Wake Forest Completes First Day of Two-a-Days

The Demon Deacons will hold their first scrimmage on Saturday at BB&T Field

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Wake Forest football team went through its first day of two-a-days on Friday at the Doc Martin Practice Complex. The Deacons practiced in shells during the morning practice, which was held in hot and humid weather, but switched to helmets, shorts and jerseys for the cooler evening session.

The Demon Deacons worked on specific game situations, such as third down and red zone plays, in the morning, and used the evening section to spend their first significant time working on special teams.

““We’re looking at a lot of different guys on special teams right now, so we have to start narrowing that down, and we’ll probably start doing that at the beginning of next week”  said head coach Jim Grobe. “I think we’re in pretty good shape right now as far as the number of repetitions that we’ve given to special teams.”

Friday’s pair of practices were the last before the first scrimmage of the season, which will take place at BB&T Field on Saturday afternoon.

“It will be a good day tomorrow,” said Grobe. “We’re looking forward to having a good physical practice and maybe getting a better idea of who our first and second units are made up of. We’re going to keep trying to get a look at everybody. A lot of our young players have gotten as many reps as our older players and we did that by design; we’re really trying to evaluate the young guys right now. We’ll come out of the scrimmage tomorrow and everybody will be able to say that they got looked at.”

The no-contact evening practice gave the offense an opportunity to run through some skeleton passing drills, and Grobe liked what he saw from the quarterbacks.

“I thought that both Ted Stachitas and Tanner Price did some nice things throwing the football today,” said Grobe. “One of the things that’s been very impressive to me is that at the end of spring I was very concerned with our ability to throw the football. (Stachitas and Price) in particular have been good, and tonight, Brendan Cross and Skylar Jones also threw some good passes. Probably the thing that I’m most pleased about right now is that I think all of our quarterbacks are throwing the ball very well. Ted and Tanner are a little bit ahead of the other two, but overall it’s a lot better than it was last spring.”

Wake Forest will hold its first preseason scrimmage at BB&T Field on Saturday. The session is set to start at 2 p.m. and is open to the public.

WINSTON-SALEM, NC – The familiar sound of pads popping returned to the Doc Martin Practice Complex Tuesday evening as the Wake Forest football team was in full regalia for the first time this fall.

The Deacons practiced for a little under two and a half hours in muggy conditions.

“We didn’t have the greatest practice mentally but it was a good night effort wise,” head coach Jim Grobe said of his squad. “The guys are working real hard, flying around and bumping into each other. We have a lot in right now offensively and defensively and the young guys are a little flustered but at least when they’re making mistakes, they’re making them in a hurry.”

With the graduation of talented senior classes each of the last two years, Grobe knows he has a young team in camp this fall.

“We have nine seniors and quite a bit of juniors but some of our most talented guys at spots are freshmen and sophomores,” said Grobe. “So there is quite a bit of competition right now and there are number of spots were you can feel comfortable at the top of the depth chart one day and be at the bottom of the chart the next. It’s a good position for us because we don’t just have guys that are talented at the top and there’s no one pushing them. We have talent at every position and guys know they have to come out to practice each day and get after it.”

One of the hottest battles this fall is at the quarterback position. The Deacs have a stable of young talented quarterbacks all fighting for that starting spot.

“We have a great group of guys right now at quarterback,” Grobe explained. “I think you get a little concerned if you don’t have any talent back there but we have three or four guys that have enough talent to win. What we’re looking for right now is a guy who makes very few mental mistakes and does not turn the football over. That’s going to be the key. The flashiest guys, the fastest guy, the guy with the best arm may not end up being our quarterback. It’s going to be the guy that doesn’t get us beat. The guy that takes care of the ball the best and makes the fewest mental mistakes is probably going to be the guy.”

Despite not knowing exactly the makeup of the team at this point, Grobe likes what he sees on the field.

“I have a great sense for this team,” Grobe said with smile. “This is a fast, athletic, tough, hard-nosed group of kids and they love to play the game. I think there’s something going on with this group. There is a different feel with this team than there was last year. I can’t put my finger on it, but I like it. I really like what they’re doing right now.”

The Deacons continue to practice this week as they prepare for their first intra-squad scrimmage on Saturday, August 14, at 2 pm at BB&T Field. The team will practice again Wednesday evening from 8-10 pm at the Doc Martin Practice Complex on campus.