Wake Forest’s Lack of Discipline is Costly in Loss to Miami
· Yahoo Sports
Wake Forest was a heavy underdog to Miami for all of the obvious reasons. But self-inflicted wounds continue to haunt the Deacs.
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Wake Forest may still be good this season. They just aren’t Miami-level good. Add in a lack of discipline with penalties in critical moments in the game, and you aren’t going to beat the top-tier teams. The Demon Deacons got hit hard by the Hurricanes 33-20 in Winston-Salem Friday night.
Wake Forest’s Lack of Discipline is Costly in Loss to Miami
Wake head coach Jake Dickert spent much of the week talking about his team’s heart after the double overtime win last week against Purdue. The Demon Deacons showed plenty of it in the second half, but the hole they had already dug for themselves was far too big to fill. Add in six fourth-quarter penalties by the Deacs, and you have the storyline. Wake committed a total of 13 penalties for 122 yards. Six of those penalties were in the fourth quarter with Wake trying to mount a comeback.
After the game, Dickert said, “Obviously very costly penalties at big moments of the game to kind of swing major momentum.” He later added, “You’re not going to beat a really good opponent with 13 penalties for 122 yards.”
Two Programs Living in Different Worlds
The game was one-sided by halftime. Wake closed the huge gap late in the third quarter and into the fourth quarter.
The irony is that Wake Forest Athletic Director John Currie spent time with members of the media before the game. Among the questions posed by the media was how Wake Forest was supposed to stay competitive with the likes of Miami that has at least double the financial resources that Wake has. More on that in another column. But the answer on the field was that while they played the second half with an improved sense of urgency, the talent gap owned the early going.
Miami quarterback Darian Mensah used Wake’s defense to boost his Heisman credentials. He completed his first 24 passes before throwing an incomplete pass late in the third quarter. He finished the game 30 of 34 for 220 yards and three touchdowns. Throughout much of the first two-and-a-half quarters, he was throwing to receivers who found wide-open holes in the Wake secondary. Receiver Malachi Toney finished the game with 12 catches for 114 yards and a touchdown. But he was shut down for much of the second half with what was called an upper body issue.
Creating a Big Hole
The game was physically damaging for both sides. Miami running back Marty Brown had to be carted to the locker room after suffering a gruesome leg injury near the goal line. Wake Forest running back Ty Clark III left the game with what seemed to be a concussion as he wobbled off the field to the sidelines. And quarterback Gio Lopez took more hits to what was already a very sore hip. He was hobbling significantly at the end.
Wake was down 24-7 at halftime. Wake’s lone touchdown had come on a fake end around at the Miami 10-yard line with Lopez pulling up for a pass to Kam Johnson, who was steps behind the defender in the right side of the end zone.
The rest of the half was all Miami. The Hurricanes had 303 total yards of offense to 88 for Wake Forest.
There were scouts from 20 NFL teams and one CFL team. Even most of them left at halftime. They had come to see the Hurricanes, and they had seen all they needed to see.
Jim Dedmon-Imagn ImagesTrying to Climb Out of the Hole
Wake was down 31-7 early in the third quarter before it showed some fight. Lopez hit Jack Foley at the 16-yard line, and he dragged tacklers into the end zone for the touchdown. The two-point conversion failed, and Wake was still down 31-13.
Lopez hit four consecutive passes at the end of the third quarter, putting Wake at the Miami 17-yard line. On the first play of the fourth quarter, the quarterback threw a perfect fade pass to the right corner of the end zone for Carlos Hernandez. The 17-yard touchdown pass and the PAT capped a seven-play/63-yard drive and closed the gap to 31-20.
The Wake defense was getting better pressure on Mensah, forcing him out of his rhythm. Defensive back Davaughn Patterson broke up a 20-yard pass attempt on third and six to give Wake a shot at the comeback. But the Deacs killed themselves again, with penalties.
Crushing Penalties
Hernandez had a 27-yard punt return. But Wake was called for holding. The spot penalty put them all the way back at their own 10-yard line. It got worse from there. Lopez was scrambling in the end zone on third down and avoided the sack. But Wake was called for holding again. The safety gave Wake two points and the ball back with a 33-20 lead.
After holding Miami to three and out on consecutive possessions, it was Hernandez again on the punt return. The 59-yard return would have given the ball to Wake at the Miami 10-yard line. But another holding penalty pushed Wake back to their own 35-yard line.
With time running short, Miami’s defense started pinning its ears back and going straight at Lopez. After throwing off his back leg, he was intercepted at the Miami five-yard line, putting the game away for good.
Even though Dickert is never going to call this a moral victory, he did find some positives in the post-game press conference. “I’m proud of our guys. They refused to die,” he said. “They did what I think good teams do. They kept playing and fighting. They kept believing.”
The Last Word
Questions are going to continue to be asked about an ongoing lack of discipline when it comes to penalties for Wake Forest. There will be a lot of questions from Miami fans about how the Hurricanes let Wake Forest back in the game. It could be a sign of the determination in Dickert’s team. Only time is going to tell because the road ahead is tough. Wake Forest now has to travel to Louisville for a noon road game on Saturday.
Last Word will have more post-game coverage from Wake’s loss to Miami on Saturday afternoon.
Main Image: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images