Coach O'Brien Talks Before Wake Forest

On Wake Forest

"They are very creative in what they do. It's never the same thing two weeks in a row. They do a great job exploiting what they perceive your weaknesses to be. We're going to have to be on top of our game. The best thing you can do is get lined up right and hustle like crazy."

On how the defense needs to prepare for Wake's ability to effectively run the reverse

"We have to be ready. We've been susceptible to them as we saw in the second game of the year. We've made a big point of emphasis that when the ball goes away you've got to look and see if anything is coming back. Hopefully we'll do a better job than we did in the Murray St. game."

On Wake's speed this year

"I've never thought that they were not a fast team. A couple of years ago they were as quick as anybody. Certainly they were pretty fast last year on defense with guys like Curry. They have a lot of speed. That hasn't changed."

On Wake receiver Marshall Williams

"He played against us last year. He's a tall rangy kind of guy that you might misread his speed sometimes, just like people misjudge our tall-lanky guys speed. We have to be on top of it. Maybe one of our advantages is playing against our guys."

On Wake's 2 Defensive Linemen in the middle

"Their fifth year guys. Obviously Russell is the leader of the defense. He kind of reminds me of Chris Hovan who played with us at BC and is still playing in the NFL. He makes a lot of plays. He's tough to block. He's very active. The other kid is a very strong powerful guy."

On Riley Skinner

"He does a great job of keeping his poise and moving in the pocket. He's always stepping up and finding a seam and making a play. He takes very few sacks, gets rid of the ball fast, which you would expect out of a 4-year starter, considering how he has played the previous three years. He is really a mature quarterback."