Winning at Wake Forest has been a notoriously difficult thing to do. The school is one of the few power conference programs to have an all-time losing record, and the Demon Deacons have been to just 12 bowls in their history.
Dave Clawson has proven he is up to the challenge though. After back-to-back 3-9 seasons to start his tenure, he has taken Wake Forest to bowl games for consecutive seasons. That has made him one of the more successful coaches in school history just four years in. He will look to make it three straight bowl appearances this season.
Wake Forest 2018 regular season win total
Over 6.5 (-105)
Under 6.5 (-125)
Odds courtesy of BetDSI Sportsbook
What Happened Last Year
The Demon Deacons surpassed all expectations last year. Not many people expected them to get to eight wins, but Clawson was able to get them back to the postseason. Wake Forest ended the season with a wild 55-52 win over Texas A&M in the Belk Bowl, yet that wasn’t the most impressive aspect of their season.
For the first time in a long time, Wake Forest was competitive in every game it played. No team blew them out of the water. Their two home losses were both one-possession games and all three road losses came by 14 points or less.
What Will Change This Year
Losing John Wolford hurts far more than you would think. After throwing more interceptions than touchdowns in each of his first three seasons, Wolford was superb as a senior in 2017. He averaged 8.6 yards per throw and threw 25 touchdowns with just six interceptions. Under his direction, the offense took off. Wake Forest was 17th in the country in total offense and second in the conference.
Kendall Hinton will be taking over for Wolford. Hinton is a dynamic runner, but his passing leaves something to be desired. He has struggled with his accuracy during his time on campus, and that kept him from wrestling the job away from Wolford.
At least Hinton has the luxury of throwing the ball to Greg Dortch. Dortch proved to be a fantastic option before he got injured at the end of October. He was well on his way to a 1000-yard season, and he set a school record with four receiving touchdowns in Wake Forest’s win over Louisville.
The secondary should be much better too. Four of the five starters from last year’s unit return to bolster a unit that finished dead last in the ACC in pass defense in 2017. However, there may be some issues at linebacker. Both projected starters are relatively inexperienced and on the smallish side.
Outlook & Prediction
Wake Forest has one of the most experienced offensive lines in college football. All five starters from last year are back, and four of the five are fifth-year seniors. They played a big part in the Demon Deacons’ success last year, allowing Wolford to get sacked just 12 times.
With an experienced quarterback, they would have a shot to edge out North Carolina State and Florida State for second-place in the ACC Atlantic. Wake Forest should still be able to go bowling once more with Hinton, but seven or eight wins is this team’s ceiling.
