Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 6, 2017 43 Wake Forest ranked 11th in the country in sacks last season with cur- rent Notre Dame defensive coordina- tor Mike Elko in charge, but through seven games this season the Deacons are only 55th in QB takedowns at 2.14 per contest. That is a full sack less than it had a season ago per game despite senior end Duke Ejiofor's outstanding sea- son. Through seven games, Ejiofor has racked up 13 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks to go with five hurries. Notre Dame's pass game lagged behind its rushing attack through the first seven contests. Notre Dame was 117th in passing offense, throwing for just 157.0 yards per game. It ranked 101st in yards per completion (11.2) and 121st in yards per attempt (5.7). Wimbush completed 51.7 percent of his passes, throwing for only 902 yards and eight touchdowns in his first six starts, but he was picked off just twice during that span. The return of sophomore Kevin Stepherson should provide a boost to the Notre Dame aerial attack. Stepher- son hauled in 25 passes for 462 yards and five scores as a freshman in 2016, leading the offense at 18.5 yards per catch. In his first game as a key rotation player against USC, Stepherson led the Irish offense with 58 receiving yards, including a 23-yard touchdown catch. Advantage: Wake Forest SPECIAL TEAMS This phase of the game was not a strength for Notre Dame or Wake Forest through the season's first seven games. The Deacons ranked 61st in kick return average, 95th in kick coverage and 102nd in punt coverage. Meanwhile, Notre Dame ranked 70th in kick returns, 87th in punt coverage, 94th in punt returns and 110th in kick coverage. Both teams have talented punt- ers, with Wake Forest's Dom Maggio posting a 43.8-yard average through seven games while Notre Dame's Ty- ler Newsome ranked 13th nationally with a 45.0-yard mark. Advantage: Even COACHING Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson has a 107-106 career record, but those numbers don't tell the whole story. He has made a career of taking over losing programs and turning them around, but often he chooses the slow-build method. In his first season at FCS program Fordham, Clawson went 0-11, but by his fourth season he had the Rams in the playoffs. He left Fordham for Richmond, going 3-8 in his first cam- paign. He had the Spiders in the FCS quarterfinals in his second year and the FCS semifinals by his fourth sea- son at the school. Now in year four at Wake Forest, Clawson is hoping to get the Deacons over the hump. Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly is trying to put together the third sea- son with at least 10 wins in his eight years in South Bend. During his ten- ure at Notre Dame, Kelly has gone 22-8 against the Atlantic Coast Con- ference and 3-0 against Wake Forest. Kelly overhauled his staff this off- season, and two of his hires were for- mer Wake Forest coaches Mike Elko and Clark Lea. Elko and Lea's famil- iarity with Clawson and the Wake Forest offense and personnel should prove beneficial. Advantage: Notre Dame INTANGIBLES There really isn't an area where Wake Forest holds an edge against Notre Dame. The Irish have more size, team speed and experience. Notre Dame also gets this game at home, and it has beaten Wake Forest 38-0 (2012) and 28-7 (2015) in its two home contests against the Deacons during Kelly's tenure. Wake Forest went 2-2 on the road through its first seven games, beat- ing Boston College (34-10) and Ap- palachian State (20-19) while losing to Clemson (28-14) and Georgia Tech (38-24). Advantage: Notre Dame GAME PREVIEW: WAKE FOREST Offense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. WR 7 Scotty Washington 6-5 225 R-So. 15 Cortez Lewis 6-1 205 R-Jr. WR 89 Greg Dortch 5-9 165 R-Fr. 1 Tabari Hines 5-10 175 Jr. LT 75 Justin Herron 6-5 290 R-Jr. 60 Taleni Suhren 6-5 290 R-Fr. LG 74 Phil Haynes 6-4 305 R-Jr. 79 Sean Maginn 6-3 280 Fr. C 70 Ryan Anderson 6-6 305 R-Jr. 71 Nathan Gilliam 6-5 290 R-So. RG 68 Patrick Osterhage 6-4 290 R-Jr. 58 Tyler Watson 6-5 290 R-Fr. RT 73 Jake Benzinger 6-7 295 R-So. 63 Je'Vionte' Nash 6-3 285 R-Fr. TE 85 Cam Serigne 6-3 240 5th-Sr. 41 Devin Pike 6-6 250 Sr. WR 9 Chuck Wade Jr. 6-0 200 Jr. 17 Alex Bachman 6-0 190 Jr. QB 10 John Wolford 6-1 200 Sr. 2 Kendall Hinton 6-0 195 R-So. RB 22 Matt Colburn II 5-10 200 Jr. or 36 Cade Carney 5-11 215 So. Defense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. DE 53 Duke Ejiofor 6-4 275 5th-Sr. 18 Carlos Basham Jr. 6-5 275 R-Fr. DT 93 Zeek Rodney 6-1 305 R-Jr. 54 Elonte Bateman 6-2 290 R-Fr. DT 48 Willie Yarbary 6-2 285 R-Jr. 90 Sulaiman Kamara 6-2 290 R-Fr. DE 14 Wendell Dunn 6-3 250 5th-Sr. 51 Chris Calhoun 6-4 250 Jr. Buck 6 Jaboree Williams 6-0 245 Sr. 23 Justin Strnad 6-3 230 R-So. Mike 50 Grant Dawson 6-1 225 5th-Sr. 35 Nate Mays 6-1 225 R-So. Rover 34 Demetrius Kemp 6-1 220 R-Jr. 30 Ja'Cquez Williams 6-2 210 R-Fr. CB 4 Amari Henderson 6-1 185 R-So. 24 Ja'Sir Taylor 5-10 180 Fr. FS 2 Cameron Glenn 6-1 200 R-Jr. 12 Luke Masterson 6-2 210 R-Fr. SS 3 Jessie Bates III 6-2 195 R-So. 37 Thomas Dillon 5-10 180 R-Jr. CB 21 Essang Bassey 5-10 185 So. 13 Malik Grate 6-0 170 R-Fr. WAKE FOREST DEPTH CHART Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. PK 7 Mike Weaver 6-1 190 5th-Sr. 48 Dom Maggio 6-3 185 So. KO 7 Mike Weaver 6-1 190 5th-Sr. 48 Dom Maggio 6-3 185 So. P 48 Dom Maggio 6-3 185 So. 7 Mike Weaver 6-1 190 5th-Sr. LS 52 Dayton Diemel 5-10 215 So. 15 Garrett Wilson 6-3 210 Jr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. H 48 Dom Maggio 6-3 185 So. 10 John Wolford 6-1 200 Sr. PR 89 Greg Dortch 5-9 165 R-Fr. 3 Jessie Bates III 6-2 195 R-So. KR 89 Greg Dortch 5-9 165 R-Fr. 3 Jessie Bates III 6-2 195 R-So. Special Teams