Wake Forest NCAA 12 Dynasty: Competitive Football Would be Nice!

[waytofailself]

Table of Contents
2011 Season: Post 1
2012 Season: Post 51
2013 Season: Post 154

Dynasty History
Below this tag is the results from each season, along with ACC, National Championship, and Heisman winners.

Spoiler

2011 Season
Record: 7-6
Bowl: Military Bowl W 28-21 vs Temple
Heisman Winner: Andrew Luck, QB Stanford
ACC Champion: NC State
National Champion: Ohio State

2012 Season
Record: 12-1 Ranked #5 Coach's Poll
Bowl: Fiesta Bowl W 34-14 W vs Oklahoma
Heisman Winner: Robert Griffin III, QB Baylor
ACC Champion: North Carolina
National Champion: Iowa

Ahh, Memories

Think of Wake Forest and the word "tradition" is probably not what comes to mind first. Sure, there have been champions. The men's soccer team recently won the NCAA title. The Women's Field Hockey team continues to dominant the NCAA after posting a three-peat last decade. But turn to the more lucrative, highly publicized sports and what do you get? The men's basketball program has produced a number of NBA stars and practically nothing in the NCAA tournament.

And Football? Well, look no further than the Deac's 9-6 ACC Title Win over Georgia Tech and Orange Bowl berth against Louisville. The students, in an entirely environmentally fabulous tradition, rolled the quad in celebration of what could have been simultaneously the most defensively beautiful and offensively unbearable game in school history. With Freshman QB Riley Skinner at the helm, the world seemed to be in front of Wake Forest.

And there was success. Some bowl wins. A good ride along the way. But every season was another tick down one notch. The Deacons, who had done well finding diamonds in the rough, were entering each new season with a little less talent than the season before. But fortunately for the athletics department, all those bowl appearances did help to bring some nice upgrades to BB&T Field (note the nice new brick entrance/athletic department facilities on the left):

So maybe tradition is not the right word. No, today we're talking about legacy. Maybe it's time to forget the past -- forget the magical 2006 run. Can the Demon Deacons put all the pieces together and rise out of the ACC basement again? Can they build, brick by brick, until they are a full fledged and sustainable dynasty worthy of the national spotlight? Well, first...

UPDATE: The Jim Grobe Era is Over

Not to be outdone by UNC's surprise "We support you, we support you, erm maybe not!" firing of Butch Davis last week, it looks like the Wake Forest Demon Deacons are coming out of the blue to jettison Jim Grobe. He was one of the most successful football coaches in school history both as a recruiter and for cultivating unknown talent on the field. There was no indication of any impending NCAA investigations or prior violations. Instead, the school said that while it thanked Grobe for its service it felt it was time to go in a different direction.

At this point there is no word of who Grobe's replacement might be. Some sources have indicated that the Demon Deacons will look to hire from within, but they could just as easily hire bring in someone new on board. The Athletics Department has only gone so far to say that it will not go the "interim coach" route.

The Deacons are already expected to finish near or at the bottom of the ACC this season. And now with a sudden coaching change with only weeks before the first game? Things aren't going to get any easier.

Dynasty Rules
Difficulty: All-American (Game+Recruiting)
Quarters: 8 Minutes
Sliders: SECElite's as of 8/2/11
Second Season: Switched to Matt10's Heisman Halfway Through
Third Season: Switched to SECElite's Heisman Sliders
Strategy Adjustments: Aggressive Stripping is Situational Only (started 3rd Season)
Rosters: Default w/ Auto Names (stupid roster bugs)

Don't expect instant success from this Dynasty. I will be sticking with Wake Forest through thick and thin, unless it gets a little too thick and I get fired. The Wake Forest roster has some good players, but for the most part is very weak -- certainly the weakest in the ACC. But I'll do what I can, as much as I can, and try and provide good highlights, low-lights, and insights along the way.

It's going to be a tough road. Should be fun!

Next post: Introduction to the team & new coach (if they've found one yet).

