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Despite the futility of the offense last year, there were some bright spots in the other two sectors of the Wake Forest football team, especially on special teams.
According to Football Outsiders Freameau Efficiency Index (FEI) for Special Teams, considered one of the best ways to measure the impact of a certain facet of a team, Wake Forest ranked 20th in the nation. Within that, the Deacs ranked 7th in Punt Efficiency (PE), and 20th in Kickoff Efficiency (KE).
Needless to say, kicker Mike Weaver and punter Alex Kinal did a remarkable job, especially considering the frequency that each was called in to action throughout the year.
We have long touted the merits of the Australian Assassin Alex Kinal, who will nearly without a doubt shatter the ACC record for career punts en route to breaking the NCAA record as well. That will be something work watching as the season progresses. Not only does he punt the ball with absurd frequency, he does a pretty damn good job of it too, averaging 43.6 yards per punt (on 81 punts). He also had 19 punts of 50+ yards, 27 inside the 20, and a phenomenal zero touchbacks.
Kinal was named First Team All-ACC at ACC Media Day, and along with Brandon Chubb, represented the Deacs at the Media Kickoff event earlier this month.
We urge you to follow The Kinal Kount (@KinalKount) as Alex marches towards the NCAA record for punts in a career.
Perhaps lost and overshadowed in the praise and accolades of Kinal is placekicker Mike Weaver. The RS sophomore came to Wake Forest from New York, redshirted his freshman year, unexpectedly won the starting job in the spring last season, and then set the Demon Deacon record by making his first ten field goals of the season before missing a 54-yarder in the Clemson game.
Weaver finished 15-19 on the year, missing three field goals in the Virginia Tech game, but eventually winning the game in overtime.
The punting and kicking game should be strong again this year, and if the Deacs want to have any chance to make a bowl game, it will need to be on point in every single game.