No. 4 Florida State aims to keep its unbeaten streak rolling on Saturday in Winston-Salem, N.C., when it opposes Wake Forest.
The Seminoles (7-0, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) are coming off a 38-20 home win over then-No. 16 Duke. It wasn’t easy though, as Florida State trailed by double digits early in the second quarter. The Seminoles outscored the Blue Devils 21-0 in the fourth to close out the win.
While Florida State is aiming for a spot in the College Football Playoff, Wake Forest (4-3, 1-3) is simply trying to go bowling for the eighth consecutive season in Dave Clawson’s 10 years at the helm. The Demon Deacons are coming off their first conference victory of the season, a 21-17 nail-biter against visiting Pitt. Wake Forest scored the go-ahead touchdown — a 15-yard pass from Santino Marucci to Cameron Hite — with seven seconds left.
The win against the Panthers was Marucci’s first career start at quarterback. A year ago, he played quarterback, running back and safety. He completed 12 of 21 passes vs. Pitt for 151 yards and threw two picks, but when the game hung in the balance, he made the plays necessary for the Demon Deacons.
“Santino was backpedaling, playing safety a year ago,” Clawson said. “We went into this and we said, ‘Let’s put this on the O-line, let’s put this on the backs, let’s give him some quick screens, maybe some play-action bootlegs.’ And then, at the end of the game, we had to let him play.”
Marucci entered this season as Wake Forest’s third-string quarterback. He was thrust into action against Pitt due to injuries to starter Mitch Griffis and backup Michael Kern.
It’s unclear who will start for Wake Forest against Florida State, but Seminoles coach Mike Norvell is preparing for Griffis to step back in under center and to be the orchestrator of Clawson’s signature offensive scheme.
“We’ll plan for (Griffis) and be able to adjust to whatever shows up and whatever the situation is,” Norvell said. “They’ve got talented receivers. What they do schematically offensively is really tough, just with the slow mesh read, it’s something that’s unique to their program (and) is really unique to college football and how they operate it.”
Meanwhile, Wake Forest’s defense will have to prepare to face Florida State’s Jordan Travis, who has played like one of the best quarterbacks in the country this season. Travis is tied for the ACC lead in touchdowns-responsible-for with 20, and he is second in the conference in passing efficiency rating with a mark of 153.4. He leads an offense that takes care of the ball with just 0.6 turnovers per game.
Against Duke, Travis threw for 268 yards and two touchdowns with one interception while also rushing for 62 yards and a score.
“I thought Jordan was remarkable,” Norvell said of Travis’ play vs. the Blue Devils. “Especially in the second half, really just did a wonderful job with his arms, legs, decision-making and all things.”
Travis is 0-2 in his career against Wake Forest. Florida State hasn’t beaten the Demon Deacons since 2018 but still owns the series with a 30-9-1 record.
–Field Level Media