Monday, November 02, 2009

Easy Goes It For Skinner

The latest news from over at Wake is that Riley Skinner is showing no symptoms from his concussion. That said, the medical staff will take every precaution, as it should. Skinner won’t practice tonight, and he won’t dress in pads on Tuesday. The most he’ll do Tuesday is throw the ball around a little. So he won’t practice in pads until Wednesday, if then, and will not participate in any drills this week that involve contact. He’s still listed as questionable for Saturday’s game at No. 10 Georgia Tech.

This one hits close to home. I have a nephew, Ward Collins, who was one of the toughest nuts to ever play safety for the Franklin High Panthers. He was a captain when Fred Goldsmith really got the program rolling around five years ago, before Goldsmith moved on to Lenoir-Rhyne. But Ward was always lighting people up with such ferocity and force—especially on kickoffs—that even a head as hard as his couldn’t take the punishment. He was sidelined several times with concussions and I remember the stress on my brother Joe and his wife Pam, and how they debated on whether Ward should return to the field. There are no easy calls on this. Ward loved playing football and the team needed him. But the story ended happily when Ward got through his career no worse for wear and ended up at that school somewhere in the vicinity of the geographic center of the state that will go nameless (though I’m sure there are some of you readers who would see that as an obvious sign of mental impairment).

Recently, R. Zach Smith, the sharp young whippersnapper from Houston who covers the Deacons for Rivals.com, turned me on to the long, involved piece written on concussions in football by Malcolm Gladwell for the New Yorker. I needed to read it, but I’m not so sure I’m glad I did. Some pretty gruesome stuff in there, about the damage that can be done when guys this big, this fast and this physical go slamming into each other. It was great journalism and a must-read by anyone with a strong stomach.

The Team That Hasn’t Come Together

Players and coaches talk all the time about the need to establish a team identity. The best thing a Wake Forest fan can hope for nine games into the 2009 season is the Deacons don’t have an identity. If they do, it’s not one any fan would want from their team.

The big surprise for me is that Jim Grobe and his staff haven’t been able to coax another victory or two out of this team. I know Grobe and his assistants well enough to know it’s hurting them worse than anyone else. But as I’ve written before, and will write again as long as I’m provided the forum, coaches are like players (and sportswriters for that matter) in that they have good games and bad games and good seasons and bad seasons. And to this point, the best coaching staff Wake Forest has ever had has had a bad season.

I realized that replacing seven starters on defense, including two of the best in the history of the school in Aaron Curry and Alphonso Smith, was going to be a chore, and I knew that for all the experience returning on offense the line still had something to prove. So I didn’t expect the Deacons to be 9-0, 8-1 or even 7-2 at this point. But I did expect Grobe to take a team with Riley Skinner at quarterback and some good running backs and receivers and some talent, albeit young talent on defense, and figure out a way to win at least six or seven games and make it back to the bowl. They may still, but with Skinner questionable until cleared by a doctor, it’s going to take a seriously heavy lifting and more breaks than they’ve gotten to date.

The loss to Miami was a kick in the groin, but not the first this season. The area was still sore from galling setbacks at home to Baylor and the final-moments fiasco at BC. Sometimes the way a team wins or loses is more telling than the outcome, and to date the Deacons’ identity, if they have one, is that of a team that can’t get the job done when it matters most.

The Deacons got wobbly in the fourth quarter against the Hurricanes, and they were wobbly before Skinner was knocked out of the game with 6 1/2 minutes to go. I’m not going to get into the debate on whether the offensive coaches should have called this play or that play or whether the defensive coaches had their players in the right formations and coverages. If you want to, have at it. Everyone has a right to an opinion and nobody is above criticism. But I will say it’s up to the coaches to put a poised and confident team on the field and I didn’t see one wearing black in the fourth quarter the other night. Too many balls slipped through too many hands, be it a defensive player in position to intercept a pass or Devon Brown trying to field at towering punt in the rain at the 10.

“The only game we just had no shot was Clemson,’’ senior defensive tackle John Russell said. “They just came out and nothing much was going right for us and they were playing great football. But the ball bounces a few different ways and you could easily be sitting here with a team that’s lost only one game. But the reality is we haven’t.  We’ve lost more than that. It is tough. It is definitely tough. But we’ll find a way to get through it and try to win some games and get to a bowl this year.’‘

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Skinner Sees Cobwebs on Halloween

Offensive tackle Chris DeGeare said he couldn’t remember a loss in his five years at Wake Forest worse than the 28-27 setback to Miami on a rainy Halloween day.

