After scoring 38 points against Georgia Tech in North Carolina’s biggest win of the season so far, the Tar Heel offense will face its stiffest test yet this week against Wake Forest.
The Demon Deacons have bedeviled opposing offenses this season, ranking 15th in the country in total defense through six weeks. They allow fewer than 300 total yards per game, including less than 150 through the air.
“They’re a good defense, they’ve put up great numbers, got good stats and they’re stingy,” said redshirt senior guard Landon Turner.
Wake Forest isn’t without a weakness — the team is 59th in the country against the run, allowing a little over 150 yards per game. But in its second year under head coach Dave Clawson, the team seems to have bought in to his aggressive, high-effort style of defense.
“More than anything, when I watch the film, they just fly around and give a lot of effort,” Turner said. “That’ll give you a lot of positive plays, especially on defense, in and of itself.”
The Demon Deacons run a wide variety of blitzes to attack opponents. While some teams have a few set blitzes they’ll run from specific formations, Wake Forest runs multiple blitzes from multiple formations, with a lot of movement before the snap to disguise their intentions.
“They’re real diverse,” said junior center Lucas Crowley. “It’s not anything we haven’t seen, but they do everything, they incorporate a lot of different things.”
Along with blitzes, Wake Forest tends to run mostly single-high safety coverages, either Cover 1 or Cover 3, and play press coverage with its defensive backs. Combined with the blitzes, this puts a lot of pressure on wide receivers to be physical and get open before the pass rush reaches the quarterback.
But the downside is it also puts a lot of pressure on the defensive backs to not make a mistake. Fail to jam Ryan Switzer, Bug Howard, Mack Hollins or Quinshad Davis at the line of scrimmage and it could easily be a touchdown.
