Flames Are Licking Reynolds’ Redshirt
Jim Grobe has been threatening to play freshman Orville Reynolds for two or three weeks now. Unless I miss my bet, this is the week he makes good on that threat. Grobe May Play Freshman Reynolds
For unless Josh Harris can somehow prove he’s capable of carrying the load against Notre Dame Saturday—a task that was surely made more difficult following Harris’ ill-fated cameo at North Carolina—I don’t really see how Grobe has much choice.
Only four games remain, which under normal circumstances would be well past Grobe’s cutoff for burning a redshirt. But given the crossroads Grobe has found himself, these are hardly normal circumstances. The Deacons, with Notre Dame, Clemson, Maryland and Vanderbilt remaining, are still playing for a division title. They’re also still playing for a sixth win to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2008. If Wake takes the wrong turn now, it could end up at home during bowl season once again.
Nothing is guaranteed, especially for a team with only one dependable running back. Brandon Pendergrass has performed admirably since being pressed into full-time duty by Harris’ strained hamstring, but any injury to him could possibly leave Grobe, and by extension, Wake in an untenable position.
The real problem is that Grobe just doesn’t know if he can count on Harris, regardless of how well Harris practices this week. Yesterday he appeared to be running well. But if you remember, he was actually cleared to play at Duke, only to sit the game out when Grobe went all the way with Pendergrass. So after he practiced all last week, only to pull up lame after three carries at North Carolina, Grobe has to be wary of counting on Harris.
The MRI on Harris, by the way, revealed a strained hamstring. Trainer Don Steelman said Harris irritated the injury against the Tar Heels.
Grobe said he doesn’t want to move flanker Michael Campanaro to running back, as he did under similar duress last season, because Campanaro is so valuable doing what he’s already doing. He also said yesterday that he’s not sure Ben Emert is ready for prime-time, so if Grobe turned to Tommy Bohanon as a workhorse back, then he wouldn’t have a proven player at fullback.
So that leaves Reynolds, the player Grobe has consistently described as the fastest guy on the team. He’s also one of the smallest, at 5-8, 175-pounds. But as Grobe noted, Reynolds is as big as graduate assistant coach Chris Barclay was when Barclay was setting school records for most rushing yards, most touchdowns and most all-purpose yards.
“We know we’ve got a really talented kid that we think a lot of,’’ Grobe said. “We think this guy is going to be really special.
“I asked him yesterday, I said `How much do you weigh Orville?’ Now there’s an honor code here so I don’t want to get him in trouble. He says he weighs 175 pounds. And I asked Chris yesterday, I said `Chris, what’s the most you ever weighed as a player?’ He said `175 pounds.’ And we played Chris as a true freshman.
“Now we played Chris right away. We didn’t have a choice. Two of our running backs went down right away and we had no choice there. Had we known that Josh was going to take so long to get healthy, we probably would have played Orville three weeks ago. We just didn’t know we were going to have so much trouble getting Josh back.’‘
There was one comment by Grobe that suggested, quite strongly, in fact, that he has already made his decision. Notice the use or past tense.
“We tried to save Orville,’’ Grobe said. “But with Josh, he just can’t go.’’
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By Dan Collins on 11/02/2011 (10:59 am)
Comments
Well, he got his first carry on one of the last series of the game, in the fourth quarter. And he got hung out to dry with that crappy pseudo-option that we kept running, and then an ill-conceived screen pass. I think it’s great that the staff was sufficiently comfortable putting Reynolds in the game at such a key juncture, but I think this could have been done a little better. Dan, were there injuries that forced Reynolds into the game at such an awkward time? I presume he’ll get an opportunity to touch the ball more during the remaining three games.
DC on 11/06/2011 (1:58 am)
I know about ‘motor” Reynolds than anyone can imagine. ND is in for a surprise! He sure is an exciting, get the job done amazing back
olivinne on 11/05/2011 (8:47 am)
I, for one, am all for Orville taking the field. It will be an element of surprise for which Notre Dame will not be able to prepare since there is no game film of this young man. And Wake needs every little advantage it can get against a team who is a 13.5 point favorite.
Matt on 11/03/2011 (10:35 am)
Jim,
You’re absolutely right that the offense needs to stay on the field this week. I remember back when we were throwing the ball well against weak teams like NC State, Syracuse, Boston College, etc. and some were asking about the virtue of a balanced attack. Well, these next two games are the answer. If we can run the ball effectively and control the time of possession, we have legitimate chances to beat both Notre Dame and Clemson.
That doesn’t mean our offense has to be conservative. We should still take shots down the field. But we need to take those shots on third and short instead of third and long. Or we need to take those shots on first and ten with confidence that our running game can pick up five or six yards in the event of an incompletion.
I thought that the offensive line did a good job against a talented UNC front last week. Hopefully they can continue to progress. And more importantly, hopefully the offense can hold onto the ball long enough to maintain our commitment to running the ball.
DC on 11/03/2011 (8:32 am)
I’m more concerned with which back is going to be best at picking up the blitz. I’ll bet Grobe keeps his tight ends in tight to help out, as well. Also, ND has a very good tight end that could cause us a lot of trouble over the middle if our CB’s continue to play soft, especially on 3rd down. The offense must stay on the field, or the weight advantage ND has will eventually wear our DL down.
Jim on 11/03/2011 (8:13 am)
His speed might be a welcome addition to the running game.
The absence of Harris has definitely hurt our ability to run the football—-even with the steady performances by Pendergras. I think we all have very fond memories of Chris Barclay and what he did as a Deac. Just in time for Clemson, against whom Chris played particularly well! I have a memory of being at Clemson and overhearing a CU fan ask, “When is that kid Barclay going to graduate?”
steveh on 11/02/2011 (2:14 pm)
It is indeed unfortunate that Orville Reynolds did not get some action before now. But as Coach Grobe said, there was no way to know that Harris would take this long to recover. Nevertheless, I’m looking forward to seeing what Reynolds can do.
We’ll fortunately still have Pendergrass to carry the ball a few times. I think he’s done a good job, and he’s only getting better (he was on the verge of having a great game against UNC until we abandoned the run).
As for Josh Harris, I still hope that he can get back up to speed. Even if Orville Reynolds turns out to be an amazing back, Harris can still help us down the stretch this year and in a bowl game (should we go to one). And we’ll definitely need him next year.
DC on 11/02/2011 (1:46 pm)
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