With about 6 1/2 minutes left, quarterback Riley Skinner couldn’t remember anything, which is why he sat out the remainder of the game with a concussion. Coach Jim Grobe said he was impressed with the performance of back-up Ryan McManus, but Skinner was hurt on a day he had already completed 29 of 43 passes for 349 yards and two touchdowns.

Skinner was leveled while scrambling 12 yards for a first down. The impact was violent enough to crack the face mask on Skinner’s helmet, which flew off his head. He got up glassy-eyed and dazed and made it back to the huddle before dropping to a knee as the medical staff raced to his side.

“He had a slight concussion was the way it was said to me on the sideline,’’ head coach Jim Grobe said. “Of course our first priority is the health and safety of our players. We’d like to win a football game but we’ve got to take care of our kids first, so they weren’t going to take a chance of him going back out. I don’t think he cleared up enough.’‘

Grobe was asked if he expected Skinner to play next week at Georgia Tech.

“I don’t know,’’ Skinner said. “Concussions are funny. You just really don’t know. You have to be really, really cautious.

“We found out now after experience through the years. In the old days when you’d get knocked out they’d throw you right back in the mix and we found out that’s not a good thing. You can start having a series of those over and over.

“We’ll do what’s best for Riley Skinner, not what’s best for the football team. I’ve seen some kids bounce back pretty quick and others take a little bit longer. We’ll just kind of see how it goes.’’

Another Writer’s Take On Wake

Occasionally a beat reporter with another newspaper will offer to exchange posts before a game. We dinosaurs need to stick together.
So this week our guest on My Take On Wake is Shandel Richardson of the South Florida Sun Sentinel with his three reasons Wake will lose to Miami today and his three reasons the Deacons to prevail. You can find my three reasons for both results on his blog.

Thanks Shandel, and watch out for those tar pits on the way to BB&T Field.

Why Miami will win

-`Canes are pretty amped up for this one. How else do you explain coach Randy Shannon running sprints with the team? After the Clemson loss, he’s doing everything possible to keep guys motivated to prevent another letdown.

-Miami has too much team speed for the Demon Deacons. Even without Javarris James, the UM running game and receivers should be able to have their way.

-The Wake offense has been in a recent funk. I’m talking about not-showering-for-three-days type of funk. There’s no reason why the `Canes can’t keep the string going. After all, Wake couldn’t get its engine going against Navy.

Why Miami will lose

-There’s a 50 percent chance of rain here, and we all know how it affects UM’s offense. Or do we need to look at the film from the Virginia Tech game? If UM can’t get going on the slippery turf, an upset is possible.

-There’s a reason Wake quarterback Riley Skinner has started four years. He’s pretty good. If he finds a rhythm, he could pick apart an average UM secondary.

-I write this almost weekly, but here goes again because it’s true each game. If Wake can get pressure on UM quarterback Jacory Harris, it becomes a different game. Harris is extremely talented, but tends to make mistakes with guys in his face. His interceptions have been game-changers against Clemson and FSU.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Teammates Say C.J. Can Play

C.J. Harris of Mount Tabor High School arrived at Wake Forest with far less fanfare than another recent Deacon from a local high school, Chris Paul of West Forsyth.

There were actually questions of whether Harris was good enough for the ACC, questions that senior L.D. Williams heard, questions that Williams said have been answered in the first two weeks of practice.

“C.J. Harris, the local guy, nobody expected him to be anything like he is,’’ Williams said. “People say `He’s not going to be able to do this, he’s not going to be able to do that.’ He’s doing everything people said he can’t do. He’s competing with Ish (Smith) every day. That’s going to make Ish better. He’s knocking down open threes. He’s defending.

“He’s doing everything that everybody said he wasn’t going to be able to do, and I think he’s using that to fuel his motivation.’‘

One current teammate that Harris had to win over was senior center Chas McFarland, who was less than impressed while playing pickup against Harris earlier in Harris’ days at nearby Mount Tabor. Harris improved his stock tremendously as a senior, leading the Spartans to a 31-1 record and being named first-team All-State by the Associated Press after averaging 23 points, eight rebounds and six assists. ESPN ranked Harris the No. 18 point guard in the class. Rivals.com ranked him as the No. 24 shooting guard in the class. He chose Wake Forest over offers from Clemson and Virginia Tech.

“I remember when he came as a sophomore and junior and played with us, and I had my questions about it, whether he could play on this level,’’ McFarland said. “But he has improved every year.

