FSU football: 3 defensive keys to defeating Wake Forest
By Kelvin Hunt
Wake Forest is content with fair catching kickoffs and taking the ball at the 25-yard line, which guarantees they won’t begin possessions with poor field position.
They will move the ball between the 20s, but the key is to make them execute on the condensed field to earn seven points.
Wake Forest has been in the red zone 21 times(FSU has 23 attempts) this season. However, they have scored touchdowns 13 times (56.2 percent) and settled for eight field goals. I suppose the concerning trend is they scored touchdowns on three of their four trips inside the red zone against Clemson.
However, Clemson was playing some guys in their secondary that likely wouldn’t play if not because of injuries. Liberty held Wake Forest to field goals on three of seven trips inside the red zone in the game before Clemson.
Vegas expects the game to be a fairly high-scoring game with an over/under of 64.5. That -7 spread implies a 36-29 FSU football win.
That line implies Wake Forest will be in the red zone around four times(but will also need to avoid allowing explosive TD plays from outside of the red zone).
If they can force Wake Forest to kick two or more field goals? They might beat Wake Forest by 10+ points.