I wasn't able to make yesterday's Deacon Tower tours for the media, but plenty of others were. Here's the rundown:
Winston-Salem Journal is impressed, and the News & Record likes it, too. WXII 12 even has some video.
As for the scrimmage, Skinner didn't play but no one's worried.
I'm on the road today, so this is probably it until tomorrow morning. Happy hump day!
I apologize for not having a more thorough report tonight, but here are some quick notes from the scrimmage:
Today was the second to last two-a-day of the preseason.
The morning session was a pretty short practice in helmets only. There wasn't too much going on in this practice, mostly individual drills and technique type things that can be done without pads. A lot of time was spent with coaches just going over specifics with players. There was also a fair amount of time spent on special teams.
As has become common in these two-a-days, the team worked more on 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills in the afternoon session. D.J. Boldin made several good catches, which has become a pretty common sight at these practices. Freshman Andrew Parker continued to look good at tight end, including a long catch on a Brett Hodges pass, and I'm starting to think it's possible that we'll see him on the field this season.
According to coach, "We are pretty much finished with installation right now. We have all kinds of offensive and defensive stuff that we probably won't use during the season. I thought we got a lot of work this afternoon in team situations. We are starting to develop a two-deep and starting to work on our first opponent."
One very intriguing development this afternoon came in regards to redshirt freshman Dennis Godfrey. He was seen getting work on the offensive line today at guard. This says a lot about what the coaches must be thinking about the defensive line, the offensive line, and Godfry.
First of all, it indicates that the depth is definitely fine at defensive tackle. Dennis had a lot of talent and potential there, so the coaches must be feeling pretty good about things there to let him move.
It also indicates that the coaches are still very worried about the offensive line, particularly at guard. For them to move someone this late is a pretty significant change, and one they must have felt was very necessary. It also indicates that they have a lot of confidence in Godfrey's ability to learn the new position quickly. His size and athleticism alone make it clear he can play the position, he just needs to learn the specifics of the job.
I can't decide if I think this changes makes it more or less likely for Joe Looney to see the field this season. What do you all think?
It will be very interesting to track this over the next week or two. The final scrimmage is tomorrow, so if you're around head out to BB&T and check it out.
Feel free to continue submitting feedback on my Blogpoll ballot. I said yesterday that the poll would be published today, but apparently there was some sort of problem that has pushed it back a couple of days. My new ballot has Wake at 13, with West Virginia falling to 14 and Oregon climbing to 12. Keep telling me why I'm an idiot, I'm prone to listening.
I didn't get to some stuff over the weekend that might be of interest. For example, the News & Observer says the Triangle needs to take a look at Winston-Salem.
Here's a nice report from Saturday's Fan Fest, which sounded like lots of fun.
Also coming later today: a practice report as the Deacs hit the field again after the day off.
As I mentioned a couple days ago, I'm a voter in this season's Blogpoll and must submit my final ballot tomorrow morning. Commenter UMatWake pointed out the potentials dangers of ranking Wake too high, as the poll does give an award every week to the ballot showing the most bias towards its team.
So, I now submit the question to you, the readers. Is 9 too high a ranking for Wake Forest? I don't feel like it's completely rediculous, but I know I'm not totally objective in these areas. Even if it might be a fair ranking, am I better off dropping them a few spots to 12 or so and bowing to poll politics pressure? I can always move them up when they win a couple games and prove their worth, but I'm just not sure.
Let me know what you think. This might be one of the most important decisions we make.
Just kidding...but seriously.
Just like the coaches poll, Wake comes in at 23rd in the first AP poll of the season. Not too surprising - it sounds pretty good to me.
AP Poll
Sorry for not having an update last night, but here are a few quick notes on yesterday's practices.
The morning session was helmets only and pretty short. The team only did individual drills and special teams, no 7 on 7 or 11 on 11.
The afternoon session was almost all 7 on 7 and 11 on 11.