“He’s got a lot better handle on the ball. He’s got the ball on a string and he hardly ever turns it over. He can shoot. He’s really crafty and smart. Just about every time he gets to the hole he’s either getting fouled or it’s going in. He’s drawing a lot of contact.’‘

He’s also drawing a lot of attention from his head coach Dino Gaudio, who is counting on Harris to be, if not in the starting lineup, at least in the regular substitution rotation as a freshman.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Girardi Proved Wellman Right

Ron Wellman, Wake Forest’s director of athletics, is at the World Series, courtesy of one of his former players.

Before giving up coaching for athletics administration, Wellman was the head baseball coach at Northwestern. He did well, especially when he had Joe Girardi as his catcher.

“He was as good a person and as tough a player as I’ve ever coached,’’ Wellman said last summer when we were putting together our profile on him.. “We had another catcher who was more skilled than Joe. And after every fall season I always met with the players individually. I told Joe at least two years that `Scott has a better arm than you, and he hits with a little more power and he runs a little better than you. But you’re not coming out of any game unless you ask to come out.’

“His heart and his leadership and his tenacity were just off the charts.’‘

Wellman is not the only person in Winston-Salem to have followed Girardi’s career as a catcher in the Major Leagues for the Cubs, Rockies, Yankees and Cardinals and manager of the Marlins and Yankees. I was covering the Winston-Salem Spirits in 1987, when Girardi was the regular catcher in his second season in the Cubs’ organization. I knew he had a degree in Industrial Engineering, and I could see how every time I talked with him. At 22, he was as articulate, focused and on point as any Minor League player I’ve ever come across.

As preposterous as sounds in hindsight, the Northwestern admission’s office balked at Girardi’s transcript.

“I went to our admissions office and said `Listen, if this kid doesn’t graduate you can have my job. I haven’t been evaluating people well. This kid will graduate,’’ Wellman recalls saying. ” Well he was a three time Academic All-American in Industrial Engineering. He was just one of those kids who you knew, whatever he did, he was going to succeed.

“He had the whole package.’‘

And tonight he’s managing the New York Yankees in the World Series and his college coach is on hand watching.

The Coach Behind the Coach

If the assistant coaches at Wake Forest are answerable to head coach Jim Grobe on football matters, as he has made clear, then who does Grobe answer to?

That was revealed again this week when Grobe was asked if he planned any major changes for Miami. Last season, you may remember, Grobe drastically retooled his offense between a 26-0 thumping at Maryland during which the Deacons threw 32 passes and a 16-10 loss to the Hurricanes during which the Deacon threw only eight.

“I’ve got to tell you, my wife Holly reminded me when I was coming in Monday morning to not lose my mind this week,’’ Grobe said yesterday. “She didn’t really like my plan to run the football last year.’‘

To bolster her point, all Holly Grobe has to do is remind her husband who he has at quarterback. With 51 more yards, senior quarterback Riley Skinner will pass for at least 2,000 yards for the fourth straight season. Philip Rivers of N.C. State is the only ACC quarterback to have accomplished that feat, though Thaddeus Lewis of Duke is only 28 yards shy of his fourth-straight 2,000-yard season.

Even after two disappointing games against Clemson and Navy, Skinner ranked fourth in the ACC with 243.6 passing yards a game and fourth with a pass efficiency rating of 148.3. So unless Grobe is bluffing, then Holly has nothing to worry about for Saturday’s game against the Hurricanes.

“We’re a little different this year,’’ Grobe said. “We’ve been trying to balance out the runs and throws a little bit all year long, and I wouldn’t see us changing that.’‘

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Frye Doing What Needs to Be Done

It may be overstating the case to say that Alex Frye is back in the good graces of the Wake Forest coaching staff. Coach Jim Grobe was reluctant yesterday to say that Frye has learned all the lessons that came from his two-week exile from the team earlier this season.

“My experience has been every time I say something good about somebody they take a step backwards,’’ Grobe said.

But Grobe’s graces toward Frye are better than they’ve been, leading Grobe to envision a game soon when Frye will return, if not to the starting lineup, at least to a three-man rotation at safety with starters Cyhl Quarles and Josh Bush.

“He’s been fine,’’ Grobe said. “He’s been a good practice guy. He’s bounced around. He’s had a good attitude. His energy level’s high. He’s been working hard. He had a great kickoff cover Saturday. He outran everybody and made the play.

