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Wake Forest Demon Deacons 2014 NCAA Football Gambling Odds & Predictions

2014-15 Football Previews – (ACC) –  Demon Deacons

It is hard to picture how they did it but Wake Forest won the ACC and played in the Orange Bowl back in 2006. It turned out to be a serious outlier as the program slowly but surely fell back to earth, ultimately costing coach Jim Grobe his job.

Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Head Coach: Dave Clawson
2013 Record: 4-8
Gambling Odds to win National Championship: 75/1 (field)
Gambling Odds to win (ACC): 250/1
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The Demon Deacons are hoping to turn a corner with new coach Dave Clawson, formerly of Bowling Green. There is room for improvement in Winston-Salem but this team is not exactly bubbling over with talent.

Strengths:

I think bringing in Dave Clawson was a smart hire. He was kind of a defense first guy and one of the few small conference hires that wasn’t about some sort of gimmicky offense. If he is given enough time there is no reason he can not get this program to regular bowl appearance and the occasional upset.

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The defense was good last year and the strength of it this season will be a secondary with three returning starters, two of whom made the all-conference third team: Merrill Noel and Ryan Janvion.

Noel and Kevin Johnson form a really solid senior duo at corner that has both skill and some size.

The three offensive starters who return are all on the offensive line – two sophs and a junior who hopefully got tired of being pushed around last season. They are not elite talents but you have to think this team, with so much youth, will get better as the season gets longer.

Plus Lawson will focus on toughness.

Weaknesses:

Wake Forest had one worst offenses in the nation last year scoring just 18ppg and that was with a very experienced senior at quarterback. This season they will be starting sophomore Tyler Cameron, among 8 new offensive starters.

Every skill position player will be a first time starter this season.
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Not only are the Demon Deacons starting a whack of new players but many of them are inexperienced. Wake Forest is projected to start 8 sophomores this season and only a few of those saw significant action last year.

Throw in a new coach and it is practically like starting freshmen against the likes of FSU.

The defense was really good upfront last season but this year will be breaking in an entirely new defensive line. They were undersized but active last year led by Nikita Whitlock who played the nose at 250 pounds.

This year they are bigger but there is no player on the roster who had more than one sack last season. Where is the pressure going to come from?

Gambling Prediction: 2-10

2014 Wake Forest Schedule:

  • Aug 28 – @Louisiana-Monroe
  • Sep 6 – Gardner-Webb
  • Sep 13 – @Utah State
  • Sep 20 – Army
  • Sep 27 – @Louisville
  • Oct 4 – @Florida State
  • Oct 18 – Syracuse
  • Oct 25 – Boston College
  • Nov 6 – Clemson
  • Nov 15 – @NC State
  • Nov 22 – Virginia Tech
  • Nov 29 – @Duke

As you can see from the win total I am not very high on the Demon Deacons this season. There are just too many question marks about this squad right now. However, there is probably a good opportunity to back them when they host Syracuse.

The previous two weeks they should get dismantled by the likes of Louisville and Florida State, especially FSU, but that is going to be par for the course again this year.

After those games some may think this is an FCS squad but they can hang with the Orange.

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By The Wiesguy

The Wiesguy is a newcomer to the handicapping scene. Hailing from Toronto, Canada he is always sweet on the underdogs and you can often find his thoughts, musings and picks at moneydogs.blogspot.com.