Five Good Minutes: Wake Forest Football Preview With Blogger So Dear
by A.J Black on Jul 8, 2011 11:00 AM EDT
in Boston College Football
Email
PrintPart of an abbreviated Wake Forest preview week
As part of our Wake Forest preview, I sat down with Riley Johnston of the SBN Wake Forest blog Bloggers So Dear to find out more about this year's Demon Deacons football team.
BC Interruption: Last year was a tough year for Wake Forest and their fans. Will this year be any different?
Bloggers So Dear: Well let's put it this way: we sure as hell can't get much worse. We had a very, very young defense last year, particularly in the secondary. When you have youth and inexperience in such an important sector then it is not very surprising that you are going to give up a ton of yards and points. That is exactly what we did in many games. Both sides of the ball should be very much improved with another year under their belt. In terms of record it is really hard to say how we will do because of the difficult schedule we have next year. At home alone, Wake faces Notre Dame, FSU, Virginia Tech and N.C. State. I think we will improve by one or two games in the standings, but will be a much better team.
BCI: Tanner Price and Chase Rettig were both freshman QB's in the ACC last season and put up eerily similar numbers. Who do you think will have a bigger 2011 season?
BSD: Both of our QB's were really thrown into the fire without a lot of support last year. Boston College at least had a formidable defense to protect the quarterback with in terms of keeping the scoring low. Not to mention one of the best running backs in the country in Montel Harris, who could put up Heisman like numbers. I think that Tanner Price is going to be a great QB for us going forward (assuming he doesn't lose his starting spot to Kevin Sousa in a year), but next year he will likely see some more growing pains. It will help that our offensive line is bigger and better to protect him in the pocket, but that can only go so far. I have heard that Price is putting himself through some grueling workouts to get better, and if that is the case then it should pay off a good amount. I think that Rettig will be more of a game manager for BC, while Price will be called on a little more for Wake Forest. Since they are going to be asked to do different things it is hard to say who will have the "bigger" year, but I expect Price will have the better numbers, while Rettig manages games better.
BCI: Boston College had the 109th ranked offense last year, and Wake Forest had the 110th ranked defense. Looking at this year's matchup, what force of mediocrity will prevail? Who do you have winning it?
BSD: At this point I have very little idea what to expect for Wake Forest. BC is definitely a game that is in our "toss-up" category. I think it comes down to how well our rush defense is. If we are giving up 100 yards a game on the ground, then Harris is going to eat us alive. Hell he will probably tear us apart no matter what we do. If we can force Rettig to beat us and make the big passes when it matters then I think we have a fair chance. I don't know a lot about BC and how their defense is supposed to be, but I would take a guess and say that y'all have the advantage in that sector. At this point I will say that Boston College is probably the favorite by a touchdown or so, but I will revise that when we talk again before the game.
BCI: Who will turn it around first -- Wake Forest basketball or football?
BSD: I have to say Wake Forest football. Both programs are on the rise (they have to be haha), and after last year the fans are really impatient with the entire administration. Coach Grobe seems to have the parts in place to make another run at the upper echelon of the ACC in the next couple of years. We are recruiting a lot better, have some fantastic athletes on both sides of the ball, and our coaching staff knows what it takes to be competitive and put us in a place to win. In basketball nearly everything is a huge question mark. We were the worst team in the history of the ACC record wise last year. I think we will improve by 6-7 games next year (so 13-14 wins total), and maybe 4-5 wins in the ACC. That is certainly not good, but it is considerable improvement over the monstrosity of a season that was last year. A lot will depend on the recruiting class that we have coming in in 2012. If they prove to be game changers then we might be back in the NCAA in 3 years. I think we can make a bowl in football in 2 years, so I'm going with our football team.
BCI: Last one. Wake Forest only managed one win in the ACC last year. What will Wake Forest fans consider a successful 2011 season?
BSD: On the whole, most people want us to make a bowl game. I think that is a bit unrealistic given our schedule and really only 2-3 games that we "should win" (right now Gardner Webb, Duke, and Vanderbilt). There are a few tossup games too with Boston College, N.C. State, Maryland and Syracuse, but there are also a lot of games that are probably unlikely wins: North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Florida State, Notre Dame and Clemson. If we can go 2-2 in those toss-up games, it would put us in a good position to steal one in the last group. That being said, if we beat Notre Dame then I think we would all be happy. Everybody is recognizing this as our best home slate ever at Groves Stadium, and the ticket sales reflect that. There should be some fantastic games this year and I am really looking forward to it. I guess the bottom line would be 6 wins to make people happy, but if we can steal a win or two against UNC, VT, FSU and Notre Dame, that would make a lot of people pretty happy.
You can read more about Wake Forest from Riley and the other talented guys at Blogger So Dear. Make sure to follow RJ on Twitter as well.
31 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Tossup
While I disagree with the characterization, I think it speaks volumes about the staff that a Wake Forest team coming off a 3-9 year considers us a toss-up game.