“I think Alex is earning his way back into the mix, but I think Josh and Cyhl have done some good things. I think we’re pleased with Alex right now because he’s doing a good job of special teams. He may end up getting some snaps and if he does well he’ll get more snaps. We’d love to play more than one guy at a position.’‘

Frye, a junior from Fayetteville, has at least 16 games remaining in his career. It would be a great story for everybody if he could make a contribution to equal his considerable physical abilities.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Everyone Wants To Know: Where Did Wake’s Offense Go?

The question was asked just about every way a question can be asked at today’‘s media conference at Wake Forest, and if there were any clear, succinct answers I didn’t hear them.

So what is going on with a Wake Forest offense that has managed just 13 points in the last two games and two touchdowns in the last 10 quarters?

Tight end Cameron Ford called it a slump, something that pretty much all teams go through. He did acknowledge that it was time to ``Put up or shut up’’ against Miami on Saturday.

“It makes us really motivated to score,’’ Ford said. “We know as an offense that we can score and we have scored. And just in the past two weeks we haven’t. So I think we’re really ready to show what we can do now.’’

Coach Jim Grobe fielded the question from all angles, falling back time and again on the quality of the opponents the Deacons have played and the horrendously wet and soggy conditions in last Saturday’s 13-10 loss at Navy.

“I don’t what to think of the Navy game to be honest with you,’’ Grobe said. “I wasn’t out there playing. I was having trouble just standing on the sidelines, so I don’t know how tough that must have been to be out there on the field.’‘

Grobe was asked if he still believed in the Deacons’ offensive schemes. He said he did.

“The issue for us is finding a way to mix run and pass,’’ Grobe said. “It was pointed out in the Clemson game when we got behind early that we’re not going to be a team that can stand back there in the gun and fling the ball every snap. We’re not capable of doing that. So we’ve got to find a mix in there.’‘

Grobe was asked if he was concerned about not capitalizing of the abilities of Riley Skinner, the guy I’ve repeatedly called the best quarterback Wake Foret has ever had.

“It’s always a concern,’’ Grobe said. “I think the first thing you do if you come back in and you haven’t scored points or gotten yards that you need to win, you always look at yourself as a coach first.

“We’re always trying to design a plan that will give Riley a chance to be successful. That’s always a concern. If you’re not good offensively and you’ve got a good quarterback, as coaches we look at ourselves first and then we look at the supporting cast. And in some cases we maybe expect too much out of Riley. I think sometimes you think he’s going to go out and be perfect, and that’s not going to happen for anybody.’‘

Grobe was asked how one of the most experienced lines in college football could allow Skinner to be pounded into the turf of Clemson’s Memorial Stadium or repeatedly fail to get the short yardage necessary to keep drives alive against Navy.

“With an experienced offensive line you should be able to say `Hey, we can get a yard.’ ‘’ Grobe said. “We’ve got big fullbacks and with the older offensive line in there, you’d like to think that you can run for a yard and get it. At the same time I want you to know we don’t take coaching lightly. We look at ourselves more than we look at the kids.’‘

Grobe is obviously not wanting to beat up on his players. And I admire that in him. But seeings how this blog is My Take on Wake, here’s my take on the Deacons’ offensive woes.

When Grobe said it’s the job of the coaching staff to have the team ready to play football well, I take him at his word. Coaches have good games and bad games. Wake was leading the ACC in offense as recently as three games ago against Maryland, but Grobe, and by extension the offensive coaching staff, has had two pretty bad weeks in a row.

That said, there are shades of gray to everything. And Wake Forest may never have as many offensive linemen who have played as much football as it has now. I know Chris DeGeare and Jeff Griffin and Joe Birdsong and Barrett McMillin and Trey Bailey well enough to know that they don’t want to end their senior seasons, as well as that of Skinner, with a losing record.

Actually Ford put it best. It is, indeed, time to put up or shut up because time is fast running out.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Navy Goes to Ground to Beat Wake

Wake Forest’s much-needed victory didn’t come to pass Saturday, and neither did Navy.

I just talked with Steve Shutt, the Deacons’ assistant director of athletics for media relations, and he told me that Saturday’s 13-10 loss to the Midshipmen marked the first time since the Army game of ‘90 that the Deacons played a team that didn’t complete a pass.

“Was that 1990?’’ I asked.

He confirmed it was. Bill Dooley’s fourth team at Wake Forest thumped the Black Knights 52-14 in Groves Stadium.

Shutt said he has records back through the 1949 season, and can find no instance where Wake Forest played a team that didn’t attempt a pass. Quarterback Kriss Proctor of the Midshipmen said that a handful of passes were called in the huddle but because he couldn’t get a grip on the ball he just ran it.