Chip Brinkman, Anthony Williams, and Cameron Ford all practiced in the morning. Freshman Garrick Williams, who was recruited as a tackle, was taking reps at center, presumably due to the loss of Ryan Britt in Thursday's scrimmage.
Around the web, theACC.com is previewing all twelve football teams, and here's Wake Forest.
Former Wake Forest standout and first round draft pick of the San Diego Padres signed yesterday right before the deadline. Best of luck.
I received an email from a reader this afternoon asking the following: "Could do you a post about who's injured right now and how long they might be out?"
I've been doing my best to post injury updates in just about every practice report, however I'm sure it's been difficult to keep up with exactly who is hurt with what and when, since even I have had trouble keeping up at times. So, hopefully this will be a helpful summary of the current state.
Ted Stachitas - QB - Fr - Still recovering from shoulder surgery. Will definitely redshirt, not sure of a time frame for his return to practice.
Chip Brinkman - WR - SR (RS) - Hamstring injury, has been out for awhile but practiced this morning. We'll see if he's still out there this afternoon in full pads. Clearly he's close to a complete recovery
Cameron Ford - TE - FR (RS) - High ankle sprain, was expected to be out for awhile but also practiced this morning. I'm not sure if he's quite as far along as Brinkman, but we'll see if he practices this afternoon as well. If so, he's clearly further along than expected, as he was originally expected to be out at least another week.
Ryan Britt - C - FR (RS) - Hurt his leg in yesterday's scrimmage. I don't know a time frame yet.
Jordan Williams - WR - SO - Lingering groin injury, day-to-day but did not practice this morning.
Andrew Parker - TE - FR - hurt a couple of days ago and didn't participate in yesterday's scrimmage. Should be day-to-day.
Boomer Peterson - T - JR (RS) - Hurt his right arm, not sure about a time frame.
Scott Betros - LB - FR - Shoulder, probably out for season and will redshirt.
Kyle Jarett - LB - FR (RS) - Left practice with EMTs after experiencing diziness a couple days ago. He appears to be okay, but I'm not sure if he's practicing quite yet.
I'm pretty sure that's all I have right now, but if I realize I forgot someone I'll update. I'll also try to have a weekly injury report going forward so everyone can keep track. Hope that helps!
I've been invited to join the 2008 Blogpoll, which is just like the AP poll except all the voters are bloggers like me. It's very easy to analyze the preseason polls that everyone else comes out with, but I'm finding out it's much more difficult to come up with one of your own.
Brian Cook of mgoblog, who runs the poll, recently posted these guidelines regarding the philosophy behind Blogpoll. I thought long and hard about whether or not I should submit a ballot that reflects what I think things will look like on the morning of January 9, 2009 or one that reflects a sort of "power rankings" right now. I opted for the latter, using my (limited) knowledge of every team to determine who would beat who in a completely neutral setting. Once we get a few weeks into the season I plan on switching to a "resume" method of balloting, looking at each team's body of work to that point.
One of the great things about Blogpoll is that it encourages every pollster to interact with his readers regarding his ballot. So, here is my preliminary 2008 preseason ballot. Let me know what you like, what you don't like, and why. Feel free to ask questions about my ballot and I'll do my best to explain myself. Ultimately I hope to improve my ballot based on your feedback, so fire away. I have to submit my final ballot on Monday morning, so get cracking.
Here's my tentative ballot:
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma |  25 |
| 2 | Southern Cal | 24 |
| 3 | Georgia | 23 |
| 4 | Missouri | 22 |
| 5 | Florida | 21 |
| 6 | Clemson | 20 |
| 7 | Ohio State | 19 |
| 8 | LSU | 18 |
| 9 | Wake Forest | 17 |
| 10 | Auburn | 16 |
| 11 | Texas | 15 |
| 12 | West Virginia | 14 |
| 13 | Wisconsin | 13 |
| 14 | Oregon | 12 |
| 15 | Texas Tech | 11 |
| 16 | Brigham Young | 10 |
| 17 | Arizona State | 9 |
| 18 | Virginia Tech | 8 |
| 19 | Kansas | 7 |
| 20 | Tennessee | 6 |
| 21 | South Florida | 5 |
| 22 | Florida State | 4 |
| 23 | Utah | 3 |
| 24 | Illinois | 2 |
| 25 | Alabama | 1 |
As promised, ESPN's Heather Dinich spent the day in Winston-Salem covering the Deacons. She definitely posts a lot wherever she is, and it was no different yesterday. Scrimmage report, Grobe report, true freshman report - she got it all. Say what you want about some of her analysis/opinions, but she definitely reports whats going on.
