Coming Soon to a Practice Field Near You
Time flies, they say, when you’re having fun. We’ve been having our share and maybe more these past few weeks, cramming the vacation days in before the cleats start clickity clacking on the concrete and bricks between the Deacons’ locker room and the Doc Martin practice complex. It’ll be music to my ears. Report date is Friday, Aug. 7, and that will seem like tomorrow, or, at the latest, the day after. Actually report date is an antiquated expression. The players are pretty much all already in town for the second summer session when practice starts, so it’s just a matter of making their way over to the football offices and letting Bonnie Rae, Coach Jim Grobe’s administrative assistant, know they’re ready to play some football.
Sometimes you make up ground by standing still. That appears to be the case this summer in Wake Forest’s quest to win the Atlantic Division title. Two rivals are reeling from tragic and potentially devastating developments. Boston College, which has won the division the past two years, will be playing without linebacker Mark Herzlich and quarterback Dominique Davis and N.C. State will at least start the season without linebacker Nate Irving.
Herzlich, the ACC’s defensive player of the year last season, was diagnosed in May with Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer. He said in a statement that any thoughts concerning this upcoming football season are secondary. “Now I much channel all that energy into facing my toughest opponent yet, and that is exactly what I’ll do.’’ A starter since the day he showed up on campus, Herzlich spent the spring game knocking ball carriers to the ground and a long time afterward signing far more autographs than any of his teammates. He’s a fan favorite, for good reason, and hopefully he’ll in time be back playing football.
Davis, who will live in Wake Forest infamy for directing the game-winning drive against the Deacons last fall at BB&T Field, bolted from BC after being declared academically ineligible. That leaves first-year coach Frank Spaziani with three options at quarterback, redshirt sophomore Justin Tuggle, transfer Codi Boek and first-year freshman Michael Marscovetra. None has taken a snap at BC, though Boek did play at American River Junior College after spending a season at Idaho State. At BC he was converted to fullback before being moved back in the spring to compete against Davis and Tuggle. Fall practices should be very interesting.
Irving was expected to be one of the best players in the ACC, and may yet be if he can return from last month’s automobile accident that resulted in a broken leg and collapsed lung. He was a force last season whenever he was on the field, which, because of injuries, wasn’t enough for Coach Tom O’Brien’s liking. He was also a major reason a number of scribes (including yours truly) were picking the Wolfpack to be a serious contender for the Atlantic Division crown. O’Brien is a formidable coach who has done an impressive job at both BC and N.C. State, but he’s never been much for releasing information pertaining to his players, so the school has yet to report what bone was broken, or how badly. It’s pretty obvious though that the Wolfpack’s chances of playing in the ACC championship will/would improve dramatically with Irving at middle linebacker.