Wake Forest Athletics
Josh Gattis' Preseason Postcard
8/14/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 14, 2005
Editor's Note: Throughout the preseason, junior free safety Josh Gattis will be giving Deacon fans a glimpse of life inside preseason camp in the series, "Josh Gattis' Preseason Postcards."
About Gattis: Gattis started at free safety in all 11 games in 2004. He was the team's second-leading tackler with 71 stops and one of four defensive players to start every game. Defensive coordinator Dean Hood says having Gattis in the secondary is like having a coach on the field.
Saturday August 13th -- First Scrimmage
Today, we started off with our first scrimmage open to the public. After a long day of practice yesterday, everyone was excited to get out and finally scrimmage full-go. Also, after Fan Fest last night, we all were excited about the support of our fans who came out. That made us more excited about the upcoming season. It felt great to go to the stadium and be at home. Not only be in our house, but our new and improved "bricked out" stadium.
Fans, beware! I'm getting a gut feeling that Chris Davis or Chris Barclay might bring the Lambeau Leap to Groves Stadium!!!!!! Fans, better hurry up if you plan on buying any more season tickets. By the looks of the cones marking off seats available in the stadium there might just be enough seats left to seat a few extra tagalongs with the ESPN crew come Thursday night.
The scrimmage was very intense. It included all special teams, mixed groups of 1 vs 2, 2 vs 1, and the freshmen. For this being our first scrimmage, I would grade it a B for effort, but we still have a long way to go. Both sides of the ball looked very good for a first scrimmage, but at sometimes it was hard to tell who did better because of the amount of mental mistakes along with the good plays. You have to expect some mental mistakes on both sides as this was the first time we actually got to scrimmage each other full speed. The good thing is that you can see the improvement of team speed this year vs. the previous years. Today was a marking point to set the bar for the season. After this scrimmage, let's just say the bar is going to be so high not even the Olympic high jump champion could out-leap it. I won't give too much insight on the scrimmage but let's just say we got so physical in the morning that a lot of guys, including myself, were too dinged up to practice in the afternoon.
In the afternoon, we spent about an hour and half out on the field mainly emphasizing special teams. We also spent the afternoon watching film from the scrimmage and mentally preparing ourselves for this upcoming season and the correct steps we must take in succeeding. One thing, we can promise is that we are focused on a 2005 ACC championship. Basketball has one in the past few years so now it's about time for the Gridiron Deacs as well. "The Rush is On"................
And for all the fans who came out to show us support at Fan Fest, we really appreciate it. For those who could not make it out last night, we appreciate your support as well and we looking forward to seeing you all September 1st. Go Deacs..........
