Wake Forest to challenge Pack's secondary

N.C. State's depth chart lists freshman Brandan Bishop and redshirt freshman Earl Wolff as starting safeties.

Wake Forest has Riley Skinner, who's on pace to be the ACC's career completion percentage leader at .675, at quarterback. Marshall Williams of Durham is tied for the ACC lead in receptions per game for the Deacons.

On paper, the Wake Forest passing game seems poised for a big day Saturday when N.C. State visits the Deacons.

"We've had some problems with the secondary, with inexperience and making some mistakes," said N.C. State coach Tom O'Brien. "We'll be holding our breath on Saturday, I'm sure."

O'Brien particularly likes the way Skinner has rallied the Deacons late for game-winning and game-tying drives, respectively, against Stanford and Boston College.

Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe's ability to target certain defenders, which O'Brien said probably originated when he was an assistant coach at Air Force, also concerns the N.C. State staff.

"One thing that Wake Forest does is they're very innovative in how they do things," O'Brien said. "They're very good at exploiting weaknesses."

That's why N.C. State's young defensive backs might face their biggest test yet Saturday.

Ken Tysiac