Wake Forest 24 Utah State 36: Next Day Reaction

The Good

Josh Banks - Banks had an incredible 70-yard interception return for a touchdown in addition to his 7 tackles, including 2 tackles for loss.

Ryan Janvion - Finished with 18 tackles, which makes him the second Deacon this year to record 18 tackles in a single game.

Offense - I certainly won't say our offense was good, but I said I would judge this season on week-to-week improvement and we certainly improved over our first road game against ULM. Granted, 94 total yards was a very low bar, but we still improved. Cam Serigne and E.J. Scott have been consistent receiving options over the past two games and we will hopefully be able to build around them as the year continues.

Areas of Improvement

Offensive line- John Wolford dropped back to pass 56 times on Saturday night and was either hurried or sacked on 24 plays. You just can't expect to have consistent quarterback play and accurate throws when he is under that kind of pressure. Additionally, we had 15 carries by running backs that went for a combined 7 yards. There were also 3 false starts and 1 holding call.

Pass rush - On the other hand, our defensive line either forced sacks or quarterback hurries on just 5 of Utah State's 46 drop backs. That was an inexperienced offensive line, so it's very concerning moving forward.

Penalties - Wake had 10 penalties for 107 yards and allowed Utah State to generate 5 first downs by penalties alone. Our defense is good, but it's certainly not good enough to give extra opportunities to the opposing offense, especially considering the field position harm it does to our offense. We also cannot have the aforementioned 3 false starts.

There is clearly a lot to work on, but these were the things that stuck out to me.