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Day After the Storm: Wake Forest Observations

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NYCCaneadian

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A Friday night ACC game on the road is never easy. There’s always some chaos, and this one definitely had it.

Miami looked completely dominant for most of the first half, went up 31-7, and I was basically ready to see the backups come in and let Mensah chase 30 straight completions or whatever ridiculous number he was going to get to.

Then we inexplicably took our foot off the pedal and Wake fought back (give them a little credit);

My top observations:
  • This game was basically a mix of USF 2024 and FSU 2025. Miami looked completely in control early, then suddenly started showing some of the same weaknesses that better teams are going to attack. Wake exposed some things, particularly with LB coverage and how we were defending certain concepts, similar to what USF did in 2024. USF didn’t dominate us offensively, but they showed everyone some things that could be attacked. At the same time, Miami looked like two completely different teams, which reminded me of FSU 2025. At one point, we were cruising and I was wondering how quickly we could get the backups in. Then suddenly I’m sitting there thinking, “Are we really going to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?” Thankfully, no.
  • Darian Mensah was absolutely ridiculous in the first half. 20-for-20, and 31 straight completions going back to the previous game. The offense looked completely effortless. He was taking what Wake gave him, hitting the checkdowns, staying on schedule and just methodically moving the ball. I know the second half was a different story, but just appreciate it for what it is. We aren’t going to see stretches of football from a QB like that very often.
  • In the first half, I actually liked seeing Mensah take what the defense was giving him. There was no need to force the ball downfield when Wake was giving him easy completions underneath. He did seem to get a little into his own head toward the end of that streak, though. His last 5-6 throws before it ended weren’t nearly as sharp.
  • One critique of Mensah is he’s more mobile than he seems to realize. There were a couple opportunities where he could have picked up some yards with his legs, but he still doesn’t seem to have much confidence in that part of his game. And with our current O line situation, we will need his mobility.
  • The offense is really, really good. The scary part for everyone else is that we haven’t even needed to force the ball to everybody. Barkate went from being a 1,100-yard receiver at Duke to looking like WR4 at times. That’s just how ridiculous this receiver room is. Having a proven ACC receiver get relatively quiet usage because there are so many other guys who can make plays is a pretty good problem to have.
  • I’m not going to completely bury the defense because they eventually made the plays they needed to make. But there were way too many missed tackles and too many situations where Wake was able to create something underneath. Mo Toure and Omar Thornton got targeted a few times in coverage, and Wake clearly liked that matchup. The missed tackle by Mo on the big fourth down to Hernandez to ice the game in Q4 was particularly frustrating.
  • The defensive line also isn’t nearly as bad as I was probably making it sound during the first 2 games. They got a ton of pressure late, and Wake was holding constantly. If all those holds had been called, Miami probably would have had a few more sacks. So I’m not sitting here thinking the DL is some disaster. They just need to be more consistent, especially against better offensive lines.
  • I really liked Hetherman’s calls on third down in the second half. He seemed to anticipate exactly what Wake wanted to do and set a trap for it. That’s the kind of thing you want to see from this defense. Don’t just react to what the offense is doing. Start dictating what they can do.
  • Damari Brown has given me plenty to complain about this season. Please get this man away from gunner duty before he injures Malachi Toney any more. He had one nice TFL on a screen pass but that’s about all the love I can give him.
  • Speaking of Toney, I noticed he seemed to be coming off the field on third downs. Hopefully that’s nothing. With the number of guys getting banged up in this game, I’m not interested in assuming anything until we know what’s actually going on. Also can we get him a better pair of cleats or teach him how to tie his laces?
  • The injuries are the biggest concern coming out of this game. Marty is a significant loss. He was becoming a really important piece of this offense, and the stretch-zone stuff was working pretty well before he went down.
  • The offensive line is probably still my biggest concern with this team.
    We’re not pushing guys around the way we did last year. There were too many plays where Wake was getting penetration, and against a really good defensive front, that’s going to become a much bigger problem. This offense is good enough to win the ACC. I’m still not sure it’s good enough to make a deep playoff run if the OL doesn’t improve.
  • I’m still trying to figure out exactly what this team is. I can see a path to winning the ACC. The offense is that good, and there is enough talent on defense to make this a very good team.
    But I’m not convinced yet that this is a team I’m comfortable projecting deep into the playoff. The OL needs to get better, the defense needs to clean up some of these issues, and we desperately need to get healthy.

Overall, this was a weird one. Miami showed us exactly how good it can be, and then showed us exactly what can happen when a good ACC team starts figuring out the weaknesses.

It’s a win, and a road ACC win is a road ACC win. But this is probably a game we’re going to want to forget pretty quickly.

