Posted by Zach Smith
on August 15, 2008 at 7:30 AM
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.
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.
This morning basketball takes the spotlight, as yesterday Philadelphia point guard Tony Chenault verbally committed to play basketball for the Demon Deacons, joining the class of 2010. Chenault is currently a three star prospect according to Scout.com. I'll publish my own take on this commitment in the next day or two, but here are some other stories until then.
Speaking of basketball, the pairings for the Anaheim Classic have been announced, and Wake Forest will face Cal State Fullerton in the first round, Thursday, November 27, on ESPN2. UTEP and St. Mary's are the other teams in Wake's bracket, and Wake would face the winner/loser of their game Friday on ESPNU. The final games are set for Sunday the 30th, with the championship being played on ESPN2. This doesn't exactly set Wake up for the matchups they would have most wanted from a strength of schedule perspective, but it does set them up well to have a good shot at winning the tournament.
Of course we can't totally ignore football, so here is Dan Collins' usual football notebook, as well as this feature on Josh Adams.
I'm traveling today, so if I'm slow to answer emails or anything like that I apologize. I expect to still have a full practice report up tonight.
We've been all football, all the time for awhile here at Old Gold & Blog, and although there's still plenty of that to cover this morning we're also going to take the opportunity to branch out ever so slightly.
Last night (Monday) was another good practice. My coverage is here, and there's this from the official site.
I promised some non-football news, so here it is. Women's soccer was picked fifth in the preseason ACC poll. Former Demon Deacon Kelly Dolton has arrived in China as a member of America's field hockey team. Finally, the baseball team has picked up a commitment from Philadelphia area shortstop Mark Rhine.
Not surprisingly, Media day for the Demon Deacons means plenty of coverage from a variety of outlets. The story that will probably be read more than any other is this AP story, which talks about Deacon Tower and the high expectations of Wake Forest fans these days.
I've been surprised by how difficult it's been to find photos of the event, but here's a pretty cool shot of everyone getting ready for the team photo. You may notice that the uniforms look a bit different. Russell Nenon has informed me that the new jerseys are "nice with skinnier numbers. The pants are a similar material with a black stripe down the side."
I'm guessing these new uniforms are one of Nike's newer, tighter fitting materials, and probably lighter weight and more breathable for increased player comfort. I'll be curious to see how the new piping on the pants looks in an actual game, and how it translates to the all black uniform.
As Old Gold & Blog enters its second school year covering Wake Forest athletics, it seemed a fitting time to update the look and layout of things. Hopefully you like the new design and don't have any problems using it, but if any issues arises please let me know. Don't worry, the header images will change on a seasonal basis; other sports will have their chance in the spotlight later in the year.
I also recognize that many of you have become new followers of Old Gold & Blog in the last few months, and I want to point you towards the subscription options over to the right. If you subscribe via RSS you'll be updated every time there's a new post. Subscribing via email puts Old Gold & Blog in your inbox once per day. There's no better way to keep track of the latest Wake Forest news and analysis.
On to the news...
Yesterday was the first day of practice for the Demon Deacons. Besides my report, the Nenon report, and this report from the official website there wasn't a whole lot of specific practice coverage.
Remember the questions I was asking yesterday about the offensive line? Jim Grobe has the exact same questions. The good news is offensive line depth was a preseason concern in 2006 and 2007 as well. Does this mean fans don't need to worry so much?
We've seen plenty of preseason previews of the Demon Deacons, and we'll continue to see them pop up throughout August, but I like this one because it focueses less on the things we already know about this year's team and more on the way the last two seasons have impressed outsiders. Not only an enjoyable read, but also a good history lesson.
I'd be lying if I said I didn't steal the idea for this post from ESPN's Heather Dinnich, but she hasn't covered Wake yet so the content is definitely original. The premise is pretty simple: what questions need to be answered during the next month of practices?
1. Will someone step up and be a reliable long snapper? The fact that this is the first question that comes to my mind has to be a very good sign for the Demon Deacons this season. The fact is, this is the only glaring hole at a starting position anywhere on the team. I'm pretty sure we'll ultimately get a positive answer to this question.
Ryan McManus has been expected to take this job from the very beginning, but unfortunately he never quite got the it done in the spring. I know McManus is a competitive guy who badly wants to be on the football field, so I'm guessing he's worked his butt off this summer and has a pretty good looking snap by now. Obviously time will tell, but I'm feeling pretty good about this one.