[waytofailself]

Get to Know Your Demon Deacons
(but not by their real names)

Although the coaching situation surrounding Wake Forest may be a bit of a mystery, the team does have a few reliable players who stand out and look to contribute. Although the Deacs are short on star power, hopefully they are the kind of bunch who can work together to be more than the sum or their parts.

Key Players

QB Matt White (SO)
72 OVR: If there is one huge question on offense it is who is going to fill the void at QB. So far no one on the depth chart seems capable of stepping up, but someone has to play under center. White's will have an opportunity to learn on the job, but the offense is going to go through a lot of growing pains with him.

HB Patrick Mitchell (SO)
80 OVR: After making national headlines by torching VT on the ground last year, Mitchell looks to be the most reliable part of the WFU offense entering this season. With little talent around him, he has no choice. But what happens if he does get hurt? There is a major talent drop off behind him, and no one is nearly as fast as Mitchell.

RT Patrick Hartman (SR)
82 OVR: Hartman has anchored the Deacon line for awhile now, but this season he's going to have to help protect a young, inexperienced QB while also trying to create running lanes. A lot is going to fall onto his shoulders, especially when the rest of the line is mostly young and not too talented.

DT Carl Benjamin (SO)
75 OVR: Although incredibly undersized for the defensive tackle, Benjamin makes up for it with speed and quickness. Hopefully he can shed blockers to work his way into the backfield.

ROLB Gavin Ingram (SR)
82 OVR: The rock of Wake's run support. He's fast, he's sure, and he does not quit on a play. As an added bonus, Ingram is not bad in pass protection situations either.

SS Ryan Booth (SR)
85 OVR: The unquestioned leader of the defense, Booth is one of the few players on the Deacon's squad that also has the attention of some pro scouts. He's going to have to work to cover a lot of field, because the rest of the WFU secondary is very slow.

Wake Forest Hires Unknown Shapiro to a Three Year Contract

Morris Shapiro is living the dream. There is no other way to put it. Although there were rumblings of Wake hiring from within no one expected them to pass up Grobe's old assistants to turn an athletic department desk jockey into Head Football Coach. Reporters were just as stunned, with Shapiro appearing no where on anyone's radar as potential replacements.

But Shapiro is not new to football. He played in high school and college before getting injured in a car wreck, and he has remained involved in athletics ever since. He was one of the heads of WFU's coach search, but other members of the athletic department started to take notice of how he conducted interviews. Of how he took other coaches to task over nuances of film and strategy. And when the tables were turned on him he didn't disappoint.

Well, obviously he didn't. Shapiro is now head coach of Wake Forest for the foreseeable future. And the Deacons are giving their man a fair shot too. There are no poison pill or early termination conditions in his three year contract.

Shapiro's Contract
Term: 3 Years

1. Finish 4th or Better in the ACC in One Season (>>>)
2. Win 50% of Games vs Top 25 in One Season (<|>>>)
3. Sign 10 Top 1000 Prospect(s) in One Regular Season (<|>>)
4. Finish Each Season Ranked in the BCS Top 100 (<<<<|>>)
5. Win 8 Games in One Season (>>)
6. Finish 6th of Better in the ACC Each Season (<<|>)
7. Grade A or Higher on 5 Campus Visits in One Season (>)
8. Beat a Rival Opponent (<<<<|>)
9. Finish 5th or Better in Conference Each Season (<<|>)
10. Win 4 Games in One Season (<<<<<<<|>)
11. Grade B or Higher on 10 Campus Visits in One Season (<)
12. Win 25% of Your Games in One Season (<<<)

If anything, the contract looks like the school understands that Shapiro has a lot of rebuilding to do. It is going to be a struggle to slog out of the ACC basement. Fortunately, Coach Shapiro will not have a 1 year contract over his head while he tries to do it. Nope, no one is going to be able to swoop in and take the credit while he earns his lumps. On the other hand, Wake Forest could be in a mess if Shapiro cannot get control of his team or fails to bring in quality talent.

But for today, Wake Forest has gone in a bold, even bizarre new direction. After 10 years of Jim Grobe's steady hand and leadership, now it is time for something completely different.

