As we projected would happen, Wake Forest is going into the season opener with no real decision made on a starting quarterback. Sure, someone has to start, but as we sit here today, that may or may not be a long-term decision. For now, according to the depth chart released Monday, the Wake quarterback can be listed as “or.”
That’s the way it is on the depth chart. Hank Bachmeier “or” Michael Kern. Head coach Dave Clawson confirmed they are both going to play in the season opener against North Carolina A&T on Thursday night. He also said they have a system in place for determining who plays when. He just wasn’t going to share the details in public.
“They’re both playing well,” Clawson said at Monday’s weekly press conference. “I couldn’t look either of them in the eyes right now and tell one of them they won the job or the other they lost the job.”
Heads or Tails
Bachmeier came via the transfer portal, addressing a clear need for the position before spring camp. Coming from Southern California, he spent four years at Boise State. His premier season was his third year there in 2021 when he threw for more than 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns. He barely played in 2022 due to an injury.
From there he moved on to Louisiana Tech. He threw for 2,058 yards and another 10 touchdowns but did it with a 67% completion rate. Factor in the Covid year exemption and his redshirt year, and here is in his sixth year, competing for a starting job against a Wake veteran.
Kern is also in his sixth year, but his journey began and will come to a completion at Wake Forest. For his career, he is 81 of 134 passing for 1,023 yards, five touchdowns, and two interceptions. He replaced last year’s pre-ordained starter Mitch Griffis in the Virginia Tech. He injured his shoulder in that same game and lost a month of playing time.
Decisions, Decisions
Clawson went through Spring camp getting both of them plenty of reps. Because he was running the live 11-on-11 drills simultaneously on two fields, they both played with the “ones” and the “twos.” There was no visible advantage given to either one. But then, neither one pulled away from the other and took the job.
So here we are headed into the home opener and no long-term decision has been made. “I’ve done this a handful of times in my career. You just have to see who plays better in the game,” Clawson said. “When it separates, we’ll make the decision. At camp, it’s been back and forth. They’ve both played well. I think we can win with both of them.”
When asked at the end of camp last week, both players said they felt they had done enough to be the starting quarterback. “Yeah, I think I have,” Bachmeier told us when asked if he thought he had done enough to start. “But I think Michael’s done a great job too,” he added. “I think we made it tough for them to make a decision.”
“If it was up to my interpretation, I believe I have done a good job. But it’s not (up to his interpretation),” Kern told us.
It’s one thing to have the luxury to do this against a North Carolina A&T team that was 1-10 last year and 0-8 in the Coastal Athletic Association. But the Demon Deacons face a Virginia team the next week that is expected to be vastly improved over last year. We’ll hold off on even mentioning the Ole Miss game the week after that. Clawson has repeated throughout camp that 2021 is the only year he can remember in his time at Wake where he only needed one quarterback. He knows he will need both. But sooner or later one of them has to win the right to start.
A Bigger Issue at Receiver
The ”or” at the quarterback spot is not the only significant conjunction on the depth chart. One of the two outside receiver spots has Micah Mays, Jr. “or” Donavon Greene. “Right now, Donny has practiced and he is going to play,” Clawson said Monday. But it cannot be overlooked how little he has been able to practice this camp.
After rehabbing from a season-ending injury that came before the start of the season last year, he was held out of Spring camp for precautionary purposes. But nagging injuries have cost him time in Fall camp. None of them are season-threatening. But he has not been able to put much work in.
“He hasn’t practiced a lot this camp,” Clawson added. So probably for the first game, we are going to start Micah, just because I don’t know how many reps Donny is going to be able to give us.” Clawson said it could be as much as 30-35, which is well below the 50 snaps per game Clawson expects from him. “When Donnie is healthy and can play 50 snaps, he will be the starter. But we are certainly also rewarding Micah for how well he is playing.”
Thursday’s kickoff is at 7 pm. The game can be seen on ACC Network Extra.
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