Wake Forest v. Indiana: Staff Predictions

The 3-0 Wake Forest Demon Deacons (doesn’t that sound nice!) head up north to square off with the similarly undefeated 2-0 Indiana Hoosiers in Bloomington on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 EST and the game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.

This week, BSD has looked at all facets of what to expect from Wake and IU in a battle of the unbeatens and now, on Friday, we give our prognostications about what we believe will occur tomorrow afternoon. Let’s see what the staff thinks will happen:

Chris: Indiana by a touchdown, 24-17. Wake's turnover and penalty problems continue and the Deacs fall in their first truly tough road test of the season. Look for good games out of Serigne and the defensive line and trouble in the secondary.

Ned: 21-13 Indiana. Wake's defense plays well for the fourth straight game, but some unfortunately timed turnovers give the Hoosiers short field position enough times to outscore an injury-stricken Deacon offense. The passing game struggles to lock in and Wake picks up its first L of the season in Bloomington.

Adam: 24-10 Indiana. The Wake defense has another great game but the offense will struggle without Hinton and Carney. Wolford struggles to get the passing game going, getting hit a plethora of times as the protection breaks down. That will likely give Indiana great field position for most the game, and they eventually overpower a tired Deacon defense and come away with the win.

Rob: Indiana wins 27-17. I believe it can be close for a bit, but I'm concerned about our secondary's ability to stop Indiana's passing attack. Our pass rush can help with this, but I'm worried that the secondary will give up too many big plays. Our offense can move the ball reasonably well against Indiana, but I believe we will miss Kendall Hinton's ability to make plays on his own and pick up critical 1st downs when the play breaks down. I was wrong about the Duke game, so hopefully I'm wrong about this one too.

Jake: Indiana wins 17-13. The Wake defense continues its strong play, but the offense loses the turnover battle and gives the Hoosiers favorable field position a couple times. The Deacs turn to a more pass heavy offense as the run game stalls and they are unable to put together sustained drives.

Grumpy: Indiana 24-17. This is another one where we can win, I just don't predict we will. I see at least one turnover that gives the ball up deep in our own territory (probably from a tipped pass). Defense plays well but Indiana busts a few big plays and takes advantage of some turnovers to score. We'll put together some plays on offense (and at least one sustained drive where Wolford looks on point), but not enough to leave with a W. That's my naturally pessimistic reading of it. Hopefully the Deacs come out prepared and hungry, prove us wrong, and move to 4-0!

Samurai: Indiana 24-17. Marc pretty much took the words right off my keyboard. We play well but not quite well enough to steal another road game. John Wolford will have a multiple TD game though, and we'll look good enough to not dampen our bowl hopes too badly.

Bart: Indiana 23-20. This will be an intriguing game for long stretches and has potential to be a very close game until the very end. I predict this will occur. Wake will shake off a slow start out of the gate and after falling down 3-0 off an early turnover, Wolford will march the troops down field to take a 7-3 lead and leave Wake fans optimistic for the duration of the contest. The defense will give the Deacs the ball with a short field on a couple of occasions but will squander the chances and leave some points on the board while settling for field goals. Despite holding a late lead before letting Indiana tie it up at 20 on a long field goal that Wake fans will lament somehow went in (“of course - always against us”), Wake will go three and out and a long play with under a minute remaining will set IU up for a chip shot, game winning field goal. Deacs drop to 3-1 but show heart moving forward.

Riley: Wake 24-21. Wolford hits on a couple of deep balls against a risk/reward secondary, while the defense holds Redding to under 100 yards for the first time in the past 6 games. A late Mike Weaver field goal makes all the difference. No guts, no glory. Deacs win.

Average BSD Score: Indiana 23-16

And there you have it - now you don’t even have to watch the game! In all seriousness though, this promises to be a tough matchup for the Deacs but is certainly a winnable game. Indiana isn’t any sort of power house and provides an opponent that you would expect to see from a middle-of-the-road P5 team. Either team could come out of this one with a victory, but with Indiana at home and slightly better than the Deacs on paper, the staff seems to think IU will emerge victorious (sans Riley) and remain undefeated.

What do you expect to happen? Let us know below and if you have any questions, comments, or thoughts please don’t hesitate to contact us. And as always, go Deacs!