Hopefully next week is boring as **** and we can get some guys healthy.
 
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Great post. Those are my sentiments exactly. The one good thing about this is we know how lazy people are. Most probably went to bed at the half when we were blowing them out and didn’t see the mess we trotted out in the second half. At one point, I started having Maryland flashbacks. IYKYK. That’s how bad it got for me.
 
OL is not championship caliber and OL play is difficult to adjust mid-season.

Not sure if it's in Mario's DNA to abandon it but the power run stuff is not going to work.

If we can't knock back Wake we won't knock back anyone in the playoffs (or ND).

On the positive side, Mensah and the skill positions on offense are the goods.
 
NYCCaneadian said:
A Friday night ACC game on the road is never easy. There’s always some chaos, and this one definitely had it.

Miami looked completely dominant for most of the first half, went up 31-7, and I was basically ready to see the backups come in and let Mensah chase 30 straight completions or whatever ridiculous number he was going to get to.

Then we inexplicably took our foot off the pedal and Wake fought back (give them a little credit);

My top observations:
  • This game was basically a mix of USF 2024 and FSU 2025. Miami looked completely in control early, then suddenly started showing some of the same weaknesses that better teams are going to attack. Wake exposed some things, particularly with LB coverage and how we were defending certain concepts, similar to what USF did in 2024. USF didn’t dominate us offensively, but they showed everyone some things that could be attacked.
  • At the same time, Miami looked like two completely different teams, which reminded me of FSU 2025. At one point, we were cruising and I was wondering how quickly we could get the backups in. Then suddenly I’m sitting there thinking, “Are we really going to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?” Thankfully, no.
  • Darian Mensah was absolutely ridiculous in the first half. 20-for-20, and 31 straight completions going back to the previous game. The offense looked completely effortless. He was taking what Wake gave him, hitting the checkdowns, staying on schedule and just methodically moving the ball. I know the second half was a different story, but just appreciate it for what it is. We aren’t going to see stretches of football from a QB like that very often.o
  • In the first half, I actually liked seeing Mensah take what the defense was giving him. There was no need to force the ball downfield when Wake was giving him easy completions underneath. He did seem to get a little into his own head toward the end of that streak, though. His last 5-6 throws before it ended weren’t nearly as sharp.
  • One critique of Mensah is he’s more mobile than he seems to realize. There were a couple opportunities where he could have picked up some yards with his legs, but he still doesn’t seem to have much confidence in that part of his game.
  • The offense is really, really good. The scary part for everyone else is that we haven’t even needed to force the ball to everybody. Barkate went from being a 1,100-yard receiver at Duke to looking like WR4 at times. That’s just how ridiculous this receiver room is. Having a proven ACC receiver get relatively quiet usage because there are so many other guys who can make plays is a pretty good problem to have.
  • I’m not going to completely bury the defense because they eventually made the plays they needed to make. But there were way too many missed tackles and too many situations where Wake was able to create something underneath.
    Mo Toure and Omar Thornton got targeted a few times in coverage, and Wake clearly liked that matchup. The missed tackle by Mo on the big fourth down to Hernandez to ice the game in Q4 was particularly frustrating.
  • The defensive line also isn’t nearly as bad as I was probably making it sound during the game. They got a ton of pressure late, and Wake was holding constantly. If all those holds had been called, Miami probably would have had a few more sacks. So I’m not sitting here thinking the DL is some disaster. They just need to be more consistent, especially against better offensive lines.
  • I really liked Hetherman’s calls on third down in the second half. He seemed to anticipate exactly what Wake wanted to do and set a trap for it. That’s the kind of thing you want to see from this defense. Don’t just react to what the offense is doing. Start dictating what they can do.
  • Damari Brown has given me plenty to complain about this season. Please get this man away from gunner duty before he injures Malachi Toney any more. so I’ll give him some love here. He has one nice TFL on a screen pass but that’s about all the love I can give him.
  • Speaking of Toney, I noticed he seemed to be coming off the field on third downs. Hopefully that’s nothing. With the number of guys getting banged up in this game, I’m not interested in assuming anything until we know what’s actually going on.
    Also, I swear this man spent half the game tying his cleats. 😂
  • The injuries are the biggest concern coming out of this game.
    Moten, CharMar Brown and several other guys went down or were dealing with something during the game. And CharMar is the one that really worries me. If that’s an ACL, that’s a significant loss. He was becoming a really important piece of this offense, and the stretch-zone stuff was working pretty well before he went down.
    Hopefully I’m wrong and we get good news.
  • The offensive line is probably still my biggest concern with this team.
    We’re not pushing guys around the way we did last year. There were too many plays where Wake was getting penetration, and against a really good defensive front, that’s going to become a much bigger problem.
    This offense is good enough to win the ACC. I’m still not sure it’s good enough to make a deep playoff run if the OL doesn’t improve.
  • And credit to the defense for eventually settling down. We got the stops we needed late and didn’t let Wake turn this into something even uglier.
  • I’m still trying to figure out exactly what this team is. I can see a path to winning the ACC. The offense is that good, and there is enough talent on defense to make this a very good team.
    But I’m not convinced yet that this is a team I’m comfortable projecting deep into the playoff. The OL needs to get better, the defense needs to clean up some of these issues, and we desperately need to get healthy.

