Wake Forest Athletics
Defense Shines In Second Preseason Scrimmage
8/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 19, 2006
Today's Practice: Full pads for second scrimmage at Groves Stadium
Weather: 85 degrees and partly cloudy
Scrimmage Notes: After surrendering six touchdowns and forcing no turnovers in Wednesday's scrimmage, the defense buckled down, allowing just one touchdown and forcing two turnovers in a scrimmage that saw about 70 plays... DT Jyles Tucker recorded three sacks and two additional tackles for loss... LB Eric Berry started in place of LB Jon Abbate who sat out with a minor groin strain... RB Micah Andrews had two long runs washed out by holding penalties... CB Alphonso Smith intercepted a QB Benjamin Mauk pass and returned it 30 yards... PK Sam Swank went 5-for-6 on field goals, including two makes from 37 yards, two from 43 and one from 47... his lone miss from 53 yards had plenty of leg, but just missed wide left... RB Josh Adams accounted for the offense's only touchdown, a 33-yard scamper around left tackle on the final play of the scrimmage.
Quoting Head Coach Jim Grobe: "(It was) about what I expected. I thought the defense answered the challenge. After our first scrimmage, I thought the offense held the upperhand. Like you would expect, I thought the defense came out today and showed a little bit more intensity. A lot of times, it's easy offensively if you've had a good day to maybe become a little overconfident. And what you find out is that it's not an easy game. Every time you come out, you have to prove yourself. Hopefully we're learning lessons. All in all, I think we're about where we need to be. We're really tired; we're really beat up. We've drained them pretty good and that's right where we should be with a couple games to go.
Scrimmage Highlights: DE Jyles Tucker sacked QB Brett Hodges three times, had two tackles for loss and batted down a pass on third down... LB Eric Berry had two sacks... after the offensive line created a big gap for RB Kevin Harris, Berry filled the hole and drove Harris backward... DE Bryan Andrews and DE Jeremy Thompson combined for a sack... QB Benjamin Mauk escaped a sack and dumped a pass to RB De'Angelo Bryant for a seven-yard gain... Tucker made a nice tackle on a third down to stall a drive... the first team offensive line gave Mauk plenty of time to find TE Zac Selmon for a 21-yard gain down the middle of the field... RB Micah Andrews had runs of 34 and 26 wiped out due to holding penalties... QB Riley Skinner hit WR Nate Morton for a 13-yard gain and a first down... CB Alphonso Smith stepped in front of a Mauk pass intended for Selmon and returned the interception 30 yards before finally going down... Josh Gattis and Kevin Marion both returned kickoffs past the 30 yardline... Mauk and WR Willie Idlette hooked up for a first down completion... Idlette might have scored, but was tripped up at the last moment by Berry... CB Riley Swanson ended a drive with a textbook tackle on Bryant... S Chip Vaughn made a nice pass breakup on a deep pass intended for TE John Tereshinski... Skinner took the Deacons on a long, but quick drive into redzone with completions to Morton, Moore and Idlette... but the drive stalled inside the 10 yardline... on a later drive, Skinner made three moves on defenders and scrambled for a 13 yard gain on 3rd down... Skinner connected with Tereshinski in traffic on 3rd-and-long short of the first down marker, but Tereshinski dragged two defenders on his way to a first down... on the final play of the scrimmage, RB Josh Adams slipped around left tackle and rushed for a 33-yard touchdown, the offense's only points of the day.
Injury Report: The following players did not practice today: LB Jon Abbate, TE Dan Callahan, OL Cannon Gaskin, SS Aaron Mason, WR Max Opamuratawongse and DE Matt Robinson.
Next Practices: Monday, 10:00am-11:30am and 7:15pm-9:30pm, both on campus
Next Scrimmage: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. at Groves Stadium
