Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest Football Practice Report, Aug. 12
8/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 12, 2008
Wake Forest went through a single football practice on Tuesday afternoon at the Doc Martin Football Practice Complex. The Demon Deacons will hold two sessions on Wednesday, at 9:45 a.m. and again at 4:30 p.m., as the team prepares for its second scrimmage of the preseason on Thursday afternoon at 3 o'clock at BB&T Field.
Wake spent a great deal of time in Tuesday's practice in position drills with the defense working on turnover transition. The Deacons spent the final few periods of practice working on the two minute drill.
"I feel good about where we are right now," said Grobe. "We're a little banged up but that's where we should be. You could go out and have milk and cookies every day but that wouldn't get you ready to play the season. We're trying to be smart about it and we'll push the guys as hard as we think we have to to have them in shape and ready to play football. We still have a lot of time to get them ready. After you've been out here 12 days, you start to panic a little bit when you make mistakes but there's still a lot of time before we play."
As the season opener with Baylor on August 28 grows near, the Deacons are looking forward to hitting somebody that is not a teammate.
"The offense and defense are starting to get after each other a little bit so we've got to keep that toned down," said Grobe. "You've got to take care of each other."
One of the two starters that Wake Forest lost from last year's starting defensive unit was defensive end Jeremy Thompson. A fourth-round pick of the Green Bay Packers, Thompson was a solid anchor on Wake's defensive line, recording 46 tackles and leading the squad with 6.5 sacks. Replacing Thompson and setting the defensive end rotation is the responsibility of defensive ends coach Keith Henry.
"I'm very proud of the older guys we've got, Matt Robinson, Anthony Davis," said Henry. "Antonio (Wilson) is doing well. Kyle Wilber and Tristan Dorty have been a big plus. Overall as a group, we're making progress. Antonio is a fifth-year guy who will be in the rotation. The guy who has given us a spark is Kyle Wilber. He's a guy who's shown us a lot and he has a chance to help us win some games this year."
Matt Robinson, who was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA and is pursuing graduate studies at Wake Forest, is the returning starter from last year's squad. The recipient of the ACC's Brian Piccolo Award as the league's most courageous player, Robinson missed all of the 2006 FedEx Orange Bowl season after suffering a broken knee cap in the final game of the 2005 season. Robinson endured three surgeries to return to the starting line-up in 2007. He collected 20 tackles and a sack last season.
Anthony Davis should step into the role of a full-time starter this year. Davis started twice in 2007 and started the final three games of the 2006 campaign including the ACC Championship Game and the Orange Bowl. He made 13 tackles in 2007.
Antonio Wilson is another fifth-year senior in the mix for a starting job this fall along with redshirt freshmen Tristan Dorty and Kyle Wilber.
"We went into spring practice with (defensive end) being one of our main concerns and we came out of spring feeling like we were in pretty good shape with Matt Robinson and A-Train (Anthony Davis) as our first team guys," said Grobe. "And they're being backed up by Antonio Wilson, who's a fifth-year senior who's competing to be a starter. And the young guys, Kyle Wilber and Tristan Dorty, we think we've got two young guys who can really play. We're excited about that position. You worry about the young guys because they've never had to go out and do it before but we think that they have enough ability to get it done."
Notes: Linebacker Kyle Jarrett experienced dizziness towards the end of practice Tuesday and was escorted off the field by EMS technicians. Jarrett went to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center for precautionary purposes. Wide receivers Jordan Williams and Terence Davis were back in practice after missing Saturday's scrimmage at BB&T Field.
