Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest Football Practice Report No. 6
8/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 11, 2010
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest football team continued its preparations for the 2010 season on Wednesday night as the Deacs completed a rain-shortened, 90-minute practice session at the Doc Martin Football Practice Complex.
Head Coach Jim Grobe led his players through their second practice in full pads under hot and humid conditions and was pleased with what he saw.
"I thought we were having a really good practice until the lightning came," Grobe said. "The nice thing about this time of the year is we have a long time to get ready. We have a lot of practices left. It might actually be a blessing to get our guys a little bit of rest. They need it after being in class for the past five or six days and trying to practice at the same time."
After practicing for an hour and 15 minutes, the team was forced inside due to lightning near the practice field. The team returned to the field after a 15 minute delay, only to have practice stopped again 10 minutes later due to more lightning in the vicinity. After the second delay, the coaches decided to end practice for the evening.
"You're a little sluggish when you come back out after the delay," Grobe explained. "Honestly, the way it worked out, we were ready to take a break when the first lightning delay started. I thought our red zone period was really going well after the first break, but then we had to bring them back in."
Nenon Returns After Missing Spring Practice
One of the main keys to success for Wake Forest in 2010 will come in the play of the offensive line. Anchoring the offensive line is redshirt senior center Russell Nenon. Nenon missed spring practice after having shoulder surgery in the offseason, but the Memphis, Tenn., native feels good about where he is at this point in fall practice.
"I feel great at this point in preseason," Nenon said. "Our trainers did a great job in my rehab. The guys are doing a great job of helping me out with the new stuff. Coach Lobo is being patient with me and I'm just trying to do my best."
Nenon enters the 2010 season with 25 straight starts on the offensive line. Grobe believes that the play of Nenon and the entire offensive line will go a long ways in determining how successful the Demon Deacons are this year.
"Russ was our most consistent offensive lineman a year ago so if there was anyone on the team that could miss spring practice and be ok, it would be Russ," Grobe said. "If you watched him the first few practices this August, you'd never know he'd miss spring ball. He's right where we want him to be. He's the leader of the offensive line. We need him to play really well. When you have some young offensive linemen that you're working in, one of the issues that you have is the older guys have to really play well so you don't have to worry about them. We're hoping that Russ, Joe Looney and Doug Weaver will be guys that we don't have to do much with. If we can plug those other guys in and focus on them, that's where we could be ok in the offensive line."
What's Next
Wake Forest returns to the practice field on Thursday with a session scheduled for 3:30-5:30 p.m. at the Doc Martin Football Practice Complex.
