Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest Football Practice Report #11
8/21/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 21, 2006
Today's Practice: Players wore shells for the morning practice, but will be in full pads for the evening session. Today is the team's fourth and final day of preseason two-a-day practices.
Weather: 85 degrees and muggy.
Practice Agenda: The team spent much of the morning session, 20 periods, in full 11-on-11 drills... Redshirt junior Benjamin Mauk and redshirt senior Nate Morton hooked up on a long scoring touchdown midway through the first practice of the day... Mauk rolled to his right and hit Morton in stride streaking down the sideline for a 65-yard scoring pass... the Demon Deacons wrapped up group drills with special team work (kickoffs)... after some sprints, the players got in some extra positional group work to close practice.
Snapshot: Steed Lobotzke aka "Coach Lobo" enters his sixth season at Wake Forest working with the offensive line and fourth year as the Demon Deacons' offensive coordinator.
With a pair of scrimmages in the Demon Deacons' rear-view mirror and the season opener against Syracuse just 11 days away, Lobotzke feels the Deacons are exactly where they need to be.
"It seems as though everything has turned out how we planned," said Lobotzke. "The players whom we expected to earn starting positions have done so for the most part. The depth chart has pretty much remained the same.
"As a staff, we do compare progression of this team against teams of the past," said Lobotzke. "We look and see that we are more experienced and mature almost at every position on the field in terms of the starters. Those guys know the system, but our youth is evident in the second string. That is where we are working a lot of redshirt freshmen into the two-deep and must continue to progress."
Lobotzke feels most of the players have solidified their roles, but a specific contingent of players has truly elevated their game.
"Kenny Moore has definitely established himself from a part-time guy into a starter," said Lobotzke. "He had a great spring and it has carried over into the fall camp. Willie Idlette has always had the talent to make plays, but he has made great strides in his consistency.
"We are going to get a little more mileage out of Mike Rinfrette this season as well," said Lobotzke. "We are going to use him in a couple different packages as fullback, h back or tight end."
Injury Report: DE Matt Robinson (knee), OL Boomer Peterson (concussion), DE Bryan Andrews (toe), DB Johnny Edwards (hamstring), WR Will Hollis (knee) and QB Brett Hodges (shoulder) all missed Monday's practices.
Next Practice: The Demon Deacons practice again Tuesday night at 7:15 p.m. The team will play its third intra-squad scrimmage Wednesday, Aug. 23, at 7:30 p.m. at Groves Stadium.
