By Heath Bradley.
2012 will be a season that sees the Wake Forest Demon Deacons have to replace 12 starters from a team that was only a field goal away from playing for the ACC Championship in 2011. Of those 12 starters eight are from the offensive side of the ball, including their leading receiver in Chris Givens and four starters along the offensive line. The offense will return 47 career starts, led by quarterback Tanner Price’s 22 starts, while losing 160 career starts between the eight starters who were lost. The Deacons offense will look not only to replace their offensive line outside of center Garrick Williams but also must replace their leading rusher and four of their top six receivers.
Defensively, the Demon Deacons return 7 starters to a talented and experienced defense. Merrill Noel, a safety who led the nation in passes defended was named ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2011. However, while the Demon Deacons only lost four starters on defense all were key members, combining for 128 starts in their careers.
Quarterback Tanner Price, will look to lead a young offense on the field to a successful season in 2012. Price, a junior, from Austin, Texas, has been impressed with the level of play from the young players and veterans since the conclusion of the 2011 season.
“I think Michael Campanaro is going to have a great year. Terence Davis who is a senior, we are looking for him to step up and have a great season. There is a couple of young guys who have looked good in spring ball and the off season who will do a really great job and step up and make plays.” He also looks to one certain veteran; redshirt senior Lovell Jackson to make a big impact for the Demon Deacons. “Lovell Jackson, a senior, he is a great deep threat who is very fast and has all the talent to be great, I think one of those guys will end up stepping up and being a playmaker.”
While many quarterbacks would worry about a season that four offensive linemen were being replaced, Price is not one of them. Price has all the confidence in the world in the young players that will be protecting him from opposing players. “We graduated 4 starters, my center is coming back, and the two tackles got some good reps last year. I feel really confident in this line. We have a new line coach who has done a great job with them this spring and really got them ready. I feel good about where they are at. It is going to be fun to see them grow up.”
Price hopes to see the talented youth mesh with the veteran players who have helped Wake Forest to improve over the past season to reach some lofty goals in 2012. “We were a field goal away from playing for the ACC Championship; we have all the talent and the capabilities to play in the ACC Championship. Now it is just about finishing games and continuing to grow as a team, to get to that point where we are winning seven plus games.” Price can play a large role in that goal, as he leads the Demon Deacons into 2012. Through two seasons, Price is already in 9th place in career history in passing yards at Wake Forest, another 3,000-yard passing season in 2012 would move him into 3rd place overall with one season remaining of eligibility.