Wake Forest Football: Week 10 PFF Grades Roundup

Here's how each unit graded in the 30-21 loss to NC State

The Deacs suffered their second consecutive defeat on Saturday, falling on the road to NC State 30-21. Wake struggled again on both sides of the ball in the loss — here’s how the team graded out in the Week 10 matchup.

Quarterbacks

1. Sam Hartman- 80.4

Hartman had a rollercoaster of a day against the Wolfpack, completing 29/48 passes for nearly 400 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. He made some truly outstanding throws — the dart to A.T. Perry in the end zone to put the Deacs within six points in the fourth quarter comes to mind — but the three picks put Wake behind the eight-ball at times. Interestingly enough, this is Hartman’s third-highest PFF grade of the season, trailing only his performances against Clemson (81.5) and Boston College (88.5). He was the second-highest graded offensive player on the team this week.

READ: Wake Forest Football: UNC Team Overview

Running Backs (min. 5 carries)

1. Christian Turner - 64.3
2. Justice Ellison - 52.5

Wake failed to get the ground game going against NC State — Turner had 29 yards and a touchdown on 8 carries while Ellison rushed it 10 times for -1 yards. The lack of a rushing attack forced the Deacs to air it out for the majority of the game, as Sam Hartman attempted nearly 50 passes. This is the second week in a row that both of Wake’s starting backs have failed to crack the 40-yard mark. The longest carry of the day for Wake Forest was a 13-yard run from Turner early in the second quarter. This week’s grade is middle of the pack for Turner but marks Ellison’s lowest rating of the season.

READ: ACC Football Power Rankings: Week 11

Pass Catchers

1. A.T. Perry- 84.7
2. Taylor Morin- 70.3
3. Jahmal Banks- 70.2

A.T. Perry had the best statistical game of his Wake Forest career on Saturday, hauling in 12 catches for 159 yards and a touchdown on a whopping 20 targets. Morin was solid as well, coming up with four catches, 56 yards and a spectacular contested touchdown catch. Banks continued his strong sophomore campaign, finishing with 4 catches for 69 yards on 7 targets. This is Perry’s highest grade of the year, Banks’ fourth-highest and Morin’s third-highest.

Offensive Line

1. DeVonte Gordon- 69.3
2. Loic Ngassam Nya- 61.5
3. Michael Jurgens- 60.3

This unit struggled at times against NC State — the Wolfpack sacked Sam Hartman four times and finished the game with 9 TFLs. There weren’t very many holes for the running backs, either, as Wake finished with just 17 rushing yards on 25 attempts (although this number includes Hartman’s sacks). Over the last two weeks, the Deacs’ O-line has given up 12 sacks and and their opponents have totaled 20 TFLs. These grades were middle of the pack for all three players.

Defensive Line

1. Kendron Wayman - 72.0
2. Dion Bergan Jr. - 71.4
3. Jacorey Johns - 71.0

The Wake Forest defense did a lot of good things early, forcing multiple three-and-outs and two sacks in the first quarter. They struggled to get pressure from that point onward, recording just one sack the rest of the way. The line was the highest-graded defensive unit — five players cracked the top-10 defensive grades on the team. The highest grade from a pressure standpoint amongst this trio was Wayman with a 66.7, though Bergan and Wayman were rated above a 70 on their tackling. This is the third-highest grade of the season for Wayman and the second-highest for both Bergan and Johns.

Linebackers

1. Ryan Smenda Jr. - 76.2
2. Chase Jones - 67.3
3. Quincy Bryant - 66.7

Smenda was the highest-graded defensive player on the team, accounting for a whopping 16 tackles (9 solo) and 0.5 TFLs. Jones chipped in six tackles and Bryant had one tackle and 0.5 TFLs. This unit has been mixing in different personnel a lot in the past few weeks but was without key contributor Dylan Hazen due to injury. This is Smenda’s second-highest grade of the season, Jones’ fourth-highest and Bryant’s sixth-highest.

Defensive Backs

1. Malik Mustapha - 73.3
2. Chelen Garnes - 71.4
3. AJ Williams - 68.5

Mustapha’s 73.1 Grade trailed only Smenda — he graded above 80 in both coverage and tackling and chipped in a sack on a crushing blow from a safety blitz. Garnes shined in run defense and tackling, grading 82.3 and 86.7 in those categories, respectively. Williams’ highest rating was in the tackling category, where he graded out at a 78.6. All three players were in the top-7 highest defensive grades on the team. Mustapha’s grade is his highest of the year, Garnes’ and Williams’ were their third-highest.

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