Spring preview: Wake Forest Demon Deacons

By foxsports
Published

2012 record: 5-7 overall, 3-5 ACC
Spring Practice opens: March 19
Spring game date: April 20

2012 in review: The Demon Deacons dropped six of their last eight games because the defense struggled too often and the offense ended up ranked No. 117 in the nation. Wake Forest scored 21 of fewer points in six of the last seven games, with the lone exception being a 28-14 win over Boston College. 
Junior quarterback Tanner Price completed just 55.6 percent of his 410 pass attempts for 2,300 yards and just 12 touchdowns to go against seven interceptions.  A poor ground game (only 1,206 yards) was in part because of the struggling aerial attack. Wake finished 116th in scoring and 93rd in points allowed.

Biggest hole to fill: Linebacker Riley Haynes was fourth on the team with 60 tackles, four of those tackles went for a loss of yardage with one a sack. Haynes also intercepted a pass and forced a fumble. His leadership will be hard to replace, plus he just had a nose for the ball. Haynes’ main backup, Scott Betros, also exhausted his eligibility, so the Demon deacons must look at a few green players to fill the void. Sophomore Zachery Allen may have the inside track.

Watch out for: Athlete Orville Reynolds, who is listed as a tailback but has moved to the slot position, doesn’t have much experience under his belt, but he could really surprise this season. The junior has run the ball just 33 times in his career and caught six passes. 
His coach sure likes what he’s done in spring camp so far: “We played as a true freshman and probably didn’t want to but had to,” Wake coach Jim Grobe said. “He’s starting to come on, and that’s good to see. He’s playing the slot where (Michael Campanaro) Camp would be. With Camp being down with the ankle injury, Orville’s getting a ton of reps and that’s been really, really good for him.”