A Sad Farewell For Wake’s Seniors
Wake’s oft-stated goal is to make BB&T Field the Wrigley Field of college football. Now we find out that Wrigley Field is not even big enough for college football, at least not without pointing both offenses toward the one end zone with enough clearance for the players to run pass the endline without smashing headlong into the outfield wall.
On the other hand, the way the Wake Forest offense performed in today’s 30-10 loss to Clemson at BB&T Field, there would have been no reason to change directions with the change of possessions. As long as the Tigers were headed toward the end zone with clearance, both teams would have been safe and sound.
The Deacons’ main accomplishment of the first half was to cross midfield, which they managed to do for exactly one play by reaching the Tigers’ 46 on Tanner Price’s 16-yard completion to Marshall Williams with eight minutes left in the half. The high-water mark was short-lived. On the next play Da’Quan Bowers sacked Price for a 15-yard loss. By the time the Deacons got back across midfield on the fourth play of the second half, the Tigers had opened up a 13-point lead with their touchdown scored in the last minute of the first half.
And 13 points backed by that defense, as I suspected at halftime, was indeed sufficient.
But as bad as the offense performed, the defense wasn’t much better and the special teams were probably worse. The defense did stiffen to force field goals on three of Clemson’s forays to the red zone, but we have to remember that the Tigers entered the game ranked 10th in the ACC in points per game. Kyle Parker completed 15 of 17 passes, but other than the 40-yard touchdown strike to Jaron Brown at the end of the half, most of his passes were on short, quick routes that required the receiver to break a tackle.
Today, against this defense, that posed few problems. The field remained strewn all day with prostrate Deacons who failed to pull the ball carrier to the ground.
“Part of it is coming back as coaches and saying we’re going to work harder on tackling,’’ Coach Jim Grobe said. “I don’t think anyone works harder on tackling than we do. Part of you has to give Clemson’s kids some credit. Jamie Harper (142 yards on 24 carries) is a big, physical back, but he has good foot speed and he has good agility for a big back.
“I thought their skilled players on the perimeter gave us some fits, especially on the rocket screens. I’m very disappointed that we didn’t tackle better, but I think, at the same time, we’re trying to tackle some pretty good players.’‘
It’s hard to imagine the seniors who played their final game today going out on a more depressing note. Clemson controlled the game from start to finish, the Deacons lost their ninth straight and the fans that did show up on a picture perfect November day for football didn’t stay around long enough to sing the school song at the end of the game.
If more than 2,000 people tell you they were at their seats when the final horn blew, some of them are stretching the truth.
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By Dan Collins on 11/20/2010 (7:47 pm)
Comments
It is hard to be a WF fan, unlike a few years ago, BUT it’s always great to be a Deacon, no matter what. We will be back, I trust Jim Grobe and think he knows what he is doing. I know all the comments and all that but like they used to say in Brooklyn, wait until next year!Go Deacs!!
fpvjr on 11/22/2010 (4:33 pm)
Dan, It is very simple to figure this years team. They do not have as good athletes as the other teams. Exception ,the first two games of the season. This group of players will not have as good athletes as most ACC teams they play next season. We may have two or three next season,but not enough to really compete. This is a fact that we cannot hide. Fine young men ,but not exceptional athletes. You did some great work after this game. Keep it up.
Carl on 11/21/2010 (7:24 pm)
..thanks Dan for the clarification. For as long as I have listened to ACC sports coverage of the Deacon teams by the networks and the Deacon radio network I can’t hardly ever remember a player being described as the “junior college transfer from….“fill in the blank.” I wish Wake would consider it. For every Cam Newton (and the questions surrounding his status) there has to be a Jim Grobe, UVA player who transferred from a Va. two year college, which name escapes me at the present. If undertaken corectly with the proper standards I don’t see how it would detract from the University’s respution.
pensive1 on 11/21/2010 (7:11 pm)
Pensive, the way I understand it is the department heads basically set the criteria for admission to those departments. And it’s a policy by most, if not all, to accept only junior college athletes who were academically eligible and qualified for admission coming out of high school. I remember that distinction was made for Konner Tucker in basketball. He went to a junior college to improve his college prospects, not to improve his grades. Anyone should feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.