Overall, this was a weird one.


Miami showed us exactly how good it can be, and then showed us exactly what can happen when a good ACC team starts figuring out the weaknesses.


It’s a win, and a road ACC win is a road ACC win. But this is probably a game we’re going to want to forget pretty quickly.


Hopefully next week is boring as **** and we can get some guys healthy.
Click to expand...
I dont understand Dawsons 2nd half playing calling. Reminded me of the same 30 plays in a row A gap.
 
NYCCaneadian said:
A Friday night ACC game on the road is never easy. There’s always some chaos, and this one definitely had it.

Miami looked completely dominant for most of the first half, went up 31-7, and I was basically ready to see the backups come in and let Mensah chase 30 straight completions or whatever ridiculous number he was going to get to.

Then we inexplicably took our foot off the pedal and Wake fought back (give them a little credit);

My top observations:
  • This game was basically a mix of USF 2024 and FSU 2025. Miami looked completely in control early, then suddenly started showing some of the same weaknesses that better teams are going to attack. Wake exposed some things, particularly with LB coverage and how we were defending certain concepts, similar to what USF did in 2024. USF didn’t dominate us offensively, but they showed everyone some things that could be attacked. At the same time, Miami looked like two completely different teams, which reminded me of FSU 2025. At one point, we were cruising and I was wondering how quickly we could get the backups in. Then suddenly I’m sitting there thinking, “Are we really going to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?” Thankfully, no.
  • Darian Mensah was absolutely ridiculous in the first half. 20-for-20, and 31 straight completions going back to the previous game. The offense looked completely effortless. He was taking what Wake gave him, hitting the checkdowns, staying on schedule and just methodically moving the ball. I know the second half was a different story, but just appreciate it for what it is. We aren’t going to see stretches of football from a QB like that very often.
  • In the first half, I actually liked seeing Mensah take what the defense was giving him. There was no need to force the ball downfield when Wake was giving him easy completions underneath. He did seem to get a little into his own head toward the end of that streak, though. His last 5-6 throws before it ended weren’t nearly as sharp.
  • One critique of Mensah is he’s more mobile than he seems to realize. There were a couple opportunities where he could have picked up some yards with his legs, but he still doesn’t seem to have much confidence in that part of his game. And with our current O line situation, we will need his mobility.
  • The offense is really, really good. The scary part for everyone else is that we haven’t even needed to force the ball to everybody. Barkate went from being a 1,100-yard receiver at Duke to looking like WR4 at times. That’s just how ridiculous this receiver room is. Having a proven ACC receiver get relatively quiet usage because there are so many other guys who can make plays is a pretty good problem to have.
  • I’m not going to completely bury the defense because they eventually made the plays they needed to make. But there were way too many missed tackles and too many situations where Wake was able to create something underneath. Mo Toure and Omar Thornton got targeted a few times in coverage, and Wake clearly liked that matchup. The missed tackle by Mo on the big fourth down to Hernandez to ice the game in Q4 was particularly frustrating.
  • The defensive line also isn’t nearly as bad as I was probably making it sound during the first 2 games. They got a ton of pressure late, and Wake was holding constantly. If all those holds had been called, Miami probably would have had a few more sacks. So I’m not sitting here thinking the DL is some disaster. They just need to be more consistent, especially against better offensive lines.
  • I really liked Hetherman’s calls on third down in the second half. He seemed to anticipate exactly what Wake wanted to do and set a trap for it. That’s the kind of thing you want to see from this defense. Don’t just react to what the offense is doing. Start dictating what they can do.
  • Damari Brown has given me plenty to complain about this season. Please get this man away from gunner duty before he injures Malachi Toney any more. He had one nice TFL on a screen pass but that’s about all the love I can give him.
  • Speaking of Toney, I noticed he seemed to be coming off the field on third downs. Hopefully that’s nothing. With the number of guys getting banged up in this game, I’m not interested in assuming anything until we know what’s actually going on. Also can we get him a better pair of cleats or teach him how to tie his laces?
  • The injuries are the biggest concern coming out of this game. Marty is a significant loss. He was becoming a really important piece of this offense, and the stretch-zone stuff was working pretty well before he went down.
  • The offensive line is probably still my biggest concern with this team.
    We’re not pushing guys around the way we did last year. There were too many plays where Wake was getting penetration, and against a really good defensive front, that’s going to become a much bigger problem. This offense is good enough to win the ACC. I’m still not sure it’s good enough to make a deep playoff run if the OL doesn’t improve.
  • I’m still trying to figure out exactly what this team is. I can see a path to winning the ACC. The offense is that good, and there is enough talent on defense to make this a very good team.
    But I’m not convinced yet that this is a team I’m comfortable projecting deep into the playoff. The OL needs to get better, the defense needs to clean up some of these issues, and we desperately need to get healthy.

