Wake Forest vs Utah State: Game Simulation

After I had so much fun playing around on the Xbox for my Greg Dortch article, I decided that I definitely needed to find another way to work it onto this site. So I loaded up the current roster of both the Deacs and the Aggies and let the computer play itself to see what result we can expect on Saturday (since obviously computers are never wrong). I set the quarter length to 7 minutes, thinking that would give a decent representation of an actual game. It turns out, that may have been a little too long for these two video game high powered offenses.

Here are the final stats from the simulation:

As you can see, our Deacs came away with the 44-34 win despite giving up 557 yards. Sophomore receiver Scotty Washington earned player of the game honors with 7 receptions for 152 yards and 2 TDs. Jessie Bates led the way for the Deacon defense with 15 tackles and 1 forced fumble.

Here’s how the stats broke down for the Deacs:

Passing:

• John Wolford: 31-39, 384 yards, 3 TDs, 2 ints (1 pick 6)

Rushing:

• Cade Carney: 19 attempts, 74 yards, 3.8 avg, 2 TDs
• John Wolford: 11 attempts, 21 yards, 1.9 avg
• Matt Colburn II: 2 attempts, 12 yards, 6.0 avg
• Alex Bachman: 1 attempt, 10 yards

Receiving:

• Scotty Washington: 7 receptions, 152 yards, 2 TDs
• Greg Dortch: 7 receptions, 129 yards
• Cam Serigne: 9 receptions, 50 yards
• Tabari Hines: 3 receptions, 23 yards, 1 TD
• Cade Carney: 3 receptions, 23 yards
• Cortez Lewis: 2 receptions, 7 yards

Notable Defense:

• Jessie Bates III: 15 tackles, 2TFL, 1 FF
• Grant Dawson: 10 tackles
• Cameron Glenn: 10 tackles
• Essang Bassey: 10 tackles
• Duke Ejiofor: 4 tackles, 2 sacks
• Amari Henderson: 2 tackles, 1 interception

Kicking

• Mike Weaver: 3/3 FG, 48 Long, 5/5 XP

On the other side of the ball, Kent Myers led the way for the Aggies, completing 32 of his 47 attempts for 294 yards, 1 TD, and 1 int. He also ran the ball 21 times for 134 yards and a touchdown.

Some other notables for the Aggies:

• Tonny Lindsey, Jr.: 13 attempts, 103 yards (7.9 avg)
• Justen Hervey: 4 attempts, 26 yards, 1 TD
• Ron’Quavion Tarver: 8 receptions, 88 yards
• Dax Raymond: 7 receptions, 44 yards 1 TD
• Chase Christiansen: 8 tackles
• Jalen Davis: 4 tackles, 1 int, 1 TD

The play of the game was this 28 yard touchdown pass from John Wolford to Scotty Washington, in which Washington uses his height to go up and win the 1 v 1 battle over the shorter Jontrell Rocquemore.

We’ll have to see on Saturday whether or not we can trust our computer overlords, but until then, do you think this will be an accurate predictor?