Wake Forest stumbled in '23. Dave Clawson hopes changes get the Demon Deacons back on course

Wake Forest’s formula had worked perfectly in turning a small, private university into an Atlantic Coast Conference contender that even earned top-10 national rankings.

Last year was different.

The Demon Deacons stumbled to four wins, a last-place finish in the ACC and the end of a seven-year run of bowl games. Wake Forest returns six starters on both offense and defense as they try to return to the steady approach that has worked throughout Dave Clawson’s tenure.

Clawson, entering his 11th season, said the staff tweaked offseason and spring preparation for a team picked to finish 15th in the expanded 17-team ACC.

“When things are going well, you don’t want to mess with it,” Clawson said. “And then you have a thump and you go 4-8, and it makes you examine everything. And maybe it isn’t what you did, but sometimes I think just to (say), ‘This is not acceptable.’ As the head coach, you’ve got change things up. For me to not change anything would say everything we did was correct.”

Clawson’s teams have frequently outperformed preseason projections, including a trip to the league title game in 2021 after being picked to finish fifth in the Atlantic Division. But last year was the biggest stumble in what has been a steady building job..

“When we all came in, this was a program that was going to bowl game after bowl game, winning season after wining season,” receiver Taylor Morin said. “Last year was an anomaly. It was definitely a little weird and we were humbled by that.”

QB stability?

The Demon Deacons struggled to find stability after star passer Sam Hartman left for Notre Dame. They started three quarterbacks and after the season Santino Marucci opted to transfer and Mitch Griffis did too, though he later decided to end his football career entirely.

Michael Kern played in four games last season and he entered preseason camp battling for the starting job with transfer Hank Bachmeier, who spent four seasons at Boise State and last year at Louisiana Tech.

Problem areas

Part of Wake Forest’s formula for success has been avoiding mistakes.

Yet the Demon Deacons tied for 105th nationally with 22 turnovers and tied for 111th with a minus-6 margin last season. They struggled on third downs, both in staying on the field (108th nationally behind a woeful 34.2% conversion rate) and getting off the field (81st at 40.2%).

They also ranked as the third-worst team in the Bowl Subdivision by allowing 4.08 sacks per game and second-worst in sack rate at 13.2% of pass plays, with only Old Dominion ranking worst.

“Before you can go forward, you’ve got to stop moving backwards,” Clawson said.

Key returnees

The Demon Deacons could get a boost with promising receiver Donavon Greene set to return from a knee injury that sidelined him all last year. He also missed the 2021 season with a knee injury.

Defensive lineman Jasheen Davis returns after racking up 7 1/2 sacks last year, while he’s joined up front by linemate Kevin Pointer and linebacker Dylan Hazen — who had a team-best 86 tackles last year.

There’s also experience with the return of kicker Matthew Dennis (26 field goals) and punter Ivan Mora (186 career attempts).

He said it

“Last year wasn’t a representation of us. We trust each other to right what went wrong last year. We trust our coaches will lead us in the right way to bring Wake Forest where Wake Forest wants to be.” — offensive lineman DeVonte Gordon.

The schedule

The Demon Deacons open at home against nearby North Carolina A&T on Aug. 29, followed by their ACC opener against Virginia (Sept. 7). Then comes a marquee game: a visit from Lane Kiffin and sixth-ranked Mississippi (Sept. 14).

The league slate includes a trip to No. 24 North Carolina State (Oct. 5) and a visit from No. 14 Clemson (Oct. 12). The Demon Deacons also play two of the league’s three new schools by going to Stanford (Oct. 26) and hosting California (Nov. 8). Wake Forest closes at home against instate foe Duke (Nov. 30).

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