Film review: Wake Forest 42, Old Dominion 10
For everything written about tough preparation, Wake Forest seemed well-equipped for Monarchs
Gamesmanship or just an undersell, who knows, but Wake Forest certainly had a better grasp on Old Dominion’s schemes than we were told they’d have.
Playing an opener always involves guesswork, and the wrinkle to this was facing ODU second-year coach Ricky Rahne in his first game after the Monarchs opted out last season.
But once the Deacons got out there and saw fragments of the Penn State offense and the defense they expected?
Not all that difficult in a 42-10 win.
“I think we kind of knew what we might get, and that was what they came out in,” said quarterback Sam Hartman, who tossed three touchdowns.
“We were all a little nervous going out there, not knowing exactly what they were going to do,” linebacker Luke Masterson said. “But luckily some of the stuff they were doing from Penn State translated over, so the stuff we were practicing was pretty similar.”
Here’s what I picked up while re-watching the game:
- Well I wish I’d seen the pre-game Twitter announcement of D.J. Mack Jr. as the starting quarterback.
- Coby Davis started at nickel and made the first tackle of the game. It was strange to me that his position on the depth chart was listed as “safety,” with Traveon Redd and Chelen Garnes at “rover,” because the latter is pretty much abandoned in grand scheme of things.
- Really nice play by Luke Masterson on second down. He was second on the team with seven tackles.
- First look at a third-down package, for third-and-5: Ja’Sir Taylor goes to nickel, Caelen Carson and Gavin Holmes are corners. Davis drops back to safety. Three-man line is Ja’Corey Johns, Jasheen Davis and Miles Fox. Garnes, Masterson and Redd near the line of scrimmage, disguising where pressure is coming. Nasir Greer is deep.
So that’s three DLs, one converted linebacker, three corners, four safeties.
- Ali Jennings III beat Garnes to the inside but dropped it.
- If you get a Christian Beal-Smith run for 7 yards on first down, disappointing to have to punt. But …
The second-down run was a good play by ODU; the third-down pass was a hold on the defensive back covering Jaquarii Roberson down the seam.
- What’s the omen if your first punt of the season is partially blocked?
I can’t tell if there needed to be a pre-snap adjustment or if this is on Ivan Mora for not being faster in his operation. I lean toward the latter.
Deacons got lucky that it bounced and rolled as far as it did and it was still 37-yard punt.
- OK, saw the replay from behind Mora. George Sell. Gotta be better than that.
- Healthy Nasir Greer, man.
- DJ Taylor misses a run fill and it’s a 10-yard gain. That’s part of why he had the lowest Pro Football Focus grade (42.3) of the 34 players who took defensive snaps in this game.
- Ah, there’s a good stuff by Taylor (along with Masterson) on a third-and-2 run.
- This fourth-and-1 stop is all about Jasheen Davis, Sulaiman Kamara and Fox, who blow up ODU’s line. If the Deacons get that kind of push and penetration from their defensive line in short-yardage situations, that’s going to help the defense so much.
- I’ll try not to hit the same talking points from last year over and over again, but …
Stop throwing screens to Roberson. Please.
He’s a fantastic receiver. He doesn’t have the quick-twitch, make-people-miss moves like Greg Dortch.
- Beal-Smith’s 48-yard touchdown run is a good display of when to kick a run to the outside, and is another example of his oft-overlooked home run ability.
More than anything, though, it’s a Zach Tom highlight. Beal-Smith goes around the left edge because Tom simply stands up the defensive end and moves him backward 4 yards to seal the edge.
- Maybe it’s a good thing Nick Sciba only kicked PATs in this game: Three of the seven misses in his career have come in season openers.
- Carson makes a nice tackle on a swing pass, but it’s Coby Davis blowing up the blocking that makes the play happen.
- It’s so fun to see Ja’Sir Taylor play confident football — like on this open-field tackle on third down.
He called this performance a statement for the defense.
“We had a great defense (last year), in my opinion, but we weren’t consistent. That’s something that we harped on in fall camp. We hear it every day,” Taylor said. “A lot of those stats like third down, things that we needed to do to get off the field, we put it all together out there today.”
ODU was 5-for-17 (29.4%) on third down; Opponents converted 41.6% of third downs last season.
