9/1/16
Wake forest will host Tulane on Thursday night September 1st in a Game that can be seen on ESPN3. Wake Forest is a hefty -17 point favorite with a total of 43.
Both of these teams were 3-9 a year ago, but that is where the similarities end. One team was a promising 3-9 with plenty of positives to take away from their season. The other was a horrendous 3-9 with what looks like very little hope for 2016. Can you guess which is which?
Tulane was simply a very bad football team in 2016. Their wins came against non 1-A Maine, 0-12 Central Florida and Army. Their losses, well, heck, they had one “close” loss all year, and that was a 7-3 loss to a UCONN team that had no offense. Otherwise, they were blown off the field every other time they laced em up. 65-10 to Georgia Tech, 49-10 to Temple, 42-7 to Houston. You get the idea. The Tulane season couldn’t end fast enough.
Wake Forest on the other hand, played a tough ACC Schedule and with a play here or there going their way, it could have been a much different season. They were competitive most times they took the field and went toe to toe with some very good football teams. They lost 24-16 to Florida State and 20-19 to Louisville. 4 of their losses were by a TD or less. Wake Forest is the classic example of a team on the rise and ready for a breakout year. Anything less than 6 wins and a Bowl bid would be a huge disappointment for Wake Forest.
While Wake Forest is in year #3 under coach Dave Clawson and things are starting to take shape, Tulane has an all new, revamped coaching staff from the head coach on down. A new coaching staff also means new schemes, including the introduction of the option offense!
There’s just too much work to be done with the Green Wave and they’re going up against a Wake Forest program that looks poised to legitimately compete against the best in the ACC this year. If we’re right, and if Wake Forest gets the magic 6 wins to become bowl eligible, this is a Game they absolutely have to win and we think they will.
The Option offense isn’t something that can be implemented overnight. Consider this, Army only managed 11 first downs and 14 points against Wake Forest last year and few teams run the option better than them. -17 is a big number to lay with a team that was 3-9 year ago, but coach Dave Clawson has gone on record as saying his team will be “significantly better” this season and you know what? We believe him. It all starts in week 1. Wake Forest -17 and Over 43