Well, BC hasn’t done a great job of putting Wake away the past two years. Consider an overtime win (we should have lost if not for a fumble, I was at the game) and a pretty close 10 point win.
by Wisconsineagle on Jul 8, 2011 11:33 PM EDT up reply actions
Deacs and Dooks and Doofuses
Wake thinks they are on par with BC! Get Serious Deacs. I think Duke thinks they are pretty close too. Stop dreaming Dooks. Clemson has got us as a sure “W” too. I am sure Maryland thinks the same.
Too bad Spaz can’t talk up BC with some confidence, if only to cut into the rising confidence of clearly inferior opponents.
And what is this further insult that Rettig will be “game manager” and Price some kind of gun slinger.. Rettig is way, way better than Tanner Price. Good Lord. This Doofus Wake guy is acting like a mini-Clemson blogger. Must be a Southern overconfidence thing.
I was attempting to compliment Harris more than slam Rettig.
Price and Rettig had very similar statistics last year, and y’all definitely have the better running back in Montel Harris rather than Josh Harris. I just believe that Wake Forest will have to rely more on Tanner Price to make big plays than y’all will rely on Chase Rettig to make big plays. That’s not an insult at all in my opinion. Time will tell as to who the better player is over the next couple of years and I will have no problem saying that Rettig is better if he proves himself to be so.
Take a look at the stats from last year between the two:
NAME CMP ATT YDS CMP% YDS/A TD INT RAT
Chase Rettig 100 195 1238 51.3 6.35 6 9 105.5
Tanner Price 137 241 1349 56.8 5.60 7 8 106.8
I just don’t see anything there that suggests Rettig is “way, way better” than Price unless if you know something that I don’t know.
Boston College beat Wake Forest last year 23-13, and were only down by 7 points with under 10 minutes left. Our team was really, really bad last year with our only wins coming over Duke, Presbyterian, and Vanderbilt. I don’t think it’s a stretch to think that our game is considered a “toss-up” when we should be a little better and y’all will likely win 7-8 games again. Even most 8 win teams do not usually blow out their opponents week in and week out.
I just don’t think that it is fair to characterize me as a “mini-Clemson blogger” when I suggest that our game may be a toss-up, especially considering that y’all rely on a strong defense and an elite running back. Those things are usually conducive to a closer, tighter game with most opponents, and the stats last year back that up. BC’s final 8 games last year were all decided by 10 points or less, with 4 half of those decided by 5 points or less.
Wake Forest '12
Mother So Dear
Well
Look at QBr vs same opponents (excluding no defense duke)
FSU Rettig 71 Price 57
Clemson. Rettig 135 price 98
Maryland. Rettig 101 price 98
Vs wake/bc. Rettig 120 price 82
Rettig performed better than Price in every instance (except dook 158 v 188). Rettig was also a much more sought after recruit.
And that was under hold ’em back OC Tranquill.
I hope my guy is the next Matt Ryan and your guy is the next Riley Skinner. We shall see, but my $$ is on Rettig.
Psssst
Last year’s game really was not that close. BC scored on 2nd play from scrimmage and was firmly in control throughout
It's fine that y'all were in control, but we were within at touchdown in the 4th quarter
That game can go either way, which is what a toss-up is in my book.
Wake Forest '12
Mother So Dear
If it wasn’t that close you would have put it away much earlier.
'11: Minimum Goal: Win 10 games again
'10: 7th in offense, 41st in defense. Division Champions. 10-4. (6-3)
'09: 3rd in offense, 107th in defense. 7-6 (4-4)
Tomahawk Nation Nole-Holds-Barred Analysis of FSU Sports!
Follow Tomahawk Nation's Twitter feed!
It was PUT away . . .
. . . On second play from scrimmage. Harris had close to 200 yards. Wake’s only TD came off great filed position off an interception and some blown coverage two plays later. It did happen once, but was not going to happen again. C’mon now, we are talking Wake 2010.
Wake never had ball when game within 7
After fluke TD, Bc went into ground control mode and chewed up 7 minutes and got a FG. Game never in danger of quick strike by Wake.
It wasn't a "fluke" play but that's besides the point.
I know how bad we were last year obviously. I’m not trying to get into an argument. I thought that my initial statements were more than fair to Boston College and weren’t in anyway dismissing how good y’all (or Chase Rettig) is going to be this year. In no way was I trying to offend BC or their fans.
Wake Forest '12
Mother So Dear
Me too Skinner has an ACC Title ring and gave Wake an OB appearance
Blogger So Dear
"Meet me on the Quad at midnight" Skip Prosser
WW
After watching BC last season, I have to agree with the WF guys here. At no point last season did BC have control of an ACC game. They sputtered against even the bottom rung teams like Wake and Duke. Could things be different this year? Absolutely. But until we see BC’s offense this year, people have the right to be skeptical about the Eagles. We are talking about a team that was horrid on offense last year, and if they show the same timidity on offense this year could be very rough. I think BSD’s point is valid, whether we agree with it or not.
