Wake Forest football face uphill battle to make fifth straight bowl game

Defense seeks to bounce back after recent decline

Under previous defensive coordinator Mike Elko, Wake Forest had a very stingy defense and was a tough out each and every week. Since Elko’s departure, Wake Forest has declined in defensive play, but with an experienced unit coming back in 2020, there is hope for a turnaround ford the Demon Deacons.

The defensive line and the defense as a whole will be led by senior Carlos Basham Jr., who is one of the top pass rushers in the conference and in the country and had 11 sacks as a junior last season to go along with 57 total tackles. Sulaiman Kamara will be back in the interior of the defensive line and he will be joined by Tyler Williams and Jacorey Johns. This line needs to find a pass rush outside of Basham Jr. as he accounted for over one-third of the team’s sacks.

The linebackers will once again be manned by last year’s leading tackler Ryan Smenda Jr. and he will be joined by Ja’Cquez Williams and Traveon Redd, who both had solid years as well last season. This front-seven was young last season, but the hope is that with the return of impact players such as Basham Jr. on the line and Smenda Jr. at linebacker, this unit can improve after not being very good last season.

The secondary will be the big question mark on the defense as the Demon Deacons are missing both starting corners from year ago, but return both of the starting safeties in Nasir Greer and Trey Rucker, and Rucker could be in for a big season after starting as a true freshman last season.

The two new cornerback spots will be occupied by Zion Keith and senior Ja’Sir Taylor and they both have big shoes to fill on what was one of the worst pass defenses in the conference.