Wake Forest Athletics
Ray's Way - Aug. 25
8/25/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 25, 2000
Yesterday we had a scrimmage, the final scrimmage before the Appalachian State game. At times it was good, and at times it was terrible. After reviewing the film, we have a lot of work to do, a lot of preparation before the game. I think for the most part the guys are accepting the fact that they need a lot of work and are willing to put forth the effort. We have some bumps and bruises, but nothing too serious.
On Wednesday of this week we had Media Day. C.J. (Leak), Vince (Azzolina), Ovie (Mughelli), Michael (Collins) and myself talked to the media. That was pretty interesting. I saw a couple of the reporters I talked to at the ACC Football Kickoff. They were excited to see me, and I was excited to see them, so that was pretty fun.
One of the reporters from Tallahassee kept asking me about what I did with Jamal Reynolds (FSU player) when we worked out this summer. The whole conversation was never really about football, but just about what we did when he was here for those two weeks.
Tonight we go through a mock game situation. That's where we do quick change things, like we'll run one or two plays, then switch to the punt team, then we'll put the defense back out there. It's just so we get all the substitutions right, so we don't have any penalties during the game.
Saturday we'll have a day off, for the most part. We'll have some meetings. Then it's back to work Sunday. I think Saturday I'm going to do some swimming in the pool (at my apartment). I've got to get some relaxation in.
Instead of talking about one of the other players today, I'm going to talk about something totally different. I have this thing before every game, where Ed (Ellis) and Scott (Sinclair), our strength coaches, tie my shoes extra extra tight. They say that was the reason for my success last season, because they tie my cleats so tight. And they always do this little type of dance afterwards, like this 15-second dance. After that, then they think I'm ready for the game. So that's one of my little superstitions.
Going into the game, I have a pretty good outlook. As long as we play well and we play hard, I think that we'll do well against App State. We can't just go out there and roll our helmets out on the field and expect to win, because Appalachian State is a good football team. I think it's going to be an exciting game Thursday night. I hope everybody comes out, I hope we have a big turnout.