Dan on 11/21/2010 (5:38 pm)
..was that statement correct? Is it a Wake Forest policy not to encourage or accept juco transfers or offer athletic scholarships to transfers? I asked that before in a round-about way but didn’t get a response. Does anyone know the answer to that? thanks
pensive1 on 11/21/2010 (3:59 pm)
You know Dan, we’ve all been critical of this team and its coaches since week 3. I just have one question…other than our defensive effort vs. Navy and GT, did we see any more improvement, in any other facet of the game? I propose to everyone a resounding NO. And I hate to harp on it again, but what is this play calling? Our last home game against a very good team that usually beats us every year, and we have 10 points to show for it. No creativity. What did we have to lose? I guess the coaches were not just playing conservative, but playing not to get blown out. But at this point, who cares, we’ve been blown out many times. I also think that running by committee hasn’t shown to work either. Not one of our RB’s could ever get into a groove, because they are always coming out of the game. One other thing I noticed was how our recievers are just very rarely open and running routes too long. Anyone wonder how people throw on us all day long but our receivers can’t ever get open? Big changes need to occur in the off-season.
Dano on 11/21/2010 (11:25 am)
I’ve been as critical of the coaching staff this year as anyone. But I don’t really see anything major to complain about from yesterday’s game. I think the coaches and the players did their best. I really think that Clemson just has a more experience and talented football team. My fear that this game would be a “sack-fest” by the Clemson D-line did not occur. My opinions from the 40 line as to why we lost:
We rarely had any yards after the catch. Clemson’s d-backs were making instant tackles after the reception. The exception to this being Cameron Ford’s 30 plus yard catch, and run late in the fourth quarter. This was the definitely the highlight of the game.
The kicking game was bad. It was not a good day for our graduating punter. Seven punts for a 30 yard average. I hope the staff will be recruiting a replacement punter with a much stronger leg.
Poor tackling: This has been a problem all year.
On the positive side, I actually thought Tanner Price had a decent game. No interceptions and he made some difficult throws under pressure. The kid has some great potential if we can put some good players around him.
Finally let’s not forget we still one game left at Vanderbilt. It’s a very winnable game against another team in a similar state as ours.
Danny C. on 11/21/2010 (11:02 am)
I try to stay positive about our coaching staff as I realize what they have accomplished. However, in the present, they are not getting the job done. I hope that Coach Grobe will take a hard look at his staff. I, along with a legion of fans, feel that Lobo needs to be demoted from OC. It needs to be given to someone who can be much more innovative. Defenses are in our backfield, or moving toward the ball so quickly its like they were in the huddle when the play was called. Yes, the OL has to take responsibility. However, we were gaining a lot more yards several years ago with less talented athletes.
Jim on 11/21/2010 (10:03 am)
Deac Fan, I can appreciate your comments. I was on the scout team in 1970 the first time Wake won the ACC. A scout team that takes pride in making the starters work during the week and tries to beat them with the other team’s plays can really make an impact on Saturday. The thing that concerns me about this team is that they didn’t look prepared. The level of talent has seemed to drop off preciptiously and it should have improved with the Championship Team of 2005 having spurred some success in recruting. That hasn’t happened. We were weak last year at linebacker and defensive back. The depth seems to be lacking and the upper classmen (who should have been the recruits from 2006 and 2007) apparently have left the team or are not good enough to play. I understand the administration doesn’t want any junior college transfers, but we could sure use some experienced folks in a number of positions. The coaches haven’t gone from being one of the best staffs in the conference to one of the worst overnight, but they’ve got to get some better kids and develop them.
Al on 11/21/2010 (8:57 am)
I predicted after the Presbyterian game Wake would only win two games…hope I am incorrect, but getting close…
At this point in time I would be looking forward to basketball but with Bob Stack an co. in charge, much more pain to come…Sorry for the flashback, meant Coach Bz…..
Tom on 11/21/2010 (8:06 am)
Its human nature to search for reasons when things to bad and this has been an incredibly disappointing season. But I really want to pay tribute to this senior class because there’s something rather important everyone seems to be overlooking. A football team is made up of much more than the just the 22 starters and special team players. It’s made up of roughly 100 players all of whom contribute in some way, shape or form. This class won’t go down with last year’s (the winningest class in school history) but it should receive its just due because in a lot of ways they were attached at the hip. Both classes made a significant contribution to the ACC Championship Team.
