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No. 21 Wake Forest at Vanderbilt Could be a Surprising Game Looking at the Numbers

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Football

The No. 21 Wake Forest football team hits the field for the first time on the road Saturday, Sept. 10 at Noon ET against the Vanderbilt Commodores.

The Demon Deacons are coming off a 44-10 season-opening win against VMI on Sept. 1, improving their record to 8-1 in home openers in the Clawson era.

Before the Deacs open their season against the Keydets, below are some numbers and notes on the game:

By the Numbers

  • 3 - The Demon Deacons six consecutive bowl game appearances rank third in the ACC just trailing Clemson and Miami (FL) in the conference.
  • 42 - Not counting the 2020 COVID Season, the Deacs have the second-most overall wins in the ACC since 2016, trailing just Clemson.
  • 32 - The Deacs have forced a turnover in 32 of their last 33 games dating back to Sept. 28, 2019. Additionally, they have forced at least one turnover in 16-straight games.
  • 46.0 - From the start of the 2019 season, Wake Forest has scored 40-plus points in 17 of its 37 games (46.0 percent).
  • .783 - During the Wake Forest six-year bowl streak, the Deacs hold a record of 18-5 in September games.

IMPRESSIVE DEBUT START

  •  Redshirt freshman Mitch Griffis shined in his first collegiate start, finishing 21-of-29 in completions for a game-best 288 passing yards and three thrown touchdowns.
  • Griffis completed 72.4 percent of his throws in his starting debut. This is the highest percentage by a Wake Forest quarterback in his starting debut since Riley Skinner finished 22-of-29 in his starting debut against Duke in 2006.
  • Through the September 3 games played, Griffis holds the fourth-highest passing grade out of all starting ACC quarterbacks and ranks 11th nationally according to Pro Football Focus: 

ACC PFF Passing Grades thru Sept. 3

  1. Garrett Shrader (Syracuse) 94.1
  2. Tyler Van Dyke (Miami) 92.1
  3. Jordan Travis (Florida St.) 91.5
  4. Mitch Griffis (Wake Forest) 90.7

FAST STARTS

  • DEACS SEASON OPENERS: Over the last decade, Wake Forest is now 9-3 in season openers including a 7-2 record in head coach Dave Clawson's tenure. Additionally, The Deacs hold a mark of 8-1 in home openers in the Clawson era.
  • SEPTEMBER STRONG: Since the start of the 2016 season, Wake Forest holds a record of 18-5 in September. This includes seven of eight seasons in the Dave Clawson era with multiple wins in the month, the most recent coming in 2021 when the Deacs went a perfect 4-0 en route to a 8-0 start to the season while ranking as high as No. 9 nationally, the highest ranking in school history.

RONDELL WRECKING BACKFIELDS

  • Last season, defensive lineman Rondell Bothroyd had a breakout season with a team-high 16.5 tackles for loss including 8.0 sacks which tied for the 10th best mark in program history.
  • In the playoff era, 16 ACC DEs have finished with more TFL in a year than Wake's Rondell Bothroyd did in 2021 (16.5).  Of those 16, seven became 1st-round draft picks, three more were 2nd-rounders and only 1 went undrafted.
  • Bothroyd got off to a quick start to his season with a sack and forced fumble in the season-opening win over VMI. He now has at least one tackle for loss in 13 consecutive regular season games and overall has at least one tackle for loss in 14 of the last 15 games.

• With his strip sack resulting in a turnover for the Demon Deacons, Wake Forest has now recorded at least one turnover in the last 16 games and 32 of the last 33 games.

WINNING THE TURNOVER BATTLE

One of the points of emphasis for the Wake Forest football team is winning the turnover battle. They have been one of the best teams in the country in that category since the start of the 2016 season.  In five of the last six seasons, the Demon Deacons have finished inside of the top 25 in turnover margin while placing in the top three of ACC in each of those seasons. Over the past seven seasons, Wake Forest has a combined +43 turnover margin. Only 2018 saw the Deacs finish with more turnovers lost than gained:

Season    TO Gained    TO Lost    TO Margin

2022    1                         0              +1

2021    29                       20            +9

2020    17                        7             +10

2019    25                       17             +8

2018    16                       19             -3*

2017    21                       13            +8

2016    27                       19            +8

*Only season in Wake Forest history where the Deacs reached a bowl game with a negative turnover margin.