Wake Forest Football Practice Report, Aug. 13

8/13/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football

Aug. 13, 2008

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest football team held its second two-a-day workout Wednesday at the Doc Martin Football Complex on campus. The Deacons are preparing for their second scrimmage of the preseason on Thursday at BB&T Field. The scrimmage is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m.

The Deacons worked out for almost two hours in the morning in shells, and for another two hours in full pads during the evening session.

Light rain welcomed the Deacs to the practice fields in the morning. Despite the soggy conditions, the team still managed to have a good workout.

"This morning was a good practice for us," said head coach Jim Grobe. "We're in work mode right now with summer school behind us and our guys are putting in some good reps. We just need to focus on getting more consistent right now."

The first part of the morning practice was spent on position drills and the special teams also got work on punt coverage and punt returns.

The offense and defense then moved into 7-on-7 drills and eventually worked their way to 11-on-11 and practicing with the 40-second clock. The highlight of the morning for the offense came during 7-on-7 drills when quarterback Riley Skinner hit running back Josh Adams on a long pass down the left sideline on the first play of the drill. The defense also had its bright spots, as defensive backs Chip Vaughn and Brandon Ghee each made a couple of nice pass breakups.

The evening practice may have been one of the more competitive practices of the season. It started with the normal position drills but the 11-on-11 sessions saw good plays on both sides of the ball. Coach Grobe acknowledged the fact that the team is working hard.

"I liked our competition today," said Grobe. "The offense won a couple and the defense won a couple, so it was a little more balanced out. We had days early on that were one-sided but today was more balanced. I think we had two real good football practices today with a tired football team. Our guys are a little bit worn out, but we still have a lot left to do, so we just have to work at. I like the attitude of this team right now, though. They have a good work ethic."

The Deacons will head to BB&T Field Thursday afternoon for their second scrimmage of the preseason. The scrimmage is set to begin at 3:30 pm.

Outside of finding the missing pieces in the depth chart, coach Grobe is looking at the underclassmen to step up in Thursday's scrimmage.

"I would like to see some improvement from the younger classes," said Grobe. "We have older guys that are doing pretty much what we thought they would be doing at this point - having good camps and making minimal mistakes. I think the key to a season is to have the younger guys step up. No matter how good your upperclassmen are, you are going to have to play young guys at some point, whether you are comfortable or not. So I would like to come back to the office after the scrimmage tomorrow and feel like our young guys made pretty good strides."

Secondary Preview

It would be hard to look around the country and find a secondary with more experience than Wake Forest. The Deacons return all four starters from last year and the quartet has started a combined 77 games over their college careers.

Regardless of where an opposing quarterback looks, he's going to find it difficult to pick on any of Wake's defenders. Start with cornerbacks Alphonso Smith and Brandon Ghee. The duo could form the top cornerback tandem in the ACC this fall. Smith, a fifth-year senior, was a first team All-ACC pick last year and a second team All-America selection by Walter Camp. Smith was a third team Associated Press All-America as well. Smith led the ACC and tied for the national lead with eight interceptions. He tied the school record with three touchdown returns off interceptions. Smith had 59 tackles including eight tackles for loss, the most among all of Wake's defensive backs. His 100-yard interception return sparked the Deacons' comeback win over Maryland and he also added touchdown returns against Boston College and Duke.

If quarterbacks try to avoid throwing to Smith's side, then they'll have an equally tough defender to deal with on the other side in Brandon Ghee. The fourth-year junior moved into the starting line-up in the third week of last season and stayed there for the remainder of the year. He finished fourth on the team with 63 tackles and was second with 10 pass break-ups.

Secondary coach Tim Billings likes the players he has to work with at corner.

"I think they've got a chance to be among the best in the country," said Billings. "Fonz is a great playmaker. Brandon may be more athletic than Alphonso for his size and strength and speed. Alphonso makes plays and that's what we want Brandon to do, to start making plays. If he does that, (opponents) will have a hard time picking on us at the corner."

Also at the corner is another fifth-year senior in Kerry Major. Major started twice last year and recorded his first career interception against Nebraska in Week 2. With Major's experience, the Deacon secondary is solidified.

Redshirt freshmen Josh Bush and Michael Williams are also in the mix at corner as is redshirt sophomore Marcus Williams who is coming back from a fractured scapula suffered against North Carolina last year. Freshman Kenny Okoro could also be called on to contribute at corner.

At safety, the Deacons are also strong with returning starters Kevin Patterson and Chip Vaughn. Vaughn led the Deacons in tackles in 2007 with 105 including a team-high 62 solos. Vaughn had one interception and a team-best 14 pass break-ups. He also recovered a pair of fumbles and helped contribute to Wake Forest's eight defensive touchdowns with a 38-yard fumble return against Boston College.

Patterson, with 27 career starts, one more than Smith, leads the team in starting assignments. KP was fifth on the team with 52 tackles as a junior while also recovering two fumbles and breaking up one pass. A cornerback as a sophomore, Patterson has the coverage skills and the strength to continue to be an outstanding strong safety.

Alex Frye, a redshirt sophomore, is also slated for time at safety and head coach Jim Grobe has been impressed. Frye was primarily a special teams player and key reserve in the secondary last year.

"Alex Frye is one of those guys that has freaky good ability," said Grobe. "Not good ability but freaky good ability. He has great foot speed."

Newcomers to the group of safeties include redshirt freshmen Cyhl Quarles, John Stamper and Junior Petit-Jean, true freshman Morgan Harris and junior Geoff Wissing also contending for playing time.