendall Hinton (316 yards). Notre Dame's rush defense has been erratic. It held the first two opponents to just 93.5 yards per contest and limited Temple to only 107 yards on 32 carries. In between, the Irish gave up an average of 208.8 rushing yards per game — and 170.0 yards per contest against non-option teams. Giving up big plays has been a problem for the Irish defense. When not allowing opponents to rip off chunk plays — such as the 39-yard run by Temple's Jahad Thomas Oct. 31 — Notre Dame has been able to keep teams in check. ADVANTAGE: Notre Dame WAKE FOREST PASSING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME PASS DEFENSE The Demon Deacons have also struggled mightily throwing the football. They ranked 64th nationally in passing offense (229.9 yards per game), 81st in yards per completion (11.6), 94th in completion per- centage (54.9) and 110th in pass efficiency (110.12 Redshirt sophomore Cam Serigne, who led the Demon Deacons with 38 receptions for 410 yards and three touchdowns through nine games, has emerged as one of the nation's top tight ends. PHOTO BY BRIAN WESTERHOLT/SPORTS ON FILM