Syracuse (2-3, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) heads on the road to face Wake Forest (4-1, 1-1 Atlantic Coast) at 7 p.m. on Saturday at BB&T Field in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. SU is recovering from a 50-33 loss to Notre Dame at MetLife Stadium and the Demon Deacons are coming off their first loss of the season. Despite only winning three games in each of the last two years, WFU won its first four games of 2016.

Here’s what Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson had to say on the ACC coaches teleconference Wednesday.

With SU’s style of offense, the defense won’t post great numbers

Syracuse’s defense ranks near the bottom in the country in scoring defense (112th out of 128 ranked teams), total defense (122nd) and passing efficiency defense (86th). The Orange allows an average of 37.6 points and 504.2 yards per game.

Clawson characterized the defense as “unique” and said it is a challenge to get ready for. He attributed some of the defense’s struggles to the pressure that the offense puts on it by moving quickly and creating more possessions.

“It’s hard to be a good statistical defense when your offense is running plays as fast as they are,” Clawson said. “… They just have to stop drives. They have to get turnovers. They have to stop you on third down. I think their defense is well built to do that.

“It’s easy to look at their defense and say, well, geez, they’re giving up yards …  you’re never going to run an offense like that and have a defense that gives up 160 yards.”

Syracuse’s receiving core is ‘dangerous’

Unlike most coaches leading up to games against Syracuse, Clawson made no mention of the nation’s leading receiver in Amba Etta-Tawo who has 840 receiving yards through five games. Etta-Tawo also ranks fourth in the country with six touchdown catches, but Clawson instead singled out Syracuse’s receiving core as a whole.

“Really like their receiver core,” Clawson said. “They’ve got four or five guys that are really dangerous with the football and play the ball well in the air.”

Etta-Tawo is the most notable, especially with his ability to create highlight-reel plays adjusting to passes in midair. Inside receiver Ervin Philips slots in well behind Etta-Tawo with 357 and three touchdowns. Steve Ishmael has racked up 238 receiving yards and Brisly Estime has caught two touchdowns. Philips does rank seventh in the country with 8.4 catches per game.

SU’s offense runs at ‘warp speed’

Lawson characterized Syracuse’s offense as running at “warp speed.” He said it’s hard to prepare for the tempo because “it’s as fast an offense as I’ve ever seen” and he’s expecting the Orange to snap the ball every 16-17 seconds.

Through five games, Syracuse has run an average of 86.6 plays per contest and snaps the ball every 20.5 seconds. SU holds the record for most offensive plays in a game this season with 105 in a loss to South Florida on Sept. 17.

“We’re putting a lot of stress on it and we’ve got to make sure we’re lined up and ready to play,” Clawson said.

 

Published on October 5, 2016 at 2:05 pm

Contact Jon: jrmettus@syr.edu | @jmettus