FSU football: 3 important things to know about Wake Forest
By Kelvin Hunt
Red Zone Offense Is Terrible
The strength of the Wake Forest team is its defense. They rank just inside the top 50 according to FEI advanced metrics and have done a solid job forcing turnovers(11 in seven games).
They are solid against the run and come downhill aggressively. However, when it comes to offense, they will turn it over in a heartbeat, with 16 turnovers through seven games.
The slow mesh system is unique to them, and they can move the ball with chunk plays now and then, as they average 5.08 yards per play. One of the telling stats about this year’s offense is how they operate in the red zone. They lost a lot from last year’s team.
They went from scoring touchdowns 67 percent of the time in the red zone to 37 percent through seven games. Wake Forest only kicked 12 field goals in 13 games in 2022 and has already matched that total in 2023. Their touchdown percentage scored in the red zone ranks second to dead last nationally.
The FSU defense struggled to stop the run against Wake Forest last year, but that unit has been playing well over the past few weeks. If they get into the red zone, they should have a hard time punching it in.