Wake Forest Football: Previewing the Campbell Defense

We hit the offense yesterday so let’s just jump straight into the Campbell defense.

While the offense has been able to somewhat hold their own against FBS opponents, the defense has not. The Camels’ defense is giving up 449 yards and over 40 points per game so far this season. Again, just to compare that to other FBS teams, that would give Campbell the 2nd worst defense among the 72 teams in yards per game, right behind LSU’s 623 yards per game. So basically what I’m saying is that if Wake can score a plethora of points against Campbell, they should have no trouble doing the same to the defending national champs—that’s how it works right?

Campbell has basically not stopped the run at all this season. The Camels have given up almost 300 yards per game, 13 touchdowns and over 6 yards per carry on the ground. Some of that is due to the fact that Georgia Southern and Coastal Carolina are both running option style offenses, but just last week the Camels were gashed for over 400 yards rushing by an App State team that finished the game with 7 rushing touchdowns. Based on that, I fully expect that Kenneth Walker III and Christian Beal-Smith will have huge games on Friday night.

The passing game hasn’t been that much better. The Camels have allowed opponents to complete 61% of their passes for 151 yards per game (no need to pass when you get 6 yards per run). They have just 1 sack and 0 interceptions this season. The Camels’ secondary is led by former Demon Deacon Malik Grate, who leads the team with 3 passes defended on the year. I’d have to guess that he is going to be amped up and looking to show out against his former team.

Personally, I really don’t think the Deacs are going to have any trouble moving the ball and putting up points against Campbell. The Camels have forced just 6 punts in 3 games this season, and I have to assume our offense is better than Coastal Carolina and Georgia Southern.

I really hope I don’t regret saying that.