Young Talent Gets A Chance To Shine At Spring Scrimmage
4/22/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 22, 2004
Wake Forest's spring scrimmage was a great preview of the future of Wake Forest football. Coach Jim Grobe and his staff gave the veterans of the team some time early, but the majority of the action was spent giving some of the younger and less experienced players a chance to really show what they could do and shine.
Following 14 practices with a somewhat limited roster, Grobe wanted to promote competition within the team and see how much some of the younger players had grown. With seven returning starters on offense and eight on defense, the Demon Deacons have an experienced base on which to build. However, the spring was an opportunity to build much needed depth and infuse new talent, which Wake Forest seems to have.
"What's exciting to me is that we have so many redshirt freshmen that really did some good things," said head coach Jim Grobe. "I like our young guys and the direction we're going. Players like Ben Mauk, Kevin Marion, Micah Andrews and a lot of young offensive linemen and defensive players did some good things today. We'll have to look at the film to see just how good, but I was impressed with the way the young guys competed. They looked like they wanted to earn a position."
As well as returning starter Cory Randolph played at quarterback over the course of the spring practices, redshirt freshman Ben Mauk turned in an impressive performance at the spring scrimmage. Mauk, a heralded recruit from Kenton, Ohio, ran for 93 yards on seven carries and was 6 of 8 passing for 102 yards and one touchdown. Grobe hopes to gradually get Mauk some game experience in the upcoming 2004 season in much the same way he nurtured Randolph, who succeeded James MacPherson at quarterback.
"I thought Mauk played really well," Grobe said. "He's come on all spring, actually, although today might be the most consistent he's been. Last fall we saw some talent but felt like he had a ways to go. He did a great job in the offseason working in the weight room and getting in shape. He's obviously running better, he's got the great arm, and he's starting to pick up the offense. So it's very encouraging when you have a guy like Cory Randolph who's your quarterback and a guy like Ben Mauk who's pushing him for some playing time. It's just a really healthy situation for us at quarterback right now."
No player caught more than one pass, but Cassiel Smith hauled in a 20-yard pass. R.D. Montgomery and Zac Selmon each had a reception from the tight end position, and D'Angelo Bryant caught a 10-yard ball on a swing pass out of the backfield. Bryant was also impressive running the ball. The player they call "The Bus" had 42 yards on five carries, including a 25-yard scamper.
"It's all about competition, and that's what all my teammates tried to come out and do today," Bryant said. "More than anything we just tried to get our plays down (this spring) and to see where everybody stands competition wise."
The new defensive four-man front was utilized during the scrimmage, and sophomore defensive end Bryan Andrews stood out. Andrews was the day's leading tackler among defensive linemen with three stops, including an assisted sack and a tackle-for-loss. Andrews admitted he is still adjusting to the defensive scheme change but likes the opportunity it provides for a more solid front. The three-man front was an area of concern that emerged as the 2003 season unfolded.
"I think it will gives a chance to do some one-on-one blocking (with the offensive linemen) and with me it gives us a chance to use our speed out on the ends," Andrews said. "I think it helps out the whole front. I'm not as strong as some of the interior linemen, but what I do have is my speed and agility. I've got to learn more about how to use my hands, get their hands off me, but now I'm just trying to get down my speed rush. And that's probably the best part of my game right now. I'm probably going to be faster than most of the offensive linemen. But I'm learning on the run."
Redshirt junior Goryal Scales recorded a tackle-for-loss, and defensive tackles Cori Stukes and Zachary Stukes had one sack apiece.
Junior strong safety Dominic Anderson led the team in tackles with five stops. Anderson saw action as a safety in 2002 but missed the rest of the 2003 season after sustaining a knee injury while playing running back in opener at Boston College. Redshirt freshman cornerback Devin Blake and strong safety Patrick Ghee had four tackles each. Free safety Josh Gattis had three stops and a pass break-up, and redshirt freshman cornerback Aaron Mason had two solo tackles.
Linebacker was an area where depth was a concern. Senior Caron Bracy moved to outside linebacker this spring after starting at bandit the last two seasons. James Adams moved from strong safety this spring to linebacker as well. Senior Brad White, a known entity at linebacker, moves from the inside to the outside. Redshirt sophomore Pierre Easley had two tackles at middle linebacker during the scrimmage.
"We've obviously helped ourselves," Grobe said of his linebackers. "Linebacker was something we were really concerned about heading into spring ball and now I'm not concerned about it, being at least one deep. I think some backups have to emerge and prove themselves. I'll be excited to get Jon Abbate back in the mix. He had some good things going on before he hurt his shoulder. But I think moving Caron Bracy to linebacker has really helped us, moving Brad White out to the edge has helped us, and Pierre Easley had a really good spring as middle linebacker. We also have James Adams backing up Caron. That guy is going to play some football for us. He's done some really good things."
The Demon Deacons open the 2004 season with a conference game at Clemson on Sept. 4 and travel to Greenville to take on East Carolina a week later in a non-conference matchup. The home opener is scheduled for Sept. 18 against North Carolina A&T. Wake Forest will play ACC newcomers in 2004 with Virginia Tech coming to Groves Stadium on Oct. 9, and the Deacons traveling to Coral Gables, Fla., to meet national power Miami on Nov. 20.