Dan Collins wasn't going to be left out, of course. Here's his scrimmage report.
If you read this early in the morning, make sure to check back later this morning for the opportunity to help me out with my preseason ballot... it probably needs it.
For the second straight scrimmage the Wake Forest defense had an impressive performance. Not only did they combine for 11 sacks, but they flew to the ball and provided great pressure all afternoon long.
Matt Robinson single handedly had three sacks, as well as another tackle for loss and five total tackles.
Aaron Curry and Gelo Orange also had five tackles, and John Russell, Anthony Davis, and Kyle Wilbur all had 1.5 sacks.
The only way the offense could get anything done was through the air. Riley Skinner completed 13 of 21 passes for 142 yards with one interception and one touchdown. The interception came on a deep pass to Ben Wooster which was just barely under-thrown and tipped by Josh Bush for an interception. Later Wooster and Skinner got it right and hooked up for a 10 yard touchdown shortly after Skinner had scrambled for a 30 yard gain.
Devon Brown, D.J. Boldin, and Wooster all had four catches on the day. Two of Boldin's catches were one-handed grabs across the middle, and Marshall Williams also had a nice catch coming across the middle which he was able to turn upfield for 10 extra yards. Andrew Wright dropped the first three passes thrown to him, but later in the scrimmage he had a 50 yard catch and run for a touchdown that was called back due to an illegal formation, the product of some of the new formations and motion packages the offense is putting in.
Unfortuantely, the running game continued to struggle this afternoon. Josh Adams had six caries for 19 yards, and Brandon Pendergrass had 19 yards on four carries with one touchdown. The offensive line just isn't getting enough of a push yet, particularly the second string. The first string is showing improvement and I'm confident they'll get the job done, but there just isn't any depth at all. I'm sure the scrimmages are not any fun for Brett Hodges, who constantly has to scramble to avoid pressure.
The only injury of note was to Ryan Britt who went down with a knee/leg injury. I'm not sure of his status.
After two scrimmages I'm still pretty worried about the running game, particularly if the team ever has any injury problems on the offensive line. The second string is nowhere near ready for a real game situation. Even though it wasn't Skinner's best day ever, he still looked fairly good and is definitely ready to lead the offense this season. I think the offense is going to throw the ball a lot more this year, and Skinner will probably need to be ready to scramble some in the process.
The upside to all of this is that the defense continues to look very very good. When all is said and done this year I would not be surprised if they are one of the top units in the nation.
The overall progress is good, but the offense will need to improve even more over the next two weeks to be ready for Baylor.
The Demon Deacons will scrimmage this afternoon at 3:30, so check the blog this evening for a report. ESPN.com's Heather Dinich will be in attendance; I'm interested to see what she thinks of the team and the scrimmage.
Men's soccer had it's first practice yesterday, and not surprisingly coach Jay Vidovich says there's work to be done. It's going to be a couple of weeks, and I'm going to miss the first one on the 19th, but I should definitely be at the August 23rd scrimmage to give everyone an early look at this year's team.
The Deacs were back at it today with two-a-day number two out of five. Once again the double practices were used to keep working on conditioning and stamina as the team prepares for its second scrimmage tomorrow.
As everyone has probably figured out by now, most practices follow a pretty typical schedule, including individual drills, 7-on-7, 11-on-11, and special teams. For two-a-days, the teams wears shoulder pads and helmets only (they call it "shells") for the morning practice and full pads in the afternoon. Nothing new there today.
