There’s still plenty of opportunities this season for Wake Forest’s football team to grow under Coach Jake Dickert.
Dickert, who is in his first season, has watched his team cough up big leads in their last two games against NC State and Georgia Tech. Closing the deal is a must in the ACC, especially when you have a big first-half lead.
“You have to go earn it,” Dickert said about playing a full 60 minutes. “You have to show yourself that you can do it and be in the present. And I think that’s coaches and staying aggressive and being on the attack and playing to win.”
After four straight games at Allegacy Stadium, the 2-2 Demon Deacons will play their first road game at Virginia Tech on Saturday at 1 p.m. The game will air on The CW.
As part of that growth, Dickert saw a better sideline in terms of body language in the 30-29 overtime loss to the Yellow Jackets.
“I thought the best part of this one was the sideline demeaner was better,” Dickert said. “The communication level was better and we talked about not pressing as much and I thought that was a lot better.
“We didn’t quite finish where we wanted to go, but we competed and I thought there was growth,” he said. “It’s back to it and the more you can put your team in those situations the better.”
The Hokies (2-3, 1-0 ACC) were 0-3 and fired their head coach, Brent Pry, but have found some life under Philip Montgomery, the interim head coach. They have won two in a row over Wofford and NC State.
Part of their new life is a better defense. In their first three games, the Hokies allowed an average of 448 yards per game, but in their last two have averaged 220 yards per game.
Getting away from home isn’t always bad because now Dickert and his staff will travel with a 75-player roster that will have more time to bond.
“It will be great to experience it live,” Dickert said about facing a hostile crowd in Blacksburg, Virginia. “It should energize us as well.”
Fixing the pre-snap penalties
Dickert did address the issue of his team getting the raw end of the deal late in the loss to Georgia Tech, when an obvious offsides wasn’t called. The pre-snap penalty is something that Dickert feels would help if they had a coach’s challenge.
“I’m a big problem solver,” Dickert said. “And I’ve brought this up before and the explanation is pre-snap penalties are judgment calls and they are not. Either you are in the neutral zone or you’re not … I would love for (a head coach) to have a red flag and for a pre-snap penalty that wasn’t called, you can throw the flag out there.”
Dickert said it would make the game better.
“Johnny-on-the couch can see it,” Dickert said. “… Let’s have a passion to get it right. There are solutions to this problem because that’s not a judgment call.”
More on the bad call
During his time with reporters this week, Dickert did a good job of addressing what happened, but he also tried to move on because there’s another game.
“There’s one uncontrollable thing that lost us the game, and there’s a ton of controllable things that lost us the game,” he said.
Dickert said the pre-snap calls should be accounted for even if the officials miss them.
“You’re in the neutral zone, or you’re not,” he said. “You either false start or you don’t. You have five in the backfield, or you don’t. Or you hid a guy on the sideline pre-snap to deceive the team, or you didn’t.”
Wake’s offense is getting there
Depending on the health of quarterback Robby Ashford (right knee) and Demond Claiborne (shoulder), the Demon Deacons’ offense will be facing a good defense. Both players were listed as probable on the team’s mid-week injury report.
Offensive coordinator Rob Ezell says he sees a difference in the Virginia Tech defense from earlier in the year.
“They’ve got a lot more comfortable,” Ezell said. “They are a pretty tough bunch.”
The Demon Deacons are averaging 26 points a game through four games, but suffer too many three-and-out series at crucial times in their last two games.
“I think I’m really proud of how they competed for 60 minutes and then some,” Ezell said. “This is the ACC and it’s a good conference. It just showed it wasn’t pretty all the time and there’s going to be ebbs and flows, but I think we handled that a lot better.”
The Demon Deacons are doing plenty of good things in the first half of games on offense, but the consistency isn’t there in the second halves of games.
“There’s always lessons you learn, win or lose,” Ezell said. “We’ve learned something in every game and if we can continue to build on that, we’ll see how good we can be.”
Chris Barnes continues to emerge
Chris Barnes, one of the youngest starters at wide receiver for the Demon Deacons, is a redshirt freshman who came to Wake Forest when Dickert left Washington State.
Barnes didn’t get to show off much of his speed last season, but quickly caught on to the Wake Forest offense.
“It’s definitely been a blessing,” Barnes said. “I came in with a skill set and they are utilizing it and putting me in the best position to make plays.”
Barnes is fifth in the ACC in all-purpose yards and had 177 against NC State. He also ranks 27th nationally heading into Saturday’s game.
Barnes says every game the Demon Deacons seem to improve on something with their offense.
“I feel like we’ve become a balanced offense with a strong backfield and weapons at receiver,” Barnes said. “So, I feel like we are spreading the ball around and being able to move the ball in different ways.”
Scouting Virginia Tech
The Hokies are led by quarterback Kyron Drones, who can run the ball about as effectively as he passes it. Running back Terion Stewart is also a key player for a team that is on a two-game win streak.
Drones has amassed more than 500 yards combined over the last two games with six touchdowns and one turnover.
“Everything runs through their quarterback,” linebacker Quincy Bryant said. “He can run and throw and he’s physical. We played him two years ago, so some of the guys have experience playing against him.”
Bryant, who is one of the veteran linebackers, said setting the tone early in the game would be beneficial.
“We do need to get on top of them and get off to a good start since they are at home,” Bryant said.
Bryant and fellow veteran Dylan Hazen, are both redshirt seniors.
“That’s one of the best things,” Bryant said, referring to the depth at linebacker. “Dylan (Hazen) and I are older and it’s nice to have young guys running around and making plays and Aiden (Hall) has been playing great and I love seeing him grow.”
There will also be a familiar face on the Hokies’ offense in wide receiver Donavon Greene, a former player for Wake Forest. Greene, who is from Mount Airy, signed with the Demon Deacons in 2018 as a four-star prospect, but suffered through several injuries during his time in Winston-Salem.
He has 12 catches for 222 yards with two touchdowns so far with the Hokies.
jdell@wsjournal.com
336-727-4081
@johndellWSJ
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