Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest Football Undergoes Two Preseason Practices
8/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 12, 2011
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest football team went through its sixth and seventh practices during the first two-a-day of the 2011 preseason on Friday, August 12. Head coach Jim Grobe led the Demon Deacons through a vigorous, full squad morning session before focusing on special teams in the evening.
"We've got a lot of enthusiasm," said Nikita Whitlock, a redshirt sophomore nose guard. "A lot of boys are out here talking trash and trying to get in people's heads. Now that we can hit a little, it's like we're playing real football now." Grobe was critical of the performances from the receivers and quarterbacks today, but noted that the Deacs are working a lot of young players through at both positions.
"We're not catching the ball as well as we need to yet, I think that's grating, and our quarterback are not throwing it as well as they need to. There's times when the quarterback will throw it pretty good and it's dropped. And there's times when the ball's not thrown well enough. But we're working a lot people and trying to get a lot of young kids in - at both quarterback and receiver."
Outside of very few negatives, Grobe liked the intensity displayed from his squad and sang the praises of his senior-laden offensive line and redshirt freshman wide receiver Brandon Terry.
"I think our offensive line looked better in the pass pro today, so I liked that. As far as the receivers, I thought Brandon Terry did some good things today. He had a couple good blocks and made some nice catches, so it's looking like he wants to play a little bit."
After a hot practice in full pads yesterday, unseasonably cool conditions made for a more-comfortable-than-usual morning session. Grobe also commented on seeing fewer mental mistakes this year as opposed to last season.
"I think a big part of it is knowing what to do," said Grobe. "If you see a kid you think is pretty good and he's playing passively, it's probably because he doesn't know what to do. And we had a lot of that last year. We had guys wondering, `am I supposed to be in this gap or that gap, am I an inside third, an outside third, do I have a group responsibility? Do I curl or do I hook?' We had all those kinds of things. Now that's not an issue, our guys are comfortable with the defense and the offense."
The Deacs will continue preseason by conducting another morning session on Saturday, August 13, beginning 9:30 a.m. Sunday will then be the team's first day off in a full week, followed by a full squad scrimmage on Monday, August 15 at 9:30 a.m. at BB&T Field.
