Wake Forest football face uphill battle to make fifth straight bowl game
Offense faces multitude of new questions
Unless you have been living under a rock during this offseason then you probably have heard that Wake Forest’s starting quarterback last season, Jamie Newman, has transferred to Georgia and is battling for the starting job in Athens.
Sam Hartman will be the unquestioned starter at quarterback and he’s not short on experience, having stepped in for an injured Newman in 2018 and throwing for nearly 2,000 yards with 16 touchdowns and four interceptions. Last season, Hartman stepped in and threw for close to 900 yards with four touchdowns. One thing that he must improve on is his accuracy, as his completion percentage has been 55.3 and 56.7 in the last two seasons. He has experience and should make the transition from Newman easier than most quarterback transitions.
After being the backup to Cade Carney last season, Kenneth Walker III will step into a full time role after having 98 carries for 579 yards and four touchdowns last season while averaging 5.9 yards per carry. Christian Beal-Smith will step into a bigger role this season as well and he has had moderate success in his two years with the program, rushing for 304 yards last season, including a 123-yard performance against Louisville.
These two will be the main ball carriers and it is good that they are both experienced players, but they will both have to be better because Wake Forest did not have a feared rushing attack last season.
Wake Forest had one of the nation’s top receivers in Sage Surratt, but he decided to opt out of the 2020 season. Surratt was hurt nine games into the season, but managed to finish with 66 catches for over 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns. Wake Forest will have to replace its top four leading receivers and that won’t be easy. Donovan Greene was a big-play threat last season, averaging over 19 yards per catch and could see even bigger numbers stepping into a full-time role.
The offensive line will return two starters in left guard Sean Maginn and center Zach Tom. There is experience with the other starters, but there is not much depth at the position and Wake Forest can not afford much injury.