The thing that really stood out today were the wide receivers and the job they were doing against the defensive backs in 1-on-1 drills. The receivers were running very crisp routes and working hard to get themselves open. They definitely impressed some people, and it's another sign that this unit is improving and is ready to step up when the season starts.
Not totally sure why, but tight end Ben Wooster sat out both of today's practices, perhaps he hurt something yesterday, but I'm pretty sure it's nothing major and he'll be day-to-day. Freshman tight end Andrew Parker was apparently hurt in the morning practice, tried to come back and practice in the afternoon, but was not able to finish. I imagine he's just day-to-day as well.
Chip Brinkman and Anthony Williams are also getting better, and I think we may see them back on the field as soon as Friday. Cameron Ford was also jogging again today, so it appears he's well on the road to recovery.
Tomorrow's scrimmage is at 3:30, and I'll have a report on it tomorrow night.
I don't know how many of you are regular Deadspin readers, but I'd be willing to guess it's less than half of you. I don't know if I'm a true regular or not, but I do at least scan post titles there on a daily basis, so I'm pretty close. Either way, they're working through the top 25 right now posting previews by readers, commenters, bloggers, or whomever else volunteered to write for them. It wasn't me in this case, but the person who wrote about Wake did a pretty amusing job, even if it isn't entirely "safe for work." Check it out.
ESPN worked hard to cover the Deacs yesterday. Its work included this Mark Schlabach's column which basically predicted a Wake/Carolina ACC Championship game, and HD with another preview, this time about Grobe's system.
Someone doesn't know a lot about college football...he's surprised Wake is a 13 point favorite over Baylor, apparently because "The Big 12 is generally considered a strong (sic) football conference than the ACC." Sure.
No surprise...the men's soccer team is ranked #1 in the nation in preseason polls. John Dell of the Journal wrote a nice preview of the team here. I'm hoping to ramp-up my soccer coverage here pretty soon. I'm plan to attend most home games this season, particularly conference games and those that don't conflict with football games. I know we've got some soccer fans out there and I'm going to do my best to cover them for you. They are number one and the defending national champs, after all.
Sorry for such a small report. There wasn't too much going on today, and I'm writing from the road on my phone, which is the reason for the formatting issues. I'll fix them when I get the chance. Fixed.
It was a pretty even practice between the offense and defense for the most part.
Some good play by both units in 7 on 7, including a nice grab on a deep ball by Marshall Williams.
Practiced ended with 11 on 11 working the 2 minute drill. The defense only allowed a TD and a FG in about 8 possessions.
In a somewhat scary development, linebacker Kyle Jarett left the end of practice with the EMS because he was experiencing dizziness. Hopefully it's nothing serious, but it's definitely disconcerting.
Read More...
Want cheap tickets to see Wake Forest play Baylor on the 28th? As long as you can bring yourself to type "beatwake" into a website and have seats that aren't in the Wake section, it will only cost you 20 bucks.
We knew Grobe would not be hugely impressed by what he saw offensively from Saturday's scrimmage, but I was slightly surprised to see him mention Riley Skinner specifically.
Some basketball coverage from ESPN yesterday, including a variety of positive Wake Forest mentions.
Look for practice coverage this evening, although depending upon some timing issues it may go up pretty late - I've got a lot going on this afternoon/evening. My apologies if it gets put on a back burner for awhile.
These days, with everyone concerned about hydration, heat, and humidity, two-a-days have almost completely disappeared from college and professional football. Thankfully they haven't been completely abandoned quite yet, and today the Demon Deacons endured their first of five scheduled two-a-days this fall.
It was apparent to those in attendance this afternoon that the double practice was certainly tiring. At times there was a want of effort and concentration from some players, annoying coaches and fellow players alike. Still, it's hard to blame them when they're nearing the end of four hours of practice for the day.
Wide receivers in general seemed to lack concentration, with more dropped balls than usual. Nonetheless there were some highlights, including a long touchdown pass from Brett Hodges to Jordan Williams, who was back in action today, as well as a great touchdown grab by Andrew Parker in double coverage.