2. Will the offensive line get the job done? Since the end of the 2007 season this has probably been the question most Deacon fans have been asking. Based on what I saw in the spring, I think the starting five will be a successful group. They won't be as good as last year's line right away, but we'll see them continue improving and ultimately I don't think fans will be complaining too much.
The biggest concern here is depth. What happens if a couple of starters go down? Joe Looney would probably be ready to step in for a guard, but if a tackle or center were to go down I think there might be a pretty big problem. During these preseason practices we need to see how these younger guys develop.
3. Is there a depth issue in the secondary? Dan Collins touched on this today, and it might be a slight concern. Channing Schofield, who would have seen significant playing time as a backup and in nickel/dime coverages is no longer with the team. There are still seven cornerbacks on the roster, but two are redshirt freshmen and one is a true freshmen, so an injury or two could open up some major issues here.
I think this question could be answered pretty easily if young guys like Josh Bush step up and show that they're ready to play on Saturday.
Now to put a bit of a different spin on this, here's one question people are asking that I don't think is an issue:
With Kenny Moore gone, who will step up and lead the receiving corps? I'm convinced this will not be a problem. There are plenty of talented receivers on the roster, not to mention tight end Ben Wooster who is clearly ready to step up and play. I think the Demon Deacons can be just fine without that one go-to receiver. We know Chip Brinkman can catch passes, and the same goes for Jordan Williams and D.J. Boldin. Devon "Y'lou" Brown is ready to step up as well.
Wake doesn't need someone to be Kenny Moore and carry the entire load himself; it doesn't have to be a one man job. The talent is there for this group to get it done as a unit, and I think they will.
A standout guard on Wake's 2006 ACC Championship team, Steve Vallos has clearly been working hard during Seattle Seahawks training camp. Best of luck to him and all of our other NFL Deacons this season. Unfortunately that list no longer includes Kevin Marion.
ACC Football Report recently posted their 2008 Wake Forest preview, and I can't find any significant fault with it. It doesn't say anything revolutionary, but I definitely enjoyed this comment: "Defense: God help the clunky offenses of the ACC against this group in 2008."
Last but certainly not least, Dan Collins says the Demon Deacons are just about ready for practice to start. I think Wake fans can collectively say "so are we!"
Edit: I threw this up in a hurry before a class, so that's why it was so bare bones. My brief 2 cents: I think this is a good thing for our D. With Matt coming back we'll keep almost every single defensive starter for next year. Not only that, but I know DE depth has been a concern this season so having him around again next year should be a good thing. He played well on Saturday, so hopefully he can stay healthy and keep that up. Glad to have him on board for another one.
Posted by Zach Smith
on November 7, 2007 at 10:03 AM
This week has proved to me all over again that there is no coach in the nation I'd rather have at Wake Forest than Jim Grobe. We can all disagree with individual choices he may make on the field every once in awhile, but hearing him talk about a loss like he has had to do this week gives me nothing but increased confidence in him.
The issue of the field goal game up again yesterday, apparently when talking directly with Dan Collins of the Winston-Salem Jounal, as the quotes from his article are not in the online excerpts from the weekly press conference (or they just didn't publish these quotes on the official website). Grobe says he told the team “If we had a chance to beat another Top-25 team on the road and Sam had a chance to kick a 47-yard field goal, then we’d just put the field-goal team on the bus and go. We wouldn’t have to take the rest of the team. Go put the ball down, let’s kick it and see if we win."
I just can't argue with that. I might think we could have made it shorter, and Grobe probably would rather have it shorter, but he'd also rather take 47 than risk making it longer. He also pointed out that we had already been sacked twice on the drive, so we hadn't proven we could dominate the drive on every single play. It might not be what I'd do, but I can't strongly disagree with that opinion.
The other issue that has received much discussion this week was not running left to center the ball in the middle of the field. Grobe's reasoning here is once again solid, and in this case not even something I had thought of. "You ought to walk out and stand 47 yards or 50 yards away and stand on the hash that far back, and then walk over four or five yards and see if you think that would make that much difference. When you’re that far out, there’s not much angle there."
Fair enough, Grobe. Fair enough.
