Twelve games. Fourteen weeks. Year one of the Manny Diaz era is almost complete. Regardless of how Duke football closes its season out, these Blue Devils have already exceeded expectations. A 5-0 start, a historic comeback against their most hated rival, votes in the AP poll. After the departures of former head coach Mike Elko and starting quarterback Riley Leonard threatened to destabilize the program, Duke has continued to establish itself as far more than just a basketball school.
Now, on the precipice of a nine-win regular season, it gets its shot at 4-7 Wake Forest.
Unlike the Blue Devils, who are looking for a third straight win, the Demon Deacons are in the midst of a three-game slide, accentuated by a 42-14 beatdown from Miami. Against the Hurricanes, Wake Forest mustered up just 193 yards of offense, as the Miami defense simply had their way. Most notably, however, was that sixth-year quarterback Hank Bachmeier attempted only 14 passes, eight of which went for completions.
Before finding a new home in Winston-Salem, Bachmeier began his collegiate career with Boise State, where he won 20 of the 29 games he started across four years. After a redshirt senior season, the Murrieta, Calif., native transferred to Louisiana Tech, and despite an ugly 2-6 record, Bachmeier impressed enough to end up in a Power 4 conference.
While Bachmeier won’t dazzle fans with a cannon arm or lightning-fast dual-threat ability, he plays a simple and generally effective style of football: what he lacks in high-end athletic traits he makes up for in decision-making and backfield mobility. Watch the signal-caller use these skills to lead his team to a win over N.C. State.
With Bachmeier at the helm of the unit, the offense centers itself around RPOs and quick-game, a scheme which has yielded varying degrees of success. In a 46-36 loss to the Golden Bears, the senior quarterback struggled tremendously with accuracy — throwing three interceptions and completing just 52.8% of his passes.
The Wake Forest passing game is all about execution and limiting turnovers, but recently, it has failed to do either. Over their past four games alone, the Demon Deacons have coughed up the ball 11 times — welcome news for a Duke defense that has forced nine takeaways over the period. Some of Wake Forest’s lackluster offensive output against Miami can be attributed to an injury Bachmeier suffered the prior week in Chapel Hill, but the Blue Devils should nonetheless look to take advantage of a floundering air attack.
However, the Duke secondary may not get many chances to do so; given their penchant for picks, teams with quarterbacks not named Cam Ward have leaned on the run against the Blue Devils. Most recently, Virginia Tech opted to rush the ball 53 times compared to 32 pass attempts, and for good reason: Despite a limited Hokies pass game, Duke still recorded three interceptions. And after calling for 40 rushing attempts to a mere 17 passes in Miami, the Demon Deacons offense seems poised to follow this pattern.
Yet, the Wake Forest ground game has not found much success either, especially in the latter half of the season. Across six contests since their October win against N.C. State, the Demon Deacons averaged an inefficient 3.0 yards per carry, despite the best efforts of junior running back Demond Claiborne.
With 982 rushing yards on the season, Claiborne is only 18 yards away from a top-10 rushing season in program history. When the Wake Forest offense has gotten going, the Ayett, Va., native is usually at the center of it all: the running back stomped all over the Wolfpack for 136 yards from scrimmage and two rushing touchdowns.
By now, the Blue Devils’ defense should be familiar with run-heavy schemes, and they have certainly faced their fair share of dynamic runners; however, they should still be careful not to underestimate Claiborne. For Manny Diaz, shutting down the run — and hopefully the entire Demon Deacons offense—should be a top priority.
As for the Wake Forest defense, Duke again matches up favorably. Against their last three opponents — California, UNC and Miami— the Demon Deacons have allowed an average of 39.7 points and 457.7 yards of total offense per game. On the year, they concede 33.4 points per game — 115th worst in FBS.
Wake Forest, while successful in stopping either the run or pass at times, has yet to put together a complete defensive performance and gets beat based on what it tries to stop. For a Blue Devil offense that has been inconsistent through the air and brutally ineffective on the ground, this game could be the perfect opportunity to put together a strong offensive showing. If Maalik Murphy and Co. can strike early like they did against Virginia Tech, it could open up opportunities for the rushing attack to keep the offense humming the rest of the way.
Plain and simple, the Demon Deacons are not one of Duke’s most formidable opponents this season. With that being said, no ACC team is a pushover, and Wake Forest does have a few impressive wins under its belt. As the Blue Devils head into their last game of the regular season, they should play with the confidence they have more than earned, but they must still be wary of the age-old “trap game.”
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