By the Numbers and Notes: Syracuse
10/29/2020 4:27:00 PM | Football
Get the key numbers and notes ahead of the Deacs road trip to play the Orange
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The Wake Forest football team is two days away from lining up against Syracuse at the Carrier Dome.
Before the Deacs travel out of the state of the North Carolina for the first time this season, below are some numbers and notes on the game:
By the Numbers
23 - Boogie Basham enters Saturday with a streak of 23 consecutive games with a tackle for loss, the only FBS player with a double-digit streak.
15 - In the last four games, the Demon Deacons have 15 rushing touchdowns. Wake Forest had 18 rushing touchdowns during the entire 2019 campaign.
9 - The Deacs nine interceptions this season rank second in FBS and are tied for the national lead. Nick Andersen is tied for the FBS lead one of just 13 players nationally with three picks.
11 - Wake Forest is the only FBS team with a positive double-digit turnover margin at +11 on the season.
26 - Sam Hartman has gone 156 throws without an interception. He is 26 pass attempts away from breaking the Wake Forest record held by Tanner Price (181 from 2011-12)
2014 – Nick Andersen was the first ACC player to have three or more interceptions since Louisville's Gerod Holliman in 2014.
Notable
ON THE GROUND
Season TO Gained TO Lost TO Margin
2020 12 1 +11
2019 25 17 +8
2018 16 19 -3*
2017 21 13 +8
2016 27 19 +8
*Only season in Wake Forest history where the Deacs reached a bowl game with a negative turnover margin.
Even 9-10
+1 or better 26-9
+2 or better 15-3
+3 or better 9-0
NOTHING BUT GREENE
Before the Deacs travel out of the state of the North Carolina for the first time this season, below are some numbers and notes on the game:
By the Numbers
23 - Boogie Basham enters Saturday with a streak of 23 consecutive games with a tackle for loss, the only FBS player with a double-digit streak.
15 - In the last four games, the Demon Deacons have 15 rushing touchdowns. Wake Forest had 18 rushing touchdowns during the entire 2019 campaign.
9 - The Deacs nine interceptions this season rank second in FBS and are tied for the national lead. Nick Andersen is tied for the FBS lead one of just 13 players nationally with three picks.
11 - Wake Forest is the only FBS team with a positive double-digit turnover margin at +11 on the season.
26 - Sam Hartman has gone 156 throws without an interception. He is 26 pass attempts away from breaking the Wake Forest record held by Tanner Price (181 from 2011-12)
2014 – Nick Andersen was the first ACC player to have three or more interceptions since Louisville's Gerod Holliman in 2014.
Notable
ON THE GROUND
- DYNAMIC DUO: The running back duo of Kenneth Walker III and Christian Beal-Smith have been hard to stop through the first five games of the 2020 campaign. In the last four games, at least one of the backs have gone for over 100 yards rushing. Against No. 19 Virginia Tech, it was Beal-Smith's turn to break the century mark. On just 13 carries he went for 129 rushing yards (9.9 yards per carry). This included a season-high rush of 58 yards in the first quarter. He finished the game with a career-high 153 all-purpose yards.
- WALKER IS FEELING 100: In the second, third and fourth games of the season, Kenneth Walker III finished with better than 100 yards in each contest. It marks the first time since Matt Colburn II in 2017 that a Demon Deacon has had back-to-back-to-back 100-plus yard games.
- PUTTING THE BALL IN THE PAINT: In the last four games, the Demon Deacons have found the endzone 15 times. In 2019, Wake Forest finished the season with 18 total touchdowns as a team.
- INTERCEPTING THE OPPOSITION: Last season, the Demon Deacons finished the year with 14 interceptions by 10 different players. Through five games, Wake Forest is on pace to break that mark as seven different players have accounted for the Deacs' nine total interceptions. After week eight of the FBS season, Wake Forest is the one of just six teams in the country to have two or more interceptions returned for touchdowns. Ja'Sir Taylor and Zion Keith have both returned their interceptions 45 yards for TDs.
- STREAKING: Wake Forest has forced a turnover in the last 14 contests. The last time the Demon Deacons failed to force a turnover came against Elon on Sept. 21, 2019.
- PROTECTING THE ROCK: Through five games, Wake Forest has only turned the ball over once this season and the Deacs are the only FBS schools who has played more than one game yet to throw an interception this season and the only ACC school who has not thrown an interception this year. The Demon Deacons +11 turnover margin this season ranks first nationally and leads the ACC.
- TACKLES FOR LOSS: Over the last 23 games in his Wake Forest career, Carlos "Boogie" Basham Jr. has been the most consistent force in the country at getting into the backfield. He has at least one tackle for loss in those games and has a total of 29.5 tackles for loss and 112 total tackle for loss yards.
- SACK KING: During the first five games of the season, Basham has recorded a sack in each game. Over the last 14 contests, the Roanoke, Va. native has at least one sack in 12 games. He is currently fourth on Wake Forest's all-time sack list with 20.5 total sacks, 3.0 away from third all-time.
- HAT TRICK OF PICKS: Freshman Nick Andersen, who was made his second consecutive start at safety on Saturday against No. 19 Virginia Tech, became the first Wake Forest player since A.J. Greene in 1987 to intercept three or more passes in a single game. He was also the first ACC player to have three or more interceptions since Louisville's Gerod Holliman in 2014.
- STICKING HIS NOSE IN: The true freshman walk-on is currently second on the team in tackles with 33 on the season. This includes a season-high and game-high 11 stops against the nationally-ranked Hokies on Saturday.
- One of the points of emphasis for the Wake Forest football team is winning the turnover battle. They have been one of the best teams in the country in that category since the start of the 2016 season.
- In three of the last four seasons, the Demon Deacons have finished inside of the top 25 in turnover margin while placing in the top three of ACC in each of those seasons.
- Over the past five season combined Wake Forest has a combined +31 turnover margin. Only 2018 saw the Deacs finish with more turnovers lost than gained:
Season TO Gained TO Lost TO Margin
2020 12 1 +11
2019 25 17 +8
2018 16 19 -3*
2017 21 13 +8
2016 27 19 +8
*Only season in Wake Forest history where the Deacs reached a bowl game with a negative turnover margin.
- Winning the turnover battle has been a key to victory for the Demon Deacons since Dave Clawson arrived on campus ahead of the 2014 season:
Even 9-10
+1 or better 26-9
+2 or better 15-3
+3 or better 9-0
NOTHING BUT GREENE
- Through five games this season, Donavon Greene has not only show to be one of the most explosive wide receivers in the country but one of the most explosive players in FBS.
- Through the air, he is averaging 21.27 yards per catch, which ranks sixth nationally with players having 20 or more targets this season.
- In the kick return game, he ranks second nationally with a 39.80 average including the first kick return touchdown for the program since Kevin Marion in 2007.
- Taylor Morin has been nearly impressive in the punt return game. His average of 14.00 yards per return ranks fifth nationally and leads the ACC.
Players Mentioned
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/ FootballQB Robbie Ashford takes it himself for the score
Thursday, September 11
Chris Barnes scores the TD on the game's first kick
Thursday, September 11
Matt Barrie SportsCenter at Wake Forest with Demond Claiborne
Wednesday, September 10
Matt Barrie SportsCenter on Wake Forest Campus (Arnold Palmer Complex)
Wednesday, September 10