Who: No. 11 Florida State Seminoles (3-0, 1-0 ACC) at Wake Forest Demon Deacons (2-2, 0-1 ACC)
When: Saturday, October 3rd at 3:30 P.M. eastern time
Where: BB&T Field in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (ESPN)
Florida State will look to start 4-0 and notch a fourth straight victory over Wake Forest on Saturday as the teams meet in Winston-Salem. The Seminoles are coming off their first road shutout in 12 years after beating Boston College 14-0 nearly two weeks ago.
The Seminoles have had Wake Forest’s number over the last three meetings, outscoring the Demon Deacons by a combined margin of 154-6. Wake Forest has not scored a touchdown against FSU since 2011 and has managed a grand total of 418 yards since then against Florida State. The Seminoles put up 475 yards of offense in last season’s meeting alone in a 43-3 victory at Doak Campbell Stadium.
FSU however, managed just 215 yards of offense in its last outing, but sophomore running back Dalvin Cook still leads the ACC with 476 rushing yards for the season and ranks second in the league with five rushing touchdowns. Cook’s backup Mario Pender is out this week, which could allow for freshman Jacques Patrick to get more carries.
The Seminoles managed to find the end zone just once offensively against the Eagles, but through three games, FSU has just one turnover and that came on a muffed punt in the season-opener against Texas State.
The Florida State defense has been the strength of the team, holding opponents to just 10 points-per-game early on which ranks sixth in the country. Senior Reggie Northrup and Ro’Derrick Hoskins are tied for the team-lead in total tackles this season with 16 while Terrance Smith isn’t far behind with 15.
Smith’s forced fumble against Boston College resulted in a 36-yard return for a touchdown by cornerback Jalen Ramsey to essentially put the game away. Ramsey leads a talented secondary that also features Lamarcus Brutus, Marquez White and Nate Andrews.
That secondary should see a lot of passes come its way on Saturday as Wake Forest has attempted more throws this season than anyone in the ACC and the sixth most in the country. With starting quarterback John Wolford hurt, Wake Forest has been going with freshman Kendall Hinton. Hinton has attempted 86 passes this year, but is perhaps most dangerous with his legs as he leads the Demon Deacons with 170 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns.
Wake Forest will spread the ball around as receivers K.J. Brent, Chuck Wade and tight end Cam Serigne all have over 200 yards receiving through four games. Five different Demon Deacons have caught touchdowns this season.
Senior linebacker Brandon Chubb is the heart and soul of the Wake Forest defense. Chubb leads the team with 36 total tackles this season, which ranks fourth in the ACC. Fellow linebacker Marquel Lee is among the conference’s leaders in tackles for loss with 4.5 on the year.
Though Florida State has absolutely pummeled Wake Forest over the last three years, the Seminoles are only 5-4 against Wake Forest since 2006. The last victory for the Demon Deacons in the series came by a 35-30 margin in 2011 and was aided by five FSU turnovers and over 100 yards in penalties by the ‘Noles. In its last trip to BB&T Field in 2013, FSU returned the favor by forcing seven turnovers in a 59-3 triumph. Wake Forest is just 1-8 against ACC opponents under head coach Dave Clawson.
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