On the whole it was another good day for the defense, with Aaron Curry looking particularly impressive.
One of the main focuses of the day was conditioning, which makes sense for a two-a-day. Everyone ran sprints at the end of practice and did other work in position groups, including lots of sled pushing for the linemen. There's no doubt that these guys will be in shape by the time the preseason ends.
That minor injury bug I talked about this morning continued to make the rounds. On his touchdown catch Andrew Parker came down awkwardly, but I'm not sure exactly what he hurt. Chris Givens also appeared to tweak something on a catch as well. Both sat out the rest of practice but did return to do some pushup-type work while the rest of the team ran sprints at the end of practice.
In other injury updates, Cameron Ford is out of the boot he had been wearing, and Chip Brinkman was doing some jogging today. Still going to be awhile for both of them, but it appears they are making progress.
Only one practice tomorrow at 4:00 leading to another two-a-day on Wednesday.
There really aren't any links to share this morning, so we're going to do something completely different with today's "Wake up call."
For the first time since practices began on August 1, Jim Grobe and his football team took yesterday off. Having been through eight days of practice and a scrimmage, now is the perfect time time to look back and see what we've learned about this team so far.
One of the real issues we have right now is that we have five or six true freshmen who look really good. We're going to keep looking at them. I don't have a problem playing them if they're the real deal and they're going to get 20 or 30 snaps per game. We've got a bunch of those guys right now who look pretty good but we'll know more after Saturday.
The Demon Deacons took the field at BB&T for the first time in 2008 before a good sized crowd, scrimmaging against themselves and going through their first full contact football of the season.
Despite a few offensive highlights, the defense stole the show, putting on what was mostly a very impressive performance.
Cornerback Kerry Major had one of the biggest highlights for the defense, picking off a Brett Hodges pass deep down the sideline, out-jumping wide receiver Andrew Wright for a beautiful interception. Brandon Ghee and Will Wright teamed up for a second interception, as Ghee deflected the ball into Wright's hands.
Not too surprisingly, the defense was able to get pretty good pressure on the quarterbacks all evening, although there was some noticeable improvement from the offensive line as the scrimmage wore on.
Despite the fact that the defense controled things for the majority of the scrimmage, the offense did show a few flashes of great play. D.J. Boldin had the highlight of the day, as he he made a jumping catch over the middle of the field for a touchdown. Tight end Ben Wooster also caught a touchdown pass, and Devon Brown looked good catching the ball as well. Riley Skinner looked good throughout the scrimmage, but Brett Hodges struggled, as indicated by the interceptions.
The run game had some success, including several nice runs from Josh Adams and a touchdown run by Kevin Harris. Fullback Rich Belton had both a nice run and a nice catch, and showed some illusiveness to get extra yards. Freshman Chris Givens caught a screen pass which he turned into a 20 yard touchdown towards the end of the scrimmage.
As they have been doing throughout the preseason the team once again put a decent amount of time into special teams work. At the end of practice Sam Swank made one of two attempts from 52 yards, as did Shane Popham.
The scrimmage made it clear that plenty of work remains to be done, but I think there are enough good signs here for Wake fans to hold on to the optimism they have had ever since the end of last season.
The team will take Sunday off before returing to the practice field for two practices on Monday
With the Demon deacon football team preparing for their first intrasquad scrimmage of the 2008 season several area newspapers and the official website have written previews. Here's W-SJ, News & Observer, and the official site.
Since we're within 25 days of the season kickoff, newspapers around the country are doing daily top 25 previews. Most recently the Fort-Worth Star-Telegram and the Kansas City Star previewed the Demon Deacons.
I'll have a full report on tonight's scrimmage up late tonight. If you missed last night's practice report, it's available here.
Welcome to Old Gold & Blog, the only Wake Forest sports blog on the web. I'm a current student at Wake Forest and have been covering Demon Deacon athletics since fall 2007. Thanks for stopping by! Make sure to subscribe to the RSS feed, and feel free to shoot me an email if you have any comments or questions.
