Pittsburgh-Wake Forest Series:
- Game will be at BB&T Field in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
- Game will start at 12:00 PM ET
- Marks first game in series
Offensive Players to watch:
Pittsburgh: Qadree Ollison has been the key player from this ground-and-pound for this Pittsburgh team. If you watched any of last week’s game against Virginia Tech, you could easily see how his presence affected the game. Ollison amounts for 1,054 rushing yard this season with 10 touchdowns to complement it. This will be a game for this Pittsburgh offense to control the clock against a turnover-prone Wake Forest. Look for Pat Narduzzi to use the most out of Ollison.
Wake Forest: Jamie Newman is the back-up quarterback that came in to save the day for the Demon Deacons last week. His ability to sling the ball on the Wolfpack defense became a scary thing to watch, especially when he racked up 297 passing yards and threw up 3 touchdowns. Clearly Newman will be the starter for the Deacons this week because starter, Sam Hartman, had attained a season ending injury. However, I think we will see Newman step up and take on this large role to get this Deacon team together.
Defensive Players to watch:
Pittsburgh: Rashad Weaver tends to bring the outside pressure for the Panthers in needed moments. I don’t think this changes this week. Weaver is a strong and elusive defensive end for the Pittsburgh Panthers. Only as a sophomore, Weaver has 38 total tackles, 11.0 tackles-for-loss, and 5.5 sacks on the season. If this trend keeps up, Weaver could be a highly praised professional recruit. Watch for Weaver to use his size and speed to beat out the Wake Forest guards and cause some havoc.
Wake Forest: Essang Bassey has been the most important asset for the Demon Deacon’s secondary this year. The Deacon’s secondary has had its troubles this year, but Bassey keeps it together for that unit. On the year, Bassey collectively has 65 total tackles, 2.5 tackles-for-loss, and 1.0 sacks. If Wake Forest wants to win this weekend against a strong rush attack from, then they need to fix all the focus on the run. Watch for Bassey to shut down any pass attack from the Panthers.
The Basics:
Both teams bring in good offenses in terms of scoring. Wake Forest averages 31.8 points a game and Pittsburgh follows with 29.7 a game. However, when we look at the defenses, it shows a much wider scale between the teams. Wake Forest gives up, on average, 486.3 yards a game, which is horrible. What makes this even more of a problem for the Demon Deacons is that they are giving up more yards than Pittsburgh has in offensive yards produced at 396.3. This means that there will be no ceiling for this Pittsburgh team in terms of scoring. Look for a dominant Pittsburgh game.
Prediction:
41-24 Pittsburgh
Photo Credits: https://fbschedules.com/pittsburgh-ucf-schedule-2018-19-football-series/
