Virginia football needs 'to be really disciplined' against Wake Forest's slow-mesh offense (2024)

The unconventional has captured Tony Elliott’s focus.

Virginia’s third-year coach is in the midst of trying to help his Cavaliers prepare to defend against Wake Forest’s slow-mesh offense, which features an unhurried pace — once the ball is snapped — hardly seen in the sport and exclusive to the Demon Deacons.

UVa (1-0) and Wake Forest (1-0) meet Saturday night at 7 p.m. in Winston-Salem in both sides’ ACC opener.

“I’ve marveled at it,” Elliott said, “coaching running backs [previously], it’s like, how do you train the running back to be so slow because, right, they literally skip and walk? I’ve never seen anything like it. But they’re phenomenal at it. And they’ve perfected it.”

Elliott said Wake Forest built the system on option principles. The Deacons use similar zone-read concepts, he said, to what a lot of college football offenses run, but what’s different is the near-pause behind the line of scrimmage once the quarterback secures the shotgun snap.

When the slow-mesh scheme is in action, Wake Forest quarterback Hank Bachmeier will stick the ball in the gut of running back Demond Claiborne and wait as long as possible before deciding whether to give the football to Claiborne or keep it to run or pass while tempting the defense to glance in the backfield for a glimpse of what’s happening.

“You have to be really disciplined,” said UVa defensive tackle Jahmeer Carter.

He is the only defender on the Cavaliers’ roster who started against Wake Forest the last time the schools squared off three years ago. The Demon Deacons took that game, 37-17, while tallying 473 total yards of offense.

“I think that’s always what it comes down to no matter what spot you play,” added Carter, who had five tackles in the 2021 clash.

Sixth-year senior safety Antonio Clary played in the last bout, also, and he said: “It’s patience and eye-discipline because when you start losing that eye-discipline and your patience, that’s when things can break loose because they try to lure you to sleep. So, you’ve got to be alert at all times, trust your keys and then play fast.”

The concept developed by Deacons offensive coordinator Warren Ruggiero has proven reliable, too.

Wake Forest was the lone ACC program to average at least 30 points per game in each season from 2017 through 2022.

In the secondary particularly is where defenders can’t allow themselves to get stuck in the turf or pulled in the wrong direction, because the Deacons’ wide receivers are deciding their responsibility based on what the corners and safeties reveal.

That’s part of the reason why the running back and quarterback are almost frozen in the backfield.

“I’ve definitely grown to love [the slow-mesh offense],” Wake Forest senior slot receiver Taylor Morin, a Centreville native and former Westfield High School star, said.

“But I’d say that it’s not something where I can peek back [to the quarterback] while I’m running my route,” he continued, “because in the slot, we have a ton of different reads we have to make and options that we’re able to change based on the leverage of the defense. So, I’ve got just as many reads as the quarterback is making.”

Morin had 28 scholarship offers mostly from Group of Five and FCS schools out of Westfield. He said Wake Forest, though, was his top offer both in the football and academic departments, but that even in his fifth year with the Demon Deacons, he doesn’t consider himself comfortable within the offense yet because it’s always evolving.

The 5-foot-11 pass-catcher made six catches for 100 yards last week in Wake Forest’s season-opening win over North Carolina A&T.

His longest catch of 51 yards came on a slow-mesh look when Bachmeier held the ball in Claiborne’s stomach before yanking and firing to Morin who was streaking across the field beyond the defense.

“We’re making tweaks week in and week out, and that’s what makes this offense so hard to defend and so dynamic,” Morin said. “It’s our ability to change what we’re doing based on the defense we’re getting, so there’s definitely not time to rest.”

Claiborne, who rushed for 135 yards against North Carolina A&T, said: “You’ve got to respect the run game, but you also have to respect the pass game. You’ve got to pick your poison. Die a slow death or die a fast one.”

Cavaliers defensive coordinator John Rudzinski said it’s difficult to get the scout team to replicate exactly how the Deacons operate, especially because they’ll run similar plays in varying formations.

Whether or not the Hoos can slow Wake Forest, according to Carter, will be determined by how well each player on defense handles his particular responsibility.

Elliott said UVa’s defensive line needs to push the line of scrimmage backward. That would force Bachmeier into a quicker, tougher decision and prevent Claiborne from finding wide holes to run through after lingering behind the big offensive front.

The preference is to make Bachmeier the runner, Elliott said.

“So, you have to stop the run,” he said, “but you also have to account for the quarterback and you’ve got to be in position on the back end so they can’t expose you with big windows for the explosive plays downfield.”