Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 6, 2017 41 BY BRYAN DRISKELL WAKE FOREST RUNNING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME RUN DEFENSE The Deacons averaged 172.0 yards per game on the ground and 4.1 yards per carry during their 4-3 start this season. They ranked 59th in the land in rushing offense during that stretch. Senior quarterback John Wolford had minus-151 rushing yards as a freshman in 2014, but over the last two seasons he's become an effective runner. Wolford had 521 yards and six scores on the ground in 2016, and through seven games this fall he had a team-leading 327 rushing yards and five touchdowns. Wake Forest racked up 248 yards on the ground in a 51-7 win over Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) op- ponent Furman and added another 291 rushing yards against Utah State, which ranked 103rd nationally in run defense through eight weeks. In con- trast, the Deon Deacons averaged only 124.3 yards per game and 3.3 yards per rush in their first four ACC contests. The Irish ranked 29th nationally in run defense through seven games, giving up just 126.1 yards per game. Their average of 3.6 yards allowed per rush ranked 28th, and Notre Dame was tops in the nation after al- lowing just one rushing touchdown. Notre Dame gave up an average of 151.5 yards per game in its first four games, the first of defensive coordina- tor Mike Elko's tenure. Over the next three games, the unit gave up only 92.3 yards per game and 3.0 yards per rush. Senior end Jay Hayes has been an outstanding run defender all season, and junior nose tackle Jerry Tillery emerged as one of Notre Dame's top defenders. Through seven games, Til- lery was second on the roster with five stops behind the line of scrimmage. Advantage: Notre Dame WAKE FOREST PASSING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME PASS DEFENSE Wake Forest wants to establish its ground attack early in hopes of creat- ing big-play opportunities for its pass game. The Deacons ranked 65th in the land in passing offense through the season's first eight weeks, going for 227.0 yards per game, but it was an efficient and big-play attack. The Deacons ranked 26th in pass efficiency (149.58 rating), 33rd in yards per attempt (8.1) and 34th in yards per completion (13.5). Wolford entered the season with 30 career touchdown passes and 35 intercep- tions. He has turned that around ap- preciably as a senior, passing for 10 touchdowns with just two picks. Redshirt freshman Greg Dortch has been Wake Forest's top pass catcher. He led the Deacons with 43 recep- tions and 555 receiving yards. Dortch hauled in 10 catches for 110 yards against Florida State and eight passes for 125 yards against Georgia Tech. Senior tight end Cam Serigne has caught 12 passes for 184 yards and was tied Dortch for the team lead in touchdown receptions (five). Through seven games this season, Serigne was tied for eighth all time at Wake Forest with 142 career re- ceptions and stood alone at seventh place with 17 career touchdown catches. Notre Dame ranked 19th in yards allowed per attempt (6.0) and 16th in yards allowed per completion (10.7) through eight weeks. Oppos- ing quarterbacks had a 116.5 passer efficiency rating, which ranked the Irish defense 36th. After it compiled just 14 sacks all of last season, Notre Dame tallied 18 through its first seven games. Its 2.57 sacks per game ranked 32nd nation- ally, and it put the Irish on pace to notch 33 sacks, which would tie for the best mark since head coach Brian Kelly took over in 2010. Sophomore ends Daelin Hayes and Khalid Kareem were tied with Tillery with three sacks apiece for the team lead. Advantage: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME RUNNING GAME VS. WAKE FOREST RUN DEFENSE This is a matchup that would seem to bode well for Notre Dame, with the Irish offense ranking sixth in the country in rushing yards per game (317.9), second in yards per rush (7.1) GAME PREVIEW: WAKE FOREST On PaPer Senior tight end Cam Serigne, who had 12 receptions for 184 yards and five scores through seven con- tests this fall, will finish his career as one of Wake Forest's all-time leading receivers. PHOTO BY BOB HEBERT