Wake Forest School Ratings
Prestige
78 Overall (78 OFF 78 DEF)
Academic Prestige: A+
Campus Lifestyle: C
Coach Loyalty: C
Coach Prestige: D+
Conference Prestige: B
Championship Contender: C+
Athletic Facilities: C+
Fan Base: C+
Pro Potential: C+
Program Stability: B+ (still?)
Program Tradition: C
Television Exposure: C+
Pipeline States: NC, FL, GA, TX, MD, VA
Rivals: UNC, Duke, NC State

Wake Forest 2011 Schedule:

9/3 at Syracuse
9/10 vs #24 NC State
9/17 vs FCS MW
10/1 at Boston College
10/8 vs #10 Florida State
10/15 vs #17 Virginia Tech
10/22 at Duke
10/29 at UNC
11/5 vs #21 Notre Dame (how did they get them to come to Winston Salem?)
11/12 at Clemson
11/19 vs Maryland
11/26 vs Vanderbilt

2011 Preview
Florida State (94)
Virginia Tech (92)
NC State (89)
Clemson (91)
Miami (94)
Maryland (88)
Georgia Tech (84)
North Carolina (91)
Virginia (84)
Boston College (88)
Wake Forest (78)
Duke (83)

[packabacka19]

Can I post? If not, just tell me and I'll delete this.

I am definitely following. Last year I did an online dynasty with a friend where I was Duke and he was Wake Forest. Most fun I've ever had in an online dynasty. Hopefully your rock-solid academics will keep you competitive in the state of North Carolina. Good luck!

[waytofailself]

Quote: Originally Posted by packabacka19

Can I post? If not, just tell me and I'll delete this. I am definitely following. Last year I did an online dynasty with a friend where I was Duke and he was Wake Forest. Most fun I've ever had in an online dynasty. Hopefully your rock-solid academics will keep you competitive in the state of North Carolina. Good luck!

Yeah, posts are open. I don't do a lot of reserve posting up front since I can just insert a table of contents into the OP later (gogo perpetual editing!).

Thanks for following! And yeah, academics is about all we have going for us at this rate.

[VandyRedskins21]

Definitely following. Can't wait to see what you do with the Demon Deacons and I can't wait to see Vandy whoop on you guys in the last game of the year

[waytofailself]

Week 1 Season Opener
vs

Defensive Struggle Leads to Late Explosion, Drama

Maybe it was season opening jitters, or maybe both the Deacon and Orange defenses were that good and ready to play. But the fans who came to see Syracuse open their season had to be at least a little disappointed. Considered strong favorites against Wake Forest, Syracuse was expected to defend their dome with relative ease.

Instead? With nearly all of the 3rd quarter gone it was a 0-0 struggle. Well, struggle or snooze fest. Neither team could effectively move the ball. At one point, Wake Forest's Matt White had more completions to his opponents (2) than to his own wide receivers (1). It was not until a long fumble return by Wake's Ryan Booth that the Deacons found themselves in serious position to score. But even then they struggled, unable to punch the ball into the goal from 10 yards out.

But a field goal broke the ice on the season three quarters later than either Wake Forest or Syracuse expected. The result was a fourth quarter that would not not leave the fans in attendance discouraged.

Down three in front of the home crowd, the Syracuse offense woke up. It had been trying to force the ball through the air for the past two quarters, but it returned to what was working at the beginning of the game. Syracuse RB Seymour Bush (gotta love auto-generated names...) sliced up Wake's interior defense despite his diminutive stature. He out muscled any would be arm-tacklers, and he sped his way to the second level before anyone could catch up with him. The Orange would punch it in on a FB option run to take a 7-3 lead.

Suddenly, the game was alive. And just as quickly, the defenses stepped up and exchanged punts. Time was getting short for the Demon Deacons. They had been unable to pass the ball and unable to establish the run. And worse, two minutes were left and they had to score a touchdown.