I know many of you will still disagree with the decision making, but Grobe clearly had his strategy well thought out, and my football knowledge is not great enough to argue with him.
Those quotes came from Collins' article in today's W-S Journal, which can be found here.
It's time to put this dead horse to rest. I'm done talking about UVa, bring on the Tigers.
Posted by Zach Smith
on October 4, 2007 at 10:01 AM
Clearly football and basketball will get the most attention here on the OGB, but when you have the best soccer team in the nation and it's getting recognized in a nice article from USA Today, it's certainly worth a mention.
I've only been to two games this year, and I don't know much about the sport other than what I've learned from playing FIFA soccer video games, so it's difficult for me to comment in too many specifics. Nonetheless, the article will get you a little excited about our soccer team and the efforts they are putting forth on the field.
Also, today's WSJ includes a story about Chip Vaughn and his maturation into a leader in the defensive secondary. Very nice, and worth a read, but nothing of great significance.
I'm hoping to put together my own preview of this weekend's game later today, so check back later for that.
Posted by Zach Smith
on October 1, 2007 at 12:05 AM
Could a bye week have come at a better time? With all the upsets on Saturday I'm pretty glad we don't have to play Duke until next week. Considering our track record against them, and how unpredictable yesterday turned out to be, the bye appears to have come at a good time (not to mention the time it gives Riley, etc).
Kudos to South Florida, Colorado, Auburn, Kansas State, Maryland, Georgia Tech, Illinois, and Florida State; all of whom upset teams in the top 25. I don't know the last time that many teams were upset, but I'm guessing it's pretty rare.
Particular congratulations to Maryland and Florida State for representing the conference well against solid opponents from BCS conferences. Maryland's victory has to make you feel even better about last weeks win, and FSU's win makes me even more excited but nervous about their trip to Winston.
I had some other stuff going on this weekend and did not get to catch much on TV besides Auburn upsetting Florida and a little bit of the Falcons/Texans game this afternoon (yuck), but overall it seems to have been a pretty exciting sports weekend. Hopefully the Deacs got well rested and are prepared to take care of business next weekend!
Posted by Zach Smith
on September 29, 2007 at 2:54 AM
Amazingly, baseball managed to get a post here at the OG&B before basketball did, but thankfully not by much. With the first basketball practice only two weeks away (October 12), I expect that we'll be seeing a significant jump in basketball news over the next couple of weeks.
Today's W-S Journal reports that Gaudio is really excited about our three freshman this year, Jeff Teague, Gary Clark, and James Johnson. Good, I was worried he might hate them. Seriously, though, with all the hype surrounding Tony Woods, Al-Farouq Aminu and Ty Walker for next year it is good to know that these guys aren't just going to be lost in the shuffle from the beginning. Hopefully we'll see some solid performances out of them this season.
More importantly, what in the world was Dan Collins thinking when he wrote that subtitle -"Teague, Clark, Johnson to pave way for the really heralded 2008 recruits." "Really heralded?" Seriously? That can't possibly be good grammar. Maybe you could say "highly touted," "very special," or even "really good" would sound almost halfway decent. I expect more from a professional, but considering the many typos that I find on here a day or two later, I'm probably not really one to talk.
Posted by Zach Smith
on September 28, 2007 at 3:31 PM
It’s a bye week, which means of course they very little is happening and we probably won’t have much significant news through this weekend. That being said, Dan Collins of the WS Journal reports that the Deacs are looking at moving redshirt sophomore Ted Randolph from tight end to defensive end, at least for this fall.
With two solid 5th year seniors ahead of him on the depth chart at TE, the move will certainly not have any negative impact on the offense. I'm not sure if he's played in a game, but Randolph has no catching or blocking stats. Defensively it’s hard to make any definitive statements about what affect the move will have, if any. What we do know is that he has some size (6-4 278) and having been a tight end at least a little bit of quickness, so perhaps that bodes well. Either way I doubt anyone could say much at this point since no one has ever seen him play on that side of the ball. I trust the coaches won’t put him on the field unless he is ready to contribute.
It’s pretty much a non event, but it can’t hurt to bring a little attention to it.
In other news (but the same article), Riley says his arm feels fine, and even felt 100% against Maryland. Sure Riley, sure. Nonetheless coach says he can’t use it as an excuse anymore, so I expect to see Riley very near 100% at Duke next week.
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.
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