Overall, this was a weird one. Miami showed us exactly how good it can be, and then showed us exactly what can happen when a good ACC team starts figuring out the weaknesses.

It’s a win, and a road ACC win is a road ACC win. But this is probably a game we’re going to want to forget pretty quickly.

Hopefully next week is boring as **** and we can get some guys healthy.
Click to expand...
Great write up !
 
Snoop said:
OL is not championship caliber and OL play is difficult to adjust mid-season.

Not sure if it's in Mario's DNA to abandon it but the power run stuff is not going to work.

If we can't knock back Wake we won't knock back anyone in the playoffs (or ND).

On the bright die, Mensah is really really good and will compensate for some of that.
Click to expand...
Our o line couldn’t make blocks in 2nd half and rushing was tough sledding when Chamar Brown went down….
I’m all for looking for the bright side but I have been blinded by the light…. We aren’t playing our best— we have a deeply flawed team with a horrible injury bug- which didn’t help.

Until that o line solidifies (I’m not think it happens this year) we will get exposed down the line
This isn’t a title caliber team— the departure of two generation edge rushers shows up each week and some see it others try to pump sunshine. Sorry guys; these are cold hard facts which have been outlined in great detail in other threads here
 
Mario and Dawson are easy to out coach. Wake made adjustments and we couldn't do anything. Those 2 are as big of a concern as anything. There is enough evidence for me to say that
 
Let’s not pretend we didn’t have similar problems last year, with the offense stalling at times and the defense giving up points against quick throws (Louisville and SMU). It’s a long season, and this team could end up looking more like 2024 or last year. We need to get the running game going again, like we did during the playoffs.
 
OrangeBowlMagic said:
Good post. Very weird game. It’s funny how perception changes in how we view things.

What if the halves are completely flipped? The mood would be much different here. It’s just funny how when you end a game like that versus start one and end it well, we all feel totally different.
Click to expand...
There would be a lot more win washing that would be occurring. The problems are problems. The noise apparently got to or reached the staff last year so maybe it’s better for this to happen.
 
MiamisMoperiestMopes said:
There would be a lot more win washing that would be occurring. The problems are problems. The noise apparently got to or reached the staff last year so maybe it’s better for this to happen.
Click to expand...

Agree. It’s just funny how we perceive things.

I’m a ****** golfer. I played a few weeks ago and shot a 50 on the front (terrible for me) and a 40 on the back (very good for me). I left feeling good. A 90 isn’t great but a 40 on a side is **** good. I’m pumped. **** yeah. I get home, my wife asks how I played, I tell her the above. All in a good mood and ****.

Then it dawns on me, what if I shot 40 on the front, but 50 on the back. I’d be ******* miserable. My best round ever is an 81, I’m trying to break 80 this year. I had a shot! And I **** the bed.

But it’s still a 90. Just crazy how 50/40 feels so much better than 40/50. Akin to last night. If we had 300 yards in the 2nd half and won the half 24-7 to win by 13, we’d all be saying wow wtf we need to start faster and not sleepwalk thru a half. And there’d be concerns. But we’d feel so much better. When really should we? Just crazy how we perceive things we see.
 
Great post. The 2nd half Shannon lull is concerning and the totality of injuries is the biggest concern. Thank God we have a G5 opponent next week. But SJ, Chase Smith, and Damari have become abominations. If we just see SJ benched and more of the young lb's play that alone will kick us into a higher gear. Last year we might have lost this game, this year it serves as a warning and opportunity to make some internal changes right now because as it stands we are not a Natty caliber team.
 
Flipping the halves is a great perspective. I went to bed almost feeling like a loss. Whereas had the halves been flipped, I would’ve felt like we were ready to make our CFP run.
 
IOL needs personnel changes. Besides losing Bain and Mesidor, losing Keionte is an underrated loss. He covered up a lot of this LB play.
 
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