Writer at BC Interruption SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
Follow me on Twitter
So predictable
I hope I do not offend the new rules of King Brian – who seems to prefer calm to substance – but I am not surprised at the pessimism found here under the name of realism,
At No point did BC have control,over an ACC game
Really..are you a really from BU or what?
At no point after 1q was Wake in a position to even tie the score. BC offense was bad, but the team also has a defense which you choose to ignore. With Harris chewing up yards (183!) and clock and Kuechley chewing up Wake ball handlers, BC was in full control. Geez, BCH even the Wake cheerleader agrees BC was in control. What’s with you guys??? I am starting to have some doubts about the passion round here. Milquetoast. Bah.
Wake Game
I was nervous as hell during that Wake game. So, in the 4th, Wake gets within 20-13, but BC takes a ton of time off the clock to kick a field goal to essentially seal the game at 23-13 with under 4 minutes left.
But, before we kicked that field goal, I was freakin’ out with every play during that drive. We ran the ball on 3rd and 6! (Granted, Montel was dominating, but still…). BC was feeling good at points during this game, and after three quarters, BC was in control. But, that 4th quarter was nerve-racking as hell. No reason to rip on the Wake blogger’s comments.
Rip?
No reason to rip on the Wake blogger’s comments.
Rip? Where was the ripping? Do tell Murph.
Do you think Wake football is on par with BC? If so, we disagree . Dook on par too? Are you comfortable being lumped with the bottom of the ACC barrel? I hope not. BC deserves better than that, ESP on a supposed pro-BC blog
Seriously, BC should trounce these guys this year. It is not a “toss up”
We are 3-5 vs. BC since 2000.
Y’all have beaten us by 10 twice, and we have beaten y’all by 4, 7, and 3. Why would you “trounce” us this year when our team was much worse last year and you only beat us by 10? I don’t know a ton about BC football this year and haven’t done my usual research, but are y’all supposed to be much better next year? If so I will think again about the game, but I thought most people believe BC will be around the same as last year. Sorry if I am off at all.
I don’t think the teams are equal this year. Y’all will almost certainly finish ahead of us in the standings by 2-3 games, and I believe Boston College is the better team. I don’t think it’s head and shoulders above like you do, but who knows, I could be wrong and you could be right.
I think the ripping he was referring to was where you called me a “doofus”, “overconfident” (a southern thing), and a “mini-Clemson blogger”. I could be wrong there too though.
Wake Forest '12
Mother So Dear
I happen to think that Duke is a notch below us...
maybe you would disagree with me on that too, but they haven’t been to a bowl for a very long time (I believe 1991 or whenever Spurrier was their head coach). We have also beaten them 11 straight times. I don’t like being lumped with Duke when the success between the two programs over the last decade has been night and day.
Wake Forest '12
Mother So Dear
Thank you for your advice, I will keep that in mind as I go through life.
Wake Forest '12
Mother So Dear
RAJohnston covered the part where I thought that you did a little ripping (ripping people is fine, but I just didn’t think that he deserved it there).
And no, I do not think that Wake or Duke is on par with BC football. BC should beat both of them easily. I think that BC will win both of those games this year, but at this point in the summer, I don’t think that it will be a beatdown (maybe I’ll change after seeing some games against Northwestern and UCF first). The Wake blogger also considered NC State, Maryland, and Syracuse games as toss-ups. Everyone is optimistic as this point haha…
Small sample size here, but in ACC conference games under Spaz, BC has blown out one opponent (NC State – 2009) while every other game has been within 7 (except for the Wake game last year, which was 10).
BC was the better team than Wake last year, but they sure didn’t prove it on the field. In no game was BC firmly in control because of our anemic offense and turtling strategies.
Wake was the closest thing to a a game where BC was firmly in control, but after the trick play Wake TD, BC was only up by a score in the fourth.
If not for one extremely fortunate fumble, BC should have lost to Wake in 2009. In 2008, we needed a Dominique Davis TD with less than 2 minutes left to get past the Deacs. In 2007, Wake popped us in the mouth in the home opener going up 14-0 and if we didn’t have Matt Ryan, we probably lose that game (and the 2007 season ends up very differently).
BC has gone 4-0 against Wake in the last four games, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. The Deacs could (and probably should) have knocked us off in at least 1, maybe 2 of those games. The Eagles are clearly the more accomplished program historically, but Wake has played us very close in all six ACC contests. I certainly don’t think the BC and Wake programs are on the same level historically, but you have to respect what Grobe has done there — if for no other reason than BC’s inability to put these guys firmly away year in and year out.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
BCI: Who will turn it around first — Wake Forest basketball or football?
BSD: I have to say Wake Forest football.
Via Twitter: RT @DeaconsSpyder: Wake Forest’s Melvin Tabb and Ty Walker Suspended Indefinitely.
Score one point for the BSD prognosticators.
Writer at BC Interruption SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
Follow me on Twitter
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on BC Interruption
Related FanShots on BC Interruption
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
