Deacons Hold First Spring Scrimmage
3/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
March 27, 2010
Wake Forest held its first scrimmage of the spring on Saturday as head coach Jim Grobe and his staff led the squad through a 60-minute controlled scrimmage at BB&T Field.
The offense produced two scores, one coming on a four-yard run by fullback Tommy Bohanon and the other a 27-yard field goal from sophomore Jimmy Newman.
Wake Forest used four different quarterbacks as the staff searches for a replacement for four-year starter Riley Skinner. Redshirt junior Skylar Jones was the first quarterback to lead the offense. Redshirt sophomore Turner Faulk, redshirt freshman Brendan Cross and true freshman Patrick Thompson also had turns at running the offense.
Bohanon's touchdown culminated a 15-play, 65-yard drive that was directed by Jones. Newman's field goal came after a 14-play, 56-yard drive with Cross at quarterback.
Jones finished the day as Wake Forest's leading rusher with 46 yards on nine carries. Brandon Pendergrass had 38 yards on just five carries while Josh Adams carried eight times for 16 yards.
Cross completed three of seven passes for 14 yards and was sacked four times. Faulk connected on five of his six pass attempts for a team-high 35 yards and was sacked twice. Jones was three-for-five for 23 yards while Thompson missed on both of his pass attempts.
Grobe said that his quarterback situation is still undecided.
"We were sloppy," said Grobe. "If everybody's playing perfect and all we had to do was look at the quarterback, it would be easy. But there were times today where the quarterbacks didn't have an opportunity; we either missed blocks or didn't run the right route. I liked Skylar today. I thought he did some really good things, showed some composure. He's matured a lot. He's a lot calmer in the pocket right now. He's got a lot of ability. He just needs a lot of work. I thought Brendan Cross did some good things on the one drive, he took the team down the field. All those guys have a lot of work to do. We really don't know what we are right now because we don't know what their strengths and weaknesses are. By the end of spring, we'll have a pretty good feel about these guys."
Grobe was more enthusiastic about the play of his defense. Defensive back Alex Frye led the squad with 3.5 tackles and a sack. The Demon Deacon defense finished the day with 14 tackles for loss.
"I liked our defense today," said Grobe. "I tell you, we had some enthusiasm, we had some young guys flying around, they're having a lot of fun right now. Overall, it's the best speed we've had defensively. A lot of these guys we redshirted last year are playing right now and they're going to be good players for us. They had fun today. They got after it. I thought the offense was a little bit sketchy today. We have a couple of really good drives. One drive that Sky took us on was really good and led to a score. But overall, on offense, we couldn't be consistent. But a big part of that was the defense. We're doing some really good things defensively that is giving our offense problems. When you combine that with the (defensive) guys flying around with their ears pinned back, it was a lot of fun to watch today."
Injuries continue to play a factor. Ted Stachitas, a third-year sophomore, is in the running for the quarterback position but missed the scrimmage due to a strained hamstring.
"Ted's got a hamstring (injury)," said Grobe. "That's disappointing because he needs a lot of work. It's his turn to get a look and it doesn't do you any good not to be practicing. I told our players today that durability is going to mean a lot. We've got a lot of guys dinged. You can't avoid injuries and it's not the kids' fault when they get banged up but we've got to get the guys ready who are going to be there. So it's important for the guys to have not only ability but you've got to be dependable. That may be just being on time and being at practice and being at meetings, but it may also be being dependable physically. Some of the kids have not been injured much in the past and have a dings right now, but some of the guys have had a whole bunch of different things happen. So at some point we've got to just focus on dependable guys."
The Deacons are thin along the offensive line with the top three centers, Russell Nenon, Whit Barnes and Chance Raines, missing the scrimmage. Garrick Williams, Ryan Britt and Gabe Irby are all capable of playing center with Williams earning most of the snaps on Saturday.
"I didn't know linemen could get a hamstring (injury)," joked Grobe. "When I played I had no fast-twitch muscles and I thought that's what you had to have. But I had faster twitch muscles than the offensive line guys. Again, that's a problem for us. We're probably going to be in a position where we're going to have seven or eight guys next fall that can really play on the offensive line that we're going to feel are dependable. We moved a couple guys over there, Devin Bolling and Steven Chase (who had been on defense). I think that is really going to help us. But some of the guys who are banged up right now are going to have to get back in there and prove they're dependable otherwise we'll stick five guys out there and stay with it and not put anybody else out there. We've got to find some dependable guys who can show some durability out there."
The Deacons are scheduled to practice again on Tuesday and Thursday this week and will hold another scrimmage at BB&T Field on Saturday, April 10. The team will take next Saturday off for Easter.