- This personal foul on a punt return irked coach Dave Clawson — Gavin Holmes, I think, was the guilty party.
It moved Wake Forest from starting on ODU’s 49-yard line (nice return by Taylor Morin) to starting at its 21.
- It’s … uh … how to put this delicately …
It’s a good thing the camera operator was faked out and you couldn’t see A) Sam Hartman’s decision to throw a bubble to Roberson or B) Roberson get lit up as soon as he catches it.
This is the RPO where the pass option is a bubble screen and I swear, the only time I’ve seen it work is when John Wolford was running it with Greg Dortch. I don’t think we should see this play again.
Oh look, you got a replay to see the hit anyway.
- Hartman stands in on third-and-11 and hits Roberson for 19 yards — good blitz pickup by Justice Ellison.
- Always interesting to get fresh perspective on Wake Forest’s warp-speed offense from an analyst who hasn’t seen it live before, which I think is the case for Forrest Conoly.
I mean, it’s not like it’s breaking news. Wake Forest goes fast and doesn’t substitute, so opposing defenses aren’t likely to sub, either.
- Hartman has to hit this deep ball to A.T. Perry, yes. But Perry could’ve been more aggressive in coming back to the ball.
“I got out of there fast. For me, I could’ve come back,” Perry said when asked specifically about the play. “We run that all the time, we throw back-shoulders, over-the-shoulder, up top.
“So for me, I could’ve just went up top, caught it on him. That was a good play call.”
- Ellison on second-and-10 breaks a nice run but instead of keeping it inside, tries to outside and doesn’t pick up the yard or two he would have if he’d stayed inside of Donald Stewart’s block.
That tends to hurt when this eventually becomes a turnover on downs.
- Here’s the first failed short-yardage attempt: It’s a missed assignment by either Quinton Cooley or Blake Whiteheart, one of which is supposed to pick up the backside crash.
I’m not going to get too in-depth on these because I want to write something this week about these failed situations.
- Masterson with a really good open-field tackle on D.J. Mack Jr.
- ODU had one play that went for more than 12 yards — which really makes it comical that some of you want to sound alarm bells about how “well” the Monarchs ran the ball — and this is it, a 31-yard run.
To my untrained eyes, this is on Chelen Garnes. Masterson and Smenda look to fill where they’re supposed to be, but Garnes’ man goes in motion at the snap and he’s bailing to no man’s land instead of filling the hole.
This is a reminder, though, that I never played any high-level football and could be mistaken.
- Here I come to rain on the parade again: The next play is Jasheen Davis’ first sack and it shouldn’t be a sack, as Mack isn’t looking to pass. He bobbles the snap and turns to the field without looking like he’s trying to make a throw.
This is the stuff that breeds arguments between coaching staffs and statisticians — though it’s not like Wake’s coaches are going to take away a sack from their own guy. Trying to measure a player’s intent can be impossible, but it just doesn’t seem like Mack is looking to make a pass here.
- The more-impressive play by Davis, anyway, is the next play as he makes a tackle in the hole while shouldering a block from a pulling tight end.
As I told Austin the recruiting office intern (who was on the perch above the practice fields) during Wake Forest’s first scrimmage: Jasheen Davis is a future NFL player, probably will be drafted, if he continues his trajectory.
- So the kicker was talking shit to Ja’Sir Taylor after ODU cut it to 7-3, and then Taylor returned his kickoff for a touchdown.
Noted.
- Geez, the blocks by Garnes and Morin on the kick return are *chef’s kiss.*
Every return touchdown every has at least one or two of these blocks that make the touchdown possible.
Man, it’s a shame the TV cut out before Taylor got to Donavon Greene. Here’s what Taylor told us after the game about that moment:
“And then to make it all special, when I got into the end zone, the first person that I saw was Donavon Greene,” Taylor said. “As you know, he’s out for the year and he’s usually our kick returner, my heart for him was just to give him a hug and just make him feel embraced and loved.
“I was like, ‘I love you, bro,’ and I gave him a big hug.”
- Malik Mustapha makes a special teams tackle, and he had one or two more in this game – which is fantastic, because he spent the majority of fall camp in the pit with an injury.
