Wake Forest Football @WakeFB 8h8 hours ago
"This week, we're facing a very improved Syracuse team. They've moved the ball and put up points on everyone they've played." - Clawson
On the pass defense: "Part of it is we've played with a lead and teams have had to become one-dimensional on us."
"I hope Cade [Carney] is going to play, I don't think Kendall [Hinton] is. It's not definite on either." - Clawson.
"This week we play a very improved Syracuse team. They move the ball and score points against everyone they've played. Their quarterback, (Eric) Dungey, I think is one of the best young quarterbacks in the country. He has already thrown for over 1,700 yards, a bunch of touchdowns and what is most impressive, only three interceptions the whole year. He is taking care of the ball and is a very good athlete who can make plays with his feet. The other big problem with Syracuse is that they have four exception wide receivers. Etta-Tawo, a graduate transfer from Maryland, already has 47 catches for 840 yards and six touchdowns. He is putting up video game numbers. They get rid of the ball so quickly. Their average snap-to-release is 1.6 or 1.7 seconds, so it is hard to generate a pass rush with what they do. Defensively, I always think when you play that style of offense that the defense is never going to have good numbers just because they will be out there more. It is a sound defensive structure. They play a lot of the old Tampa-2 concept and their corners are very involved in run support. You can look at their numbers, but I don't think you will ever marry that offensive system with great defensive numbers. Their job on defense is to stop drives and get off the field. It will be a very good challenge for our football team. We are glad to be home and glad to be playing a team who isn't coming off a bye week."
On Indiana's pace preparing the team for Syracuse's pace...
"A little bit, but this pace (Syracuse) is warp speed. This is faster. They run a play every 17 or 18 seconds. It is fast. It is almost like preparing for a triple-option team. You can try simulate it, but you are never going to simulate it as well as they do it. One of our challenges is we haven't started out well on defense against any of the Power Five opponents. We gave up a big play to Indiana on play one, and scores on the opening drive at NC State and the opening drive at Duke. This is a team that starts fast, so we have to be ready to go early and we have not been so far. We were able to come back at Duke and Indiana, but on NC State, the hole was too big. We don't want to play from behind in this game. They scored 27 first-half points last week and that is a Notre Dame defense with a few first-round picks on it."
"It was a different feeling, but it's a good thing we got this far and haven't had a loss until now. But the mindset is still the same. We're still trying to be 1-0 every week, starting with this week. We closed that chapter, we didn't play our best ball, and we suffered the consequences for it, and now we're moving on. Now it's on to the next one. We got Syracuse this week, we're only focused about Syracuse, we're not focused about anybody else. We're focused on beating Syracuse, getting back on track, and winning."
On the Syracuse offense:
"They're going to be the fastest offense we've ever played. They're the fastest offense in college football right now. I mean they're averaging like, 19 seconds from snap to snap. So we're doing a good job simulating that in practice. We started out great today and the scout team was doing really well. But it's going to be on the defense to line up, know our plays, pick the right defense, and just make plays on the football, especially in the secondary. We can't get tired, and have to be able to get off the field on third down and get turnovers so we can get off the field and rest and give our offense a chance to make plays."
On starting quickly:
"It's very important. We knew we had to get off to a fast start against NC State, and we failed at that. So that's definitely the main focus, and that's the same goal this week, to get off to a fast start. We can't wait and be down and have to catch up, we have to go out there from the first snap and be ready to play. Because if we did that last week, we would have been fine. But we unfortunately didn't show up, and it cost us at the end of the game. So we learned from that mistake and we're getting that fixed."
On coming off a loss:
"We just have to play our game and stick to our game plan. What happens in every game is stuff doesn't go your way and you have to be able to bounce back and go from there. We have to start the game fast and get rolling. We have to play hard, play fast and play physical. It's important to start off fast and stay on schedule."
On Syracuse:
"We play against great guys in the ACC and this defense is good. They [Syracuse] have a lot of guys returning from last year and so it will be a good game. They're definitely good up front and a really good team. We just have to stick to what we do, stick to the game plan and execute and it should be a fun game."
On keys to the offense:
"Execution and communication. We can't become one dimensional. We have to be able to run and pass the ball. We have to start fast and set the tone early, especially the run game. We have to get the run game going because that opens up a lot more on the offense."