The most overlooked unit of any team is the Scout Team because its made up of mostly true freshmen and a few redshirt freshmen who are still learning the system. But talk to any of the starters from the championship team and ask them how well they were prepared each week by the scout team. Talk to the ‘06 ACC Champs and you’ll hear how intense the practices were throughout the season. Ask that stellar defense how the scout team competed with them on a daily basis. Zach McDowell, Marshall Williams, Ted Randolph and Matt Hartford (one of 5 preferred Walk-Ons, all of whom contributed. Lee Malchow has since earned a scholarship and Chris Langley is playing a 5th year while in Graduate School)could pass and catch with the best of them. Ask Nate Morten, Willie Idalette and Kenny Moore how hard Alex Frye, Marcus Williams and Geoff Wissing (another of the 5 Preferred Walk-Ons) played against them. The defensive front seven manned up well against the offensive line and challenged them on a daily basis. These are just a few from that class who deserve recognition for the contributions during their time at Wake. Granted half the class left for a variety of unforeseen reasons. McDowell, who is an accomplished QB, transferred to Coastal Carolina because he knew the only way he’d see the field at Wake was if Riley was injured. But those who stayed contributed in a big way. Russell Nenon is an outstanding offensive lineman and team leader. Marshall Williams has been an elite receiver and a high character teammate. Josh Adams (former ACC Rookie of the Year), Hunter Haynes and Matt Woodlief will all leave Wake having had solid careers.
The disappointments of this season aren’t because of the players who stayed. All of these young men will leave with three Bowl appearances and an abundance of great memories. The disappointments are because the team as a whole, Coaches included, didn’t perform to anyone’s expectations.
So thank you gentlemen for your commitment, hard work and conducting yourselves with character and integrity in both good times and in bad. You’ll be missed.
Deac Fan on 11/21/2010 (12:40 am)
Dan, what do you think about Deac football? Is it a defeatist attitude? Has Coach Grobe slipped a notch? Do we actually not have many big and strong ones to play? Has the college game progressed, leaving our coaches behind? How do you read it?
Lee Anglin on 11/21/2010 (12:25 am)
I cannot understand why Wake’s players do not know how to tackle. This has been a years long problem. Are they afraid they will get hurt if they try to wrap up the ball carrier? I thought the defense actually played better than prior games. Take away the TD pass and the run for the TD and with a little offense on our part, it could have been a different ending.
David on 11/20/2010 (11:43 pm)
It’s a shame,I was there also and left with 6 min, to go. Wake was down 3 scores and on this “drive”,ran the ball twice followed by a lame attempt at the statue of liberty play-pitiful!. If I’m on this team I’ve got one question; hey coach, are we tryin’ to win or do we need to send up the white flag of surrender, again- pitiful!, one last question coach, if we’re tryin’ to win would yourself and the rest of your A-list staff act like it and call plays accordingly. Jeez! that old rant about putting players in a position to win is, as of now, about 9 games too late. Oh well, coach, you and yours have a great off-season, thanks for the memories; not this season but that ACC title, which seems, by the way,to have been lost in some sort of perverted time warp, a black hole, that hopefully will contain your distant memories along with the OC, DC, and defensive backs coach as well. Happy holidays, you’ll have plenty of time to watch all the bowl games.Feel free to take notes, you’ll need them when Gardner-Webb comes calling next fall.
G C F on 11/20/2010 (11:32 pm)
I’m glad that I have learned to accept defeat. Coach Grobe said today after the game that he expected our guys to improve a lot next year with the experience they have gotten this year. Do you think that is possible or do you think that they are just too small and slow to compete. I was surprised at how big the Clemson players were. Their offensive line looked like giants compared to our defense and given that, I was amazed that our defense did as well as they did. Nikita Whitlock has got to be the most courageous player I have ever seen and pound for pound maybe one of the best. If we ever get a real nose tackle and he starts playing linebacker… Anyway, I actually think we played a little better today than last week. It is sort of like the stock market. I am trying to pick the low. Thanks for hanging in there with us, Dan.
DannyB on 11/20/2010 (9:07 pm)
Dan,
I was there until the very end, as I am at every home game. This is a bad team that looks poorly coached. There is really no excuse for what we’ve seen on the field for the last half of last season and all of this season. This coaching staff needs to take a hard look in the mirror and Ron Wellman needs to be having a serious conversation with Jim Grobe. It looks like basketball season will be just as bad. It is very disheartening to be a WF fan right now.
Steve on 11/20/2010 (8:35 pm)
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