That was a terrible game. Time to read a terrible grades post.
QB: D
No, they won't all be Fs. That's a copout. I'm going legit here. Unfortunately, that probably means they'll all be Ds.
It's not like Chris Turner had a ton of time to throw, so it's tough to really pin the woes of the offense on him, but he certainly wasn't great. He needs to realize he has to get rid of the ball as quickly as possible when the blitz comes; you'd think after four games he would've realized that. At the very least, he should call an audible when he reads blitz, like Riley Skinner did several times early in the game. We also got to see his woefully underpowered arm on a few occasions. Not one of CT's better days.
RB: D
For yet another week, it's not like they really had that much to do. Davin Meggett had 6 carries, and that led the backs. Making it worse, there were no real holes, either, so they were pretty restricted. Da'Rel Scott's presence wouldn't have made a difference, to be honest. At least Gary Douglas got in the passing game, which is where he can do some major damage.
WR: C-
Torrey Smith did have ten catches, but he only had seventy yards. That translates to doing absolutely nothing after the catch. Adrian Cannon showed some of the big play ability that many of us had expected from him early on with two TDs. Other than that, there wasn't much positive to draw from, but that's partly from Turner's arm; he underthrew one ball criminally and missed an open LaQuan Williams in the endzone. Still, they could've done more with the opportunities they had.
OL: F
If the OL was better, Turner has time to throw and the RBs have holes to run through. It's not breaking news, but there's the root of the offensive troubles. Wake had no problem controlling the game by getting to Turner, and probably should've had more sacks than they did (4). They also clogged up basically every hole for Meggett or Douglas to run through in the few attempts they had.
It all goes back to the OL.
DL: F
I'm now reminiscing about how we used to be, about four weeks ago, when the lines were ridiculously bad. Remember those days? Well, they're back.
The defense had trouble getting to Skinner even with a blitz, let alone with just the front four. A team that was previously unable to run the ball simply gashed the defensive line and had some truck-sized holes. Nothing positive to draw from this performance, sadly. The line took one huge step back after all that improvement.
LB: D+
Alex Wujciak looked good again; slow and unathletic, but good. He was back in the double-digits for tackles. Darin Drakeford got in on the action a bit too, with five tackles; that's his first real action of the season. He needs to be getting seriously enhanced reps at this point. Demetrius Hartsfield didn't look nearly as good as he had in the past few weeks, unfortunately. Really, it didn't matter what they did, though; the line was so bad that they were screwed either way.
Surprisingly, Adrian Moten didn't fare too well. He only had two tackles, not even a full TFL. He was hurt, so I'm not criticizing, but he's usually pretty impactful regardless of the line's performance. His quiet play hurt tonight.
DB: F
Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.
Anthony Wiseman got picked on like a second grade nerd all day long. Wake Forest is still probably eating Wiseman toast this morning for breakfast. Insert other Anthony Wiseman joke here. He can't be the #1 corner against UVA.
Cameron Chism wasn't much better. Falling down in coverage is unlucky, but somebody's gotta take the blame there. He also missed a couple of tackles and got straight up beaten a few times.
The safeties were just as bad, if not worse. Kenny Tate, Jamari McCollough, and Terrell Skinner were basically invisible. I'm not even sure Antwine Perez played. None of them helped out against the pass, which was burning the D, and run support was nonexistant. Not a good day for this group.
Special Teams: B
Nick Ferrara looked awesome again; he could be the best since Novak, maybe even better. 50 yarders aren't easy. Torrey Smith had the 85 yard return, which set up the only first half TD. Not much else happened, but it wasn't a particularly bad day for the ST.
Coaching: F
How, in god's name, does a team come out this flat and emotionless in a game that actually has ACC ramifications? How?
Oh, and when did we decide that running the ball isn't even worth trying anymore?
Also: why do we continue to run the QB draw again and again? Haven't we learned? It has lost its effectiveness, puts Turner at even more risk, and maxes out at about six yards. Not at all worth it.
Oh, and good decision to leave Turner in instead of give Jamarr Robinson some much needed reps after the game got out of hand. Not like we're going to need to know if he can play in a couple months.
Helmet Stickers:
- Adrian Cannon: I mean, he did have two TDs.
- Alex Wujciak: Well, he had double-digit tackles.
- Nick Ferrara: 50 yarder!
- Torrey Smith: Ten catches, plus an 85 yard kickoff return. Probably regained his lead in the all-purpose yards battle.