Football Week 1 - N.C. A&T-Wake Forest | 7 p.m., 8/29

ConorONeill · Aug 26, 2024

Firing up a thread for coverage leading up to Thursday night's game, and then for coverage afterward, too.

As something of a programming note for today and the week: Dave Clawson's press conference will be today at 2 p.m. and I'll miss it. I think this is the third straight year I've got to miss the opening presser, but Duke's is at 1 and they have a new coach. I'll still have *something* up later today/tonight on WF. And then I'll have a 5 things to know about N.C. A&T, a comprehensive preview of the game, maybe another story squeezed in (it's a short week, so I might not get to everything). And then I'll be at Thursday night's game for full coverage.

I'm on the record with a My Take, I think this season will be better for WF than a lot of prognosticators think.

Also, as to QB, I posted this on OGB last night and might as well put it here, too:

I think Hank Bachmeier and Michael Kern will get equal opportunities/drives and whoever plays better will be the starter going into the UVA game.

Game plan/offense doesn't change based on which one plays. If it's Bachmeier the ball gets pushed downfield more often but also gets put into harm's way more often; if it's Kern, a little more conservative in terms of what throws are made but also better ball security.

I think Kern will be the starter against A&T for basically those reasons -- Clawson is pretty obsessive with ball security and Kern provides that. It's not like he's Captain Checkdown, he'll take shots; just doesn't try to force balls into tight windows very often.

And honestly? I kind of find myself rooting for Kern. He might be the nicest guy I've ever covered at WF. He clearly loves the school and seems to be respected/liked by his teammates. He was behind Griffis at an inopportune time (Hartman being out to start 2022), which kind of set WF on the path to last year's train wreck. Kern hasn't had a chance to compete for the starting job until his 6th year. He's looked more consistent and made some throws I don't ever remember seeing him make (mostly on the move) in the last 5 years.

I don't think there's a wrong decision to be made.

In case you've missed any of the main things to know so far, some links to catch you up:

My Take on Wake's season.

3 glass-half-full predictions | 3 glass-half-empty predictions

Final camp report.

Camp report after the second scrimmage.

ConorONeill · Aug 26, 2024