It wasn’t that long ago that beating Wake Forest seemed like an impossible task for Florida State. From 2006-2008, the Demon Deacons beat FSU three straight times, including a 30-0 shutout in Tallahassee in 2006 — the first suffered by FSU at home since 1972.
Over the last three seasons however, the Seminoles have been downright dominant against Wake Forest. Thanks largely to five turnovers and more than 100 penalty yards, FSU suffered a debilitating 35-30 loss to the Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem early in 2011, but Wake hasn’t done as much as find the end zone since.
The combined margin of FSU victory over the last three meetings has been 154-6. Wake Forest has accounted for just 418 total yards of offense combined over the last three encounters. FSU had 475 yards of offense just last season against the Demon Deacons.
For the Florida State defense, last season’s 43-3 victory over Wake Forest in Tallahassee was by far its best performance of the season. The three points allowed and 126 yards of offense yielded were by far the fewest given up by a defense that was prone to underwhelm. In its last trip to Wake Forest, the Seminoles forced seven turnovers in a 59-3 victory in 2013 — a season where FSU yielded the fewest points-per-game in the country and led the nation in interceptions.
Early on in 2015, FSU has been close to lights out defensively. The Seminoles have had their struggles on the other side of the ball, but are coming off their first road shutout since 2003.
The pass-rush, which finished with just 17 sacks a season ago, is on pace to do much better despite playing three run-heavy teams. The secondary headlined by All-American Jalen Ramsey looks to be the strength of a defense that should get thrown on a lot on Saturday.
Wake Forest has passed the ball more than any other team in the ACC while ranking sixth nationally in attempts early on. With quarterback John Wolford out, the Demon Deacons have turned to the more mobile Kendall Hinton, but that hasn’t stopped Wake Forest from airing it out.
Wake Forest may not have the athletes in the receiving corps to run Florida State ragged, but tight end Cam Serigne may be the best in the ACC and facing pass-happy Wake will force FSU to come in with a different defensive approach than in its first three games. Having to defend somewhere in the range of 40 pass attempts could also be beneficial to the Seminoles considering Brad Kaaya and Miami come to Tallahassee the following week.
Collecting a victory is obviously FSU’s primary concern on Saturday and whether or not the Seminoles can again keep Wake Forest out of the end zone will not be nearly as important as how the secondary and pass-rush perform against the first real passing team they’ll face this season.
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