- ODU gets three straight plays of 7 yards — the first and third ones were runs with missed tackles at the line by DJ Taylor and Masterson, respectively.
- Ha, there’s Dion Bergan Jr. with a TFL. His only tackle of the game and he only played 14 snaps, per PFF.
- All right, here’s the Traveon Redd interception. Which is a fantastic play and I’ll beat the “Tra Redd is a damn good football player” drum in a minute.
But first, Vilain gets credit for blowing up the blocking and forcing Mack out of the pocket. Kamara gets credit for pursuing him while staying under control. And it’s Coby Davis with a tip on the pass.
Then it’s Redd making a marvelous play on the ball, being a genuinely good football player who doesn’t get enough recognition from outside the Wake Forest circle of things.
- Zach Tom, whenever he chooses to leave Wake Forest, will be drafted.
- Perry on a post for the 36-yard touchdown — it’s a better throw by Hartman, but it looks (to me) like Perry does a better job adjusting and coming back to the ball.
Ethan Joyce of the Journal and I had a good back-and-forth with Perry about him working out some nerves before kickoff in the post-game interview.
“I ain’t gonna lie, I was kinda nervous. I was nervous, I was anxious, I had to call my mom to calm me down,” Perry said.
I asked when he called her, whether we talking earlier that morning or from the locker room leading up to the start of the game, or sometime in between.
“I ain’t gonna lie, I called her three times today. I called this morning, I called her this afternoon and I called her before the game,” he said. “I was really anxious, like I said.
“But as soon as I stepped on the field and I saw all of those fans, I was like, ‘It’s time. It’s time.’”
- Chase Jones didn’t have a good PFF grade (50.4), but gets a TFL on a nice crash of a read-option.
(also: don’t put *all* of your eggs in the PFF basket — it’s a tool, not the end-all, be-all)
- Nasir Greer, man.
- Hartman takes a hit from a couple of defenders and doesn’t look shaken up, but is subbed out anyway for Mitch Griffis.
As I tweeted at the time, this indicates to me that Griffis “won” the backup QB battle against Michael Kern in fall camp.
- Ke’Shawn Williams is a gunner on punt cover and is the backup punt returner — which makes it easy for him to run down the field and catch this punt at the 8-yard line.
- Here’s the rollercoaster we’ll probably ride with Jasheen Davis this year: One play, run stop of Mack on a QB keeper, strong tackle.
Next play, gets both hands on Mack and should have a sack, but Mack escapes for a 4-yard scramble.
And here’s the reminder: Boogie Basham was backing up Duke Ejiofor in his second season, and Boogie’s redshirt sophomore year when he was a first-time starter was kind of #NotGoodDino.
Which is to say: Davis is ahead of that curve right now.
- Caelen Carson didn’t play against Clemson in last year’s opener — nice for him to turn in a stellar performance in his first opener.
(Third-down PBU is what prompted this)
- I hate that Jahmal Banks’ only target had pass interference and you didn’t get to see him do what he did throughout fall camp.
But at least it was a positive play.
- Donald Stewart made a fantastic play on a bit of an errant throw by Hartman to convert this third-and-4.
- First-and-goal from the 7 — remember, first-and-goal rushing plays from between the 5 and 10 never seem to work, at least for the Deacons.
So I don’t have much of a problem with passing here.
- Hartman scrambles and picks up 5 yards, so we go to second-and-goal from the 2.
OK, that’s where I figured we’d see Heavy Deac. But the only change is to put a second tight end on the field and remove the slot receiver.
- Oh yeah, Banks had a second target. If he was 7-4 instead of 6-4, he’d have caught his first touchdown.
- Any target of Roberson that isn’t a screen is a good play, so, touchdown.
Even against good coverage and a lob, touchdown.
- Man, Miles Fox was really good in this game. Five tackles tells you part of the story — but also, PFF has had graded at 76.7, tied for third-best on Wake Forest’s defense.
The only players in front of him were Ja’Sir Taylor (81.2) and Caelen Carson (80.7) — and it’s odd that Fox played 47 snaps and their snap counts were in the 30s.
(the Deacons need Tyler Williams to get healthy)
- Taylor’s interception is … I mean … it’s his fifth career interception and involved the least effort, I’d say.
