Ground Gained, Ground Left to Go
It’s not exactly ancient history to point out that a season ago, Wake went into its 10th game trying to end a seven-game losing streak. The Deacons’ failed, losing at N.C. State 38-3, and would lose to Clemson 30-10 at home the next week to extend the streak to nine losses.
This season the Deacons went into the 10th game of the season still playing for an ACC championship. The Deacons again failed, dropping a bitter 31-28 nailbiter at Clemson, but to see how far they’ve come so fast is a remarkable turnaround for anyone who survived the trainwreck of 2010.
As far as the Deacons have come, however, they’ve still got distance to go to be a championship caliber team. What I gleaned from the four losses in the last five games—particularly the no-show at North Carolina and the inability to close out winnable games against Notre Dame and Clemson—is that expecting Wake to bounce all the way from the basement to the penthouse was probably too much to ask.
No I take that back. Anyone could ask it.
But no one should have expected it to happen.
I really like this team, and have loved watching it play this season. They’ve got plenty of offensive weapons, more, in fact, than the 2006 ACC champs. They’ve still got a solid chance to beat Maryland and Vanderbilt down the stretch of the regular season, and then win a bowl to finish a remarkable 8-5. Only six teams in Wake history have won as many as eight games, and we’ve had the privilege of watching three of those in the past five years.
But in watching this team week after week I haven’t seen the quality of maturity, toughness and determination that the 2006 team displayed. My best guess is that, in time, that will come, maybe as soon as next season. But that will be too late to get this year’s seniors to the championship game.
One of the those seniors, outside linebacker Kyle Wilber, agreed that this year’s team lacked the salt, or sand, of the 2006 team.
“I sense that too,’’ Wilber said. “If we had another year of being here, I think we would do some great things here. But that ‘06 team, they had a mindset in there that they were going to do it and they didn’t care what the odds were.
“I believe we’re more athletic than them, but experience wise and maturity, I think they had it.’‘
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By Dan Collins on 11/16/2011 (2:51 pm)
Comments
Dan,
Hi. I just wanted to comment on your ‘almost’ story. Although the players and coaches SAY they aren’t OK with almost winning, I feel they are whether they realize it or not. I feel the program’s philosophy leans that way as well as the fanbase’s expectations. The ‘ah shucks we almost had them’ attitude trickles down to everyone involved, whether it’s the coaches, players or the fan base. Don’t you learn from the Syracuse game? The Notre Dame game? I’d certainly think so. But, there we were, up 28-14 with 74 percent of the game in the books and the ACC title on the line and we completely laid down…again. I’m not blaming it on a person or a player, I’m blaming it on an institutional mindset. When will Wake Forest overcome that? I’d venture to say that there is NO other fanbase in the entire country that is biting their nails with a two or three score lead in the second half. I’d call it unbelievable, but it’s happened so many times now that you can’t say that anymore. Some will say, ‘well, Wake has no business being in some of these games in the first place.’ But the fact of the matter is that not only is Wake in these games, they’re leading by multiple scores, so, obviously, they ARE good enough to be in these games and have double-digit leads to boot. Then the complacency and lack of faith sets in and we’re left with another ‘ah shucks’ moment. Man, is it tough to watch. Thanks for all of your coverage, Dan. All this said, I hope we run all over Maryland and Vanderbilt and get to 7-5.
Casey on 11/18/2011 (12:24 pm)
Dan, I agree with your post that the reason for losing so many close games may be a lack of maturity and leadership on this team. The 2006 ACC Championship team obviously had seniors that led the team, but the underclassmen also led by example. We had alot of talent left over in 2007 and 08 from that Championship team. With most of the Offensive line filled with seniors and the skilled position players (Givens and Pendergrass) being seniors, one would think that this unit could have the fortitude to make a winning drive in some of these games to close out teams, but that has not happened! So, maturity has not really helped the offense this year- it may be more of not having a “killer instinct” and of course our play calling in the 4th qtrs. are always suspect. In regards to the defense, they have improved immensely over last year’s team, but we still play the pass with 3 guys rushing and drop 8, and that usually results in the opponent’s QB to have a career passing day. Dan, I am sure you have asked Grobe this before, but for as long as I can remember we have never blitzed the QB much, and have relied on our DBs to play cover while the QB has all day to pass?! Why do we never rush 4 or 5 guys and blitz some to keep their QB under pressure? Clemson moved the ball at will passing in the 4th qtr. because we rushed 3 guys and Boyd had all day to throw the ball. He covered 41 yards in 21 seconds with 3 passes to set up their winning FG. This team needs to “find” that killer instinct starting this Sat. against Maryland if they want this to be a memorable season! It is NOT too late!
Bobby on 11/17/2011 (10:52 pm)
I’m not so sure that next year’s team will be any better than this year’s team. Most of the offensive line will be gone. While the O-line has not been as good as I’d hoped, they at least have been mature and experienced enough to keep Tanner Price upright most of the season. Next year’s O-line will be a big question mark, and that may bode very poorly for the 2012 version of the Demon Deacon offense. While the defense does not have a lot of seniors, Kyle Wilber will be a big, big loss. So I’m still not convinced that next year’s squad will be any better than the one Wake is putting on the field right now. Clemson and Florida State will still be very good, likely even better than this year. And the rest of the division should be improved too. So we’ll just have to wait and see. Hopefully the guys can knock of Maryland this weekend because Vandy will be a very tough team to beat (even at home). It’d be nice to go bowling again and have a team to cheer for during the Christmas season. GO DEACS!!!
Matt on 11/17/2011 (3:50 pm)
Dan both you and Kyle are right. Call it whatever you’d like sand, salt or a mindset to get the job done. I’ll simply say the ’06 team knew how to win.
Winning and leadership are joined at the hip and the ’06 team had great leadership from their seniors such as Josh Gattis, DeAngelo Bryant, Jyles Tucker, Willie Idlette, Nate Morton and Steve Vallos.
I agree that this ’11 team is probably one season away from reaching its potential. However it’s disconcerting that this team still hasn’t learned how to win and seems to wilt in the 4th quarter. Hopefully another year of maturity will help instill a little more resolve at the end of the game. In fact let’s hope we can begin the process with a win this Saturday against Maryland.
Go Deacs!
Deac Fan on 11/16/2011 (11:16 pm)
Dan,
Watching the ball go through the uprights as time expired last week, I couldn’t help but remember that the Deacs’ 2006 season would not have been nearly so magical had it not been for a blocked kick in the final seconds of a game against Duke. Duke. Instead of talking about how we utterly choked against Duke (by the way, it was totally ridiculous that they even got that close to beating us), we can add that game to the list of instances where the 2006 team made critical plays on its way to the ACC Championship.
These seasons really are both marathons and sprints all at once, which is what makes them so agonizingly fun. But over the course of the chaos, it really is amazing how a few plays here and there turn a season from a failure to a success (or vice versa). Of course, that mentality you alluded to in your post is probably the most responsible factor behind who benefits from those unpredictable bounces of the ball. I also have enjoyed watching this year’s team. And I admire that them for putting themselves in a position to win so many of these games. But yeah, they haven’t quite developed that intangible skill necessary to close them out.
But the season isn’t over yet. Let’s get to a bowl. Go Deacs!
DC on 11/16/2011 (4:33 pm)
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