Skinner Stands Tall in Defeat
I’ve been impressed with Riley Skinner and who he is for 4 1/2 years now, but perhaps never more than I was yesterday.
And I’m not talking about his performance during Wake’s shattering 41-28 loss to Florida State that dashed any hopes for a winning season and a bowl bid. I’m talking about his performance in the interview room afterward.
Skinner showed up and fielded the first question about the emotions of the loss. Or at least he tried to. