Wake Forest - Navy

Let's kick off the bowls, shall we? The setup is similar to last year but updated. You can sort the schedule as usual, each team separately, and the stats matchup uses data from the Offense vs Defense post of last week. (Check there if you need an explanation on the percentages.) Enjoy!

the Eaglebank Bowl Saturday, December 20th, 11:00am Washington, D.C.
Wake Forest (7-5)______ACC______218.86 Wk Opp oPts Score 1 Baylor -102.00 W, 41-13 2 Mississippi 180.41 W, 30-28 4 Florida State 210.67 W, 12-3 5 Navy 147.23 L, 17-24 7 Clemson 128.12 W, 12-7 8 Maryland 52.23 L, 0-26 9 Miami (FL) 126.74 L, 10-16 10 Duke -80.04 W, 33-30 11 Virginia 36.10 W, 28-17 12 NC State 102.87 L, 17-21 13 Boston College 253.65 L, 21-24 14 Vanderbilt 23.15 W, 23-10	Navy (8-4)______Indy_____147.23 Wk Opp oPts Score 1 Towson -421.37 W, 41-13 2 Ball State 332.62 L, 23-35 3 Duke -80.04 L, 31-41 4 Rutgers 118.18 W, 23-21 5 Wake Forest 218.86 W, 24-17 6 Air Force 116.54 W, 33-27 8 Pittsburgh 277.72 L, 21-42 9 SMU -377.91 W, 34-7 10 Temple -96.01 W, 33-27 12 Notre Dame -7.99 L, 21-27 13 Northern Illinois -31.83 W, 16-0 15 Army -273.81 W, 34-0

Only two bad teams on Wake's schedule, and even those two (Baylor & Duke) had some decent wins this year. Wins over Clemson, Mississippi, and Florida State were big, but the Demon Deacons did lost three they probably shouldn't have. This is their chance for revenge, while Navy is hoping to repeat their seven point victory over Wake in week 5. That was their best win of the season, and their only two other decent ones came against Rutgers & Air Force. Unlike Wake the Midshipmen lost to Duke as well as to Notre Dame. Overall edge here goes to wake for playing in the ACC and keeping things close in their losses.

Stats Matchup
Team	Wake Forest	Navy
Points (rank)	218.86 (#22)	147.23 (#37)
Record	8-4	8-4
Opp. Points (rank)	1,079.13 (#5)	-225.06 (#72)
Opp. Record	78-67	69-65
Points (% of Opp. Avg)	22.5 (104%)	27.8 (122%)
dPoints (% of Opp. Avg)	16.1 (67%)	21.4 (90%)
Rush Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	111.6 (84%)	298.3 (207%)
dRush Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	116.1 (74%)	126.2 (87%)
Pass Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	188.7 (95%)	69.1 (30%)
dPass Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	184.3 (101%)	215.7 (125%)
Tot Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	300.3 (91%)	361.7 (101%)
dTot Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	300.3 (90%)	341.8 (103%)
ST Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	105.4 (88%)	98.3 (88%)
dST Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	86.8 (74%)	127.4 (117%)
Penalties / Pen. Yds	4.6 / 47.6	3.2 / 27.3
TO's / TO Margin	1.6 / +16	1.1 / +16

The big question is going to be can Wake stop Navy's running attack? They only allow 116 dYPG, just 74% of what their opponent's average, but Navy usually gains nearly 300, over 200% of what their opponent's usually allow. If Wake can stuff them they'll be set, since the Midshipmen's passing attack is uber-weak at not even 70 YPG. Both of these teams have had solid years collecting turnovers, creating between 2 & 3 a game each.

The Line: Navy +3

The Call: Wake Forest by 10

The Result: Wake Forest 29-19

Well the Demon Deacons were able to hold the Midshipmen to just 221 yds on the ground, well below their average. Wake won the turnover battle too, earning them some revenge for their regular season loss to Navy. The ACC is off to a good start.