Mack makes a horrible read and gifts it to him.
“He just gave it to me, so I’ll proudly take that,” Taylor said. “To be honest, I was still tired from the kickoff return. I’m glad I took it that far, to be honest.”
- First-and-goal from the 7, never going to fault a pass here. Hartman just overthrows Ke’Shawn Williams by a small margin.
- Beal-Smith gets 6 yards on second down and now here come the plays that give you acid reflux.
- Two #NotGoodDino short-yardage failures to end the half.
- Same Wake Forest commercial as the past year or two?
- All right, it’s 28-3 to start the second half. I’m going to breeze through the re-watch of the second half — there will be more-interesting halves of football for the Deacons this season, that I can promise.
- Sublime throw from Hartman to Perry to convert a third-and-16 — but it’s the only decent play out of six on Wake’s opening possession of the second half.
Yuck.
- Evan Slocum gets in there for the first series of the second half.
- Taylor, I’m tempted to say, should’ve had a pick-6 here.
- Kamara and Smenda absolutely ruin a third-and-4 run up the middle (which was telegraphed), along with Rondell Bothroyd — in the game for the first time after sitting out the first half because of a targeting penalty in the second half of the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
- Carson looked like he took the brunt of a hit here and I think he’s the only significant injury concern coming out of this game for the Deacons.
It bodes well that he walked off the field gingerly — maybe only a shoulder stinger.
- 9-yard runs on first down are an what offensive coordinators’ dreams are made of.
- This drive — Wake’s second of the half — was the first time it felt like the Deacons were hitting a stride offensively.
- Ellison was really good on this drive — five touches for 45 yards.
And there’s a cheap shot of Stewart at the end of Ellison’s last touch; I was kind of surprised this was called and Zach Tom’s shove in retaliation wasn’t — not because Tom’s should’ve been flagged, but because of the old “they caught the second act but not what preceded it” cliché.
Good officiating is the moral of the story here.
- Malik Mustapha again, kickoff tackle inside the 15. Kind of makes you excited for what he can do with defensive snaps.
- A couple of good plays for JJ Roberts, one on a run and another on a PBU.
- Chelen Garnes gets cut-blocked and still has Mack wrapped up before he gets rid of it.
Well, the depth in the secondary is so far, so good.
- If ODU is going to keep Mack as its quarterback, going to need the Monarchs to eliminate the procedure penalties on punts.
(they’re going to punt a lot, in case that’s not clear)
- Between Ellison looking strong and Christian Turner fumbling, I’d expect there to be a little more of a difference in their touches next week (at least while the first-team offense is on the field).
- Chase Jones whiffs (badly) on a TFL, which probably has a lot to do with his subpar PFF grade.
- Garnes in the Justin Strnad role on third-and-long, spying the QB and hand-fighting with the linemen. He’s rewarded with a ½-sack.
- Ah, good multi-cut run up the middle by Turner on his first carry since the fumble.
- Spencer Clapp finally got in there at left tackle — Tom moved to right — and graded out well in one area and not great in another: 80.5 pass blocking, 54.7 run blocking (per PFF).
- Sciba’s first kickoff had good hangtime and was caught inside the 5, and the cover team should’ve made a tackle inside the 20, but nobody made a play.
If the Deacons have two capable kickoff guys and didn’t have to get them from the transfer portal … look out.
- All right, all of the starters out, that’ll just about do it for this re-watch.
Blame the McKenzie Milton Magic — and then Brian Kelly’s strange attempt at being a comedian — for me not having enough steam to make it through this thing. Got a little distracted Sunday night.
Thanks for reading. Let me know any thoughts you’ve got.
And as an editor’s note: Wake Up will be operational throughout the rest of the month, albeit without daily emails. But My Takes will still be sent on here. Don’t worry about unsubscribing — I’ve frozen renewals, so if you’ve got a monthly subscription, you (hopefully) shouldn’t be charged again.
Excellent work Conor. Really happy for your opportunity with Deacon Illustrated. I hope they know how lucky they are to have you. The OGboard really seemed down on the Deacs after the game which I thought was harsh. Sam didn’t have his best game but completed 66.6% of his passes and threw for three touchdowns and no interceptions. I’m sure Sam Howell would have loved those numbers.