Wake Forest Preview

This week was a great one for Bill Callahan and company. After coming off a dominating win over WAC foe Nevada, Callahan had his contract extended and the Huskers moved up to #16 in the Associated Press Writers Poll.

This weekend will figure to be a step up in terms of a challenging opponent. The Huskers will take the show on the road today to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to play defending ACC Champion Wake Forest tomorrow at 11 AM central time. Tomorrow’s game will be tougher in terms of the quality of their opponent, however it will not be quite the same tall task that Nebraska will face at home next weekend against consensus #1 USC. One of the elements that is a cause for worry would be the staff and players looking past this game just a little bit to next week’s showdown in Lincoln.

The game against the Demon Deacons tomorrow will be Nebraska’s only non-conference road game this year. The Husker’s were 3-and-3 while away from the fan-friendly confines of Memorial Stadium in 2006, however this iteration of the Wake Forest team that won their first ACC title in longer than I’d care to research looks like a far cry from the 2006 version.

First things first, their starting quarterback that took them to BCS glory in the Orange Bowl last year Riley Skinner, is listed as doubtful with a separated shoulder. The injury was sustained in last week’s conference opening loss to Boston College 38-28. Skinner ended the game with 236 yards passing with one touchdown and three interceptions. If you followed Wake, you’ll remember that last season Skinner emerged as the go-to QB after he started the year as the backup to a backup. So I wouldn’t be quick to dismiss their depth at the position.

The Deac’s will also be playing (maybe) without standout defensive end Matt Robinson. With Robinson out it may be an exploitable weakness to run directly at that side of the field with the country’s leading rusher Marlon Lucky, true freshman upstart Quentin Castile and the myriad of other I-back options that Nebraska has.

The Wake Forrest defense limited the Golden Eagles of Boston College to 54 yards total rushing last Saturday. This may be a skewed statistic considering the lack of ability for BC to pound the ball, relying more on the passing attack led by senior standout quarterback Matt Ryan. Ryan threw for 408 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions. Could this be a chink in the mighty Wake Forest defense from last season? Might this be Keller’s breakout game? We’ll have to wait and see tomorrow. Either way, the coaching staff at Nebraska was able to adapt the gameplan when they saw just how much of mismatch they had running against Nevada last Saturday. If they can prove to be just as versatile in adapting tomorrow and attack the defenses drawbacks, it could be a long day for the Demon Deacon's.

What does Nebraska have to do? They need to set the pace of the game early and more than once. One drive will not do it. Wake Forest Stadium or BB&T Field or whatever they are calling it is not that imposing of an atmosphere. No more than say, Kyle Field the site where the Husker’s wrapped up their Big 12 North title last season against Texas A&M. With a couple of early offensive strikes into the endzone and/or big defensive stops they can take the crowd right out of the contest early. This being said, do not underestimate this Wake Forest team team. I think Wake will challenge the Huskers every step of the way and play "home opener ball" for the duration of the 60 minutes of play. This is a team that came out of nowhere last year and beat a decent Florida State team 31-0 in Tallahassee. I don’t care which team Bobby Bowden brings to the table, it’s still an accomplishment that should stick out to Callahan, his staff and his players.

If Callahan prepared his team properly and made them focus primarily on this game the Husker’s should come out on top. It may be a close, low scoring affair too that could be controlled by special teams play. I'm looking for some offensive production from Nebraska, however. With a solid punter in Dan Tichener, who may be one of the Big 12’s best, and if Adi Kunalic’s performance and leg strength was no flash in the pan last week, Nebraska has a good shot at winning on that front. The interesting factor will be Nebraska’s rushing attack versus Wake Forest’s rushing defense. We’ll see if the offensive linemen will be up to the task for the season tomorrow. The defensive line is not quite as undersized as Nevada’s and should be a better barometer for the O-line.

As I said, I’m guessing this will be a lower scoring affair than last week and I’m predicting a Husker non-conference road victory. Then again, what else would you expect? Look for the score to settle at 28-17 when it’s all said and done. I was a little under on Nebraska’s score for last week’s contest against the Wolf Pack, but was spot on for Nevada’s score giving them only four more points than what they earned. Hopefully I’m just as close for tomorrow’s game.

*Be sure to come back to the game reviews for all home contest’s this year a few days after I’ve put the post up. For Nevada’s wrap up I added the Husker’s new entrance and tunnel walk at the bottom of the post. Enjoy it, it looks pretty intense. I'll see it in person this year in the Husker's final home game November 12th against the Kansas State Wildcats.