Some numbers from last year\'s Wake Forest game --
- Wake Forest had no turnovers -- no fumbles, no interceptions.
- Wake allowed no sacks.
- Stanford had just 2 tackles for loss.
- Wake had just 3 penalties for 20 yards.
- Wake had no 3-and-out offensive possessions.
- On 8 of Wake\'s 9 offensive possessions, Wake moved the ball into Stanford territory.
- Wake\'s last four drives were:
9 plays for 72 yards (TD)
14 plays for 73 yards (TD)
8 plays for 45 yards (punt from Stanford 42)
11 plays for 91 yards (TD)
- Wake converted 8 of 16 third downs.
- 10 of Wake\'s 16 third down situations involved 3rd and 5 or fewer yards to go. Wake faced 3rd and 10 only twice, and never faced 3rd and more than 10.
- In the second half, Wake converted 7 of 11 third downs, and on 2 of the 4 occasions that Wake didn\'t convert the third down, it converted on 4th down.
- Wake had 17 first downs in the second half alone.
- Wake\'s time of possession in the second half was 19:44.
- Wake had 251 rushing yards and averaged 5.6 yards/attempt (45 attempts). Eight different Wake players had 3 to 8 carries; no player had more than 8 carries. No player had more than 54 rushing yards, no player had a run longer than 19 yards, and only one Wake running play lost yardage.
In short, Stanford\'s defense made virtually no big plays. Especially in the second half, Stanford let the Wake Forest offense run its patient, methodical, error-free, ball-control game, churning out first downs, putting together long drives, with almost no disruption from the Stanford defense.
Stanford can\'t let that happen again. Stanford needs to do something to throw the Wake Forest offense off its stride -- some sacks, some tackles for loss, forcing some turnovers, putting Wake in more third-and-long situations. Sitting back passively and letting Wake run its offense is a recipe for getting nibbled to death.
- Wake Forest had no turnovers -- no fumbles, no interceptions.
- Wake allowed no sacks.
- Stanford had just 2 tackles for loss.
- Wake had just 3 penalties for 20 yards.
- Wake had no 3-and-out offensive possessions.
- On 8 of Wake\'s 9 offensive possessions, Wake moved the ball into Stanford territory.
- Wake\'s last four drives were:
9 plays for 72 yards (TD)
14 plays for 73 yards (TD)
8 plays for 45 yards (punt from Stanford 42)
11 plays for 91 yards (TD)
- Wake converted 8 of 16 third downs.
- 10 of Wake\'s 16 third down situations involved 3rd and 5 or fewer yards to go. Wake faced 3rd and 10 only twice, and never faced 3rd and more than 10.
- In the second half, Wake converted 7 of 11 third downs, and on 2 of the 4 occasions that Wake didn\'t convert the third down, it converted on 4th down.
- Wake had 17 first downs in the second half alone.
- Wake\'s time of possession in the second half was 19:44.
- Wake had 251 rushing yards and averaged 5.6 yards/attempt (45 attempts). Eight different Wake players had 3 to 8 carries; no player had more than 8 carries. No player had more than 54 rushing yards, no player had a run longer than 19 yards, and only one Wake running play lost yardage.
In short, Stanford\'s defense made virtually no big plays. Especially in the second half, Stanford let the Wake Forest offense run its patient, methodical, error-free, ball-control game, churning out first downs, putting together long drives, with almost no disruption from the Stanford defense.
Stanford can\'t let that happen again. Stanford needs to do something to throw the Wake Forest offense off its stride -- some sacks, some tackles for loss, forcing some turnovers, putting Wake in more third-and-long situations. Sitting back passively and letting Wake run its offense is a recipe for getting nibbled to death.
