Wake Forest Demon Deacons:
Dave Clawson’s job probably isn’t in immediate danger in Winston-Salem, but last season’s 4-8 showing was the worst since he went 3-9 in consecutive years in 2014 and 2015 at the start of his tenure. This is a Wake Forest team that was 11-3 and finished in the top 15 in the polls just two years ago. But, it all fell apart last season and the Deacs missed a bowl for the first time since that 2015 season.
Clawson is now 63-61 at Wake Forest and runs the risk of falling below .500 with a team that doesn’t look up to snuff this season.
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Offense
Life without Sam Hartman proved to be difficult. Three quarterbacks combined on a 14/11 TD/INT ratio last season for the Demon Deacons and now they’ll turn to Hank Bachmeier, who spent last season at Louisiana Tech after four seasons with Boise State. Bachmeier has a 51/21 TD/INT ratio and a 63% completion rate in his college career. He is not mobile at all, though, and Wake has some huge questions on the offensive line.
The QBs were sacked 49 combined times last season and the running game provided very little punch with just 3.3 yards per carry. The same faces are back in the backfield, but leading receiver Jahmal Banks is now at Nebraska. Bachmeier represents an upgrade at QB, but the skill positions have not been upgraded at all.
Defense
The offense managed fewer than five yards per play and the defense allowed 5.84, so the Deacs had one of the worst yards per play differentials in the Power Five ranks. They also had one of the worst sack differentials at -26 and also finished -6 in turnover margin with only 16 takeaways.
In Year 3 under former Charlotte head coach Brad Lambert, this defense really needs to show more teeth. To reinvigorate the defense, transfers were brought in to surround the returning starters, so there is more experience, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to more talent or production.
Outlook
Wake Forest is favored in five games for me, but two of those games are -1 and -1.5, so they could certainly go either way. And, frankly, I’d lean against them going the other way. Bachmeier is way more experienced and Clawson has had success with experienced QBs, but there are a lot of other deficiencies on this roster. I have them at 5.01 wins, but that feels optimistic. With plus money on the Under, that’s the way I’d lean.
Pick: Under 4.5 Wins
