This week we bring you a "Know Your..." segment straight from the research triangle via our well versed friend over at the Wake Forest blog Old Gold & Blog, a clever play on Wake's color scheme "Old Gold & Black." Enjoy. Check out our answers on their site here.
Yoink.Does Riley Skinner have enough talent to pull his team through if they falter on him? Differently phrased, how much of a bad ass is Skinner? He's a bit undersized, but he's shown sparks.
The thing that impresses me most about Skinner is the way he leads the team. If you look at his numbers, the only impressive one is his completion percentage (73.2%); his yards (1412) aren’t that impressive, he’s thrown more interceptions (10) than touchdowns (7), and in most categories isn’t particularly dominant. The thing that makes him a “bad ass” is the way he always maintains control of the offense. He makes good reads, shows poise at all times, throws mostly smart passes, and just finds a way to get the job done. Although we missed the field goal to beat UVa last week, it was Skinner’s two fourth down conversions that put us in position to win the game.
Is the Wake Forest defense as bad as advertised? They are ninth in total defense in the ACC, what’s the deal?
I hadn’t realized our defense was ranked that low, and frankly I’m surprised to hear it. Our run stopping has been very impressive this year, keeping 6 of our 9 opponents to less than 100 yards rushing. Our secondary has played very inconsistently this season, and not just from game to game, but even from play to play. Last week they allowed an unguarded UVa receiver to catch a pass and score a 39 yard touchdown without being touched 10 seconds from the end of the first half. Lapses like that are what kill our defense. The combination of a solid passing attack and a tendency to put points on the board makes Clemson’s offense very scary this week.
Do you have any key injuries? Who will you be missing if anyone?
No injuries of note this week. Fullback Rich Belton will likely still be out this week, however we haven’t seemed to miss him much. Although he will play, defensive end Matt Robinson has a history of injuries and has already been hurt a couple of times this year. If he gets hurt again, our lack of depth at DE becomes a factor.
How good is Josh Adams? Does he tend to be more of a North/South runner or more of a sideline-to-sideline back?
For a redshirt-freshman, Josh Adams is one heck of a running back. He didn’t start getting the large majority of the carries until our fourth game against Maryland, and still has 651 yards and 6 touchdowns. He also averages an impressive 4.8ypc.
Although Adams has the ability to run both north/south and east/west, I find him most impressive when he finds a hole between the tackles and takes off. His 83 yard touchdown run against Florida State was one of the most explosive runs I’ve ever seen out of a Wake running back. He’s going to be a special player for the next several years.
Yeah, I'd say that's a bit dickish.
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