Third and long. Matt White has to be the hero to keep the drive alive. He drops back, but unfortunately there is a jailbreak. White cannot even find his dump off receiver, Syracuse DE Clark Campbell crushes White before he can even tuck the ball. It flies loose, and Campbell is right there to scoop it up and run in for the score and seal the game with just over a minute left: 14-3.

Except the game wasn't over. Wake Forest still had all of its time outs and good field position after a good kick off return by Mitchell. On the first play, White threw a bomb to Tim Huggins, who had found space between on the edge of the zone coverage. In less than 20 seconds of game clock, Wake brought the game to within 14-10 thanks to the well timed touchdown strike. And just to stab fear into the home crowd's heart further, the Demon Deacons also recovered their own onside kick.

Shapiro's squad had one minute to march up the field for one more touchdown and give the new coach a victory in his first ever game. But the task was too much for the young, inconsistent sophomore quarterback and his unproven receiver corps. Drop, incomplete, incomplete, and a drop on a wide open pass on fourth down.

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons did everything they could to bring themselves back into the game. But when it mattered most, they could not pull off the upset. Syracuse guts it out for the win 14-10.

Sep 3, 2011 - WFU at SYR
TEAM	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Wake Forest (0-0)	0	0	3	7	10
Syracuse (0-0)	0	0	0	14	14

Team Stats Comparison
WFU		SYR
10	Total Offense	14
34	Rushing Yards	134
144	Passing Yards	148
9	First Downs	14
36	Punt Return Yards	25
92	Kick Return Yards	42
306	Total Yards	349
3	Turnovers	2
5-13	3rd Down Conversion	3-9
0-2	4th Down Conversion	0-0
0-0	2-Point Conversion	0-0
1-0-1	Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	3-1-0
1-5	Penalties	2-10
17:10	Posession Time	14:49

Scoring Summary
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		WFU	SYR
0:21	(WFU) FG Wake: S. Gray 21 YD FG	3	0
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		WFU	SYR
6:36	(SYR) TD SU: K. Washington, 1 Yd run	3	7
1:15	(SYR) TD SU: C. Campbell, returned fumble 16 Yds	3	14
1:03	(WFU) TD Wake: T. Huggins 66 Yd pass from M. White	10	14

Coach's Take: We have got to find some consistency on offense. Forget the fourth quarter. Any time you're able to hold a team like Syracuse scoreless for three quarters you need to have a bigger lead than 3. But we couldn't run, we couldn't pass, and we could not keep from coughing the ball up into the other team's hands. We've got to find some answers, it isn't going to get any easier next week.

Next Up: Wake Forest returns home to take on #24 NC State; Syracuse faces Rhode Island at home.

*ed note: for whatever reason NCAA 12 ate all of the highlights and screenshots I had saved from my first two games this season. That's a shame, I'd like to be able to give a visual picture to go with what's going on. Looks like text will have to do for now until I can get this straightened out.

[waytofailself]

Quote: Originally Posted by VandyRedskins21

Definitely following. Can't wait to see what you do with the Demon Deacons and I can't wait to see Vandy whoop on you guys in the last game of the year

Glad to have you aboard, even if I look forward to wiping Vandy -- or at least hope to. I'd call it one of the "winnable" games on my schedule.

Not that it means a lot.

[waytofailself]

Week 2: Now it Gets Real

#22 vs
Rivalry Game

Home Opener, but Only One Team Shows Up for the Game

Fourth and inches from the goal line. Wake Forest already had three cracks from within 2 yards but each time had been stuffed at the line. When asked why he went for it on 4th down instead of going for the sure points, Coach Shapiro explained after the game, "If you can't get the ball in from a few inches out, then you shouldn't even be playing. You don't deserve to win the game, and maybe not even be on the field."

The carry went to Mitchell, who ran behind the right side of the line and was promptly swamped in the backfield by 3 members of the Woflpack defense. So close to pay-dirt, but Shapiro will probably be happy with the overall result of the game anyway.

Wake Forest shocked the ACC by throttling NC State at home 17-7, and the game was hardly even that close.

The difference in this game was ball control. Wake was able to grind the ball on the ground from the spread while NC State coughed the ball up again and again, and again. NC State's star QB Aaron Barber (Russel Wilson) had a forgettable game as he finished the day with solid passing and rushing stats but two poorly timed fumbles. Each occurred while NC State was driving. The first left Wake with a short field and allowed them to make a quick drive. In fact, it gave them so much momentum that the Demon Deacons actually managed to drive down to the goal line late in the First Quarter. And although the Wolfpack won the goal line stand as outlined above, Coach Shapiro sent a message to NC State: he was not content to merely sit on a 7-0 lead and he was going to go for the throat.

Probably the most significant fumble was the second, which was not Barber's fault. After throwing an out on 2nd down, the receiver immediately got mugged by two defenders.

He was shoulder checked by a Deacon linebacker and flew out of bounds. Strangely, the ball flew out of Barber's hands and stayed on the field. Maybe NC State should have challenged because it looked like the Wake LB might have stepped out while picking up the fumble. But they didn't and Wake Forest got the ball back.

Seizing the momentum, Wake answered right back with the highlight of the game:

NC State lined up in a 3-2-6 despite Wake Forest coming to the line in an ace package. White rushed to snap the ball before NC State could fix their poor personnel choice. The line rushed forward, the wide receivers and tight ends threw defensive backs to the ground. Mitchell took the hand off and went right, bounced around the tackle, and saw that his blockers were perfectly in place. He ran down the sideline, slowing once to let a streaking wide receiver take out the last safety with a shot of catching him, and ran 61 yards to pay dirt.

It took nearly the entire game before NC State found life, but by then they were in a 17-0 hole. What changed? For the first time all game they went to and stuck with their running attack. NC State's bigs up front overpowered Wake's defense, and it could not stop State's quick march up the field. This would have been a different game if State came out running, but on the next drive what happened?

Another Barber fumble while he attempted to scramble forward. Mitchell and the Deacons were able to run out the clock for a surprisingly one sided victory.

NC State (1-0) at Wake Forest (0-1)
Sep 10, 2011 1 2 3 4 F #22 NC State 0 0 7 0 7 Wake Forest 7 0 10 0 17 Top Performers NC State R. Bradshaw, 4 Tkls, 2 TFL, 4 ATK Wake Forest P. Mitchell, 32 Car 159 Yds 2 TD	Team Stats Comparison NCST WFU First Downs 9 10 3rd Down Efficiency 2-9 4-11 4th Down Efficiency 0-1 1-2 Total Yards 370 278 Passing Yards 156 84 Rushing Yards 77 138 Penalties-Penalty Yards 5-25 1-10 Turnovers 3 1 Time of Possession 9:39 22:21
Scoring Summary FIRST QUARTER SCORING NCST WFU 1:40 (WFU) P. Mitchell, 4 Yd Run 0 7 THIRD QUARTER SCORING NCST WFU 2:29 (WFU) S. Gray 34 Yd FG 0 10 1:10 (WFU) P. Mitchell, 61 Yd Run 0 17 0:03 (NCST) B. Thomas, 12 Yd Pss from A. Barber 7 17
NC State PASSING C/ATT YDS TD INT A. Barber 15/25 156 1 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD A. Parham 10 55 5.5 0 A. Barber 7 22 3.1 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD J. Bailey 5 37 7.4 0 W. Robinson 4 77 19.2 0 Wake Forest PASSING C/ATT YDS TD INT M. White 8/15 84 0 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD P. Mitchell 32 159 4.9 2 J. Little 2 6 3 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD P. Mitchell 3 33 11 0 M. Dunbar 2 15 7.5 0

Coach's Take: This is why you have to come to play every week. You can't sleep on anybody in the ACC. We showed that today. Our defense was outstanding, and our line controlled both sides of the ball. We just wanted it more. And Mitchell is an outstanding player. I don't think anyone in the country could have stopped him today.

Up Next: NC State (1-1) faces its second FCS team in three games, while the Demon Deacons (1-1) get to stay home to also snack on some FCS meat.