Wake Forest Athletics
Taylor Morin has Standout Game vs. North Carolina A&T
9/10/2024 9:00:00 AM | Football
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – When the Wake Forest staff evaluated Taylor Morin as a 2019 prospect from Westfield High School (Centreville, VA), then receivers coach Kevin Higgins and head coach Dave Clawson wanted to ensure he had ACC-level speed, so when he camped in Winston-Salem it was a priority to see a good 40-yard dash time.
He aced that part of the camp back in 2019 and then used that speed as he scampered down the sideline to put the finishing touches on a 73-yard punt return for a touchdown in the season-opening victory over North Carolina A&T. As a sixth-year senior, it was Morin's 65 punt return, but the first he'd taken all the way to the house.
"There were a lot of black shirts in the right places," Morin said about his teammates leading the way on the play. "Coach Mono (Wake Forest special team analyst Christopher Monfiletto) drew up a great scheme, which I won't go into too much detail about, but that play doesn't happen without my teammates out there. Those guys were busting their rear and they made it happen. So I was very fortunate to make that play for the Deacs.
"It felt awesome, I will say. Capone (Blue) had the touchdown block on the punter which was the last one we needed. Shout out to him and all the other guys on the unit, but it felt good to go out there and make that play for our team."
Though an incredibly respected elder statesman and captain of the team, teammates had playfully reminded Morin in the past that he'd yet to score a punt return touchdown in his career.
"I've had a couple of big ones but never got into the end zone and that one felt good for sure," he said. "It's something that my teammates let me know about. They remind me about that. We made a lot of big plays, but we got to get some points so that one's checked off and hopefully more to come as the season comes along."
The season-opening 45-13 win had eight different players catch passes and six different Deacs score a touchdown.
"Hopefully we can keep guys healthy, but we have a lot of depth in that room that we're excited about," Morin said. "Horatio Fields, Walker Merrill, Deuce Alexander, getting Donnie (Donavon Greene) back is huge along with Micah Mays getting going. It just adds another element to our offense that felt like we missed last year. So getting our room going is incredibly important for this team."
Down 10-7 early in the second quarter, the Demon Deacons dominated the remainder of the game.
"We try not to look at the score until the end of the game, so it was something that we could have looked up there and been like, oh no," Morin said. "But it was just a couple of minor details here and there that kept us off the field on offense. So once we got those things corrected on the sideline with our coaches, we got clicking and rolling, but I don't think we flinched."
Seeing backup slot receiver Deuce Alexander produce while Morin got a breather on the bench was refreshing for the sixth-year grad student and will help him stay healthy and fresh through the grueling 12-week-plus season.
"It's awesome," Morin said of Alexander. "I'm not going to be able to play the entire game every game for 12 games straight. So having a guy like him come in and make plays is really exciting. We're hoping to play six to seven receivers every game. So getting those guys going in a game like this was huge.
"It's hard to go out there for four quarters week in and week out for 12 straight games. So that's something that we're going to have to pride ourselves on is being more physical, being the better-conditioned team, the stronger team, especially as we start to get into conference play, a lot of these teams have guys that are just as strong, fast and physical as us. So being able to play four full quarters is going to be important."
He aced that part of the camp back in 2019 and then used that speed as he scampered down the sideline to put the finishing touches on a 73-yard punt return for a touchdown in the season-opening victory over North Carolina A&T. As a sixth-year senior, it was Morin's 65 punt return, but the first he'd taken all the way to the house.
"There were a lot of black shirts in the right places," Morin said about his teammates leading the way on the play. "Coach Mono (Wake Forest special team analyst Christopher Monfiletto) drew up a great scheme, which I won't go into too much detail about, but that play doesn't happen without my teammates out there. Those guys were busting their rear and they made it happen. So I was very fortunate to make that play for the Deacs.
"It felt awesome, I will say. Capone (Blue) had the touchdown block on the punter which was the last one we needed. Shout out to him and all the other guys on the unit, but it felt good to go out there and make that play for our team."
Though an incredibly respected elder statesman and captain of the team, teammates had playfully reminded Morin in the past that he'd yet to score a punt return touchdown in his career.
"I've had a couple of big ones but never got into the end zone and that one felt good for sure," he said. "It's something that my teammates let me know about. They remind me about that. We made a lot of big plays, but we got to get some points so that one's checked off and hopefully more to come as the season comes along."
The season-opening 45-13 win had eight different players catch passes and six different Deacs score a touchdown.
"Hopefully we can keep guys healthy, but we have a lot of depth in that room that we're excited about," Morin said. "Horatio Fields, Walker Merrill, Deuce Alexander, getting Donnie (Donavon Greene) back is huge along with Micah Mays getting going. It just adds another element to our offense that felt like we missed last year. So getting our room going is incredibly important for this team."
Down 10-7 early in the second quarter, the Demon Deacons dominated the remainder of the game.
"We try not to look at the score until the end of the game, so it was something that we could have looked up there and been like, oh no," Morin said. "But it was just a couple of minor details here and there that kept us off the field on offense. So once we got those things corrected on the sideline with our coaches, we got clicking and rolling, but I don't think we flinched."
Seeing backup slot receiver Deuce Alexander produce while Morin got a breather on the bench was refreshing for the sixth-year grad student and will help him stay healthy and fresh through the grueling 12-week-plus season.
"It's awesome," Morin said of Alexander. "I'm not going to be able to play the entire game every game for 12 games straight. So having a guy like him come in and make plays is really exciting. We're hoping to play six to seven receivers every game. So getting those guys going in a game like this was huge.
"It's hard to go out there for four quarters week in and week out for 12 straight games. So that's something that we're going to have to pride ourselves on is being more physical, being the better-conditioned team, the stronger team, especially as we start to get into conference play, a lot of these teams have guys that are just as strong, fast and physical as us. So being able to play four full quarters is going to be important."
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