WINSTON-SALEM – Jacory Harris impresses Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe in a couple of ways.

“I’ve not seen many quarterbacks with the touch he’s got.” Grobe said of the Miami sophomore quarterback. “He’s got a reputation as having a big arm but he has the touch. He very rarely throws a ball that’s not a catchable ball.”

Finding ways to keep Harris from throwing catchable balls this afternoon at BB&T Field will be a tall task for a Wake Forest defense that has been weak against the pass for most of the season.

Not only Harris has thrown for 1,774 yards and 13 touchdowns for the No. 19 Hurricanes, but he also has the luxury of a fleet of receivers led by Leonard Hankerson, LaRon Byrd and Jarvis James. All three have at least 19 receptions, and Hankerson and Benjamin each have three touchdowns.

“They’ve got all the speed guys at wideouts,” Grobe said. “They’ve got about five or six guys they can use. He doesn’t care who he’s throwing the ball to. They can all go and get it.”

The Hurricanes have been more impressive on the way to reaching 5-2, beating Florida State, Georgia Tech and Oklahoma, than the Deacons have been going 4-4.

“We’ve got play a more complete game,” Grobe said. “We’ve got to put together four solid quarters. Even in the games where we were good statistically and where we were good scoring points, we didn’t have four solid quarters. It would be a real good time to have four good quarters since we are playing a good team in Miami.”

The teams are close in most statistical categories. Both are 2-2 in the league and are coming off disappointing losses – Miami in overtime to Clemson and Wake in a driving rainstorm to nonconference foe Navy.

Miami coach Randy Shannon has concerns about his pass defense going against Deacon senior Riley Skinner.

“We’ve got to a better job on third down,” Shannon said. “We’ve got to find a way to get off the field. That’s got to be a vital point of our defense. On third down, most teams throw, so we’ve got to do a better job.”

gsmith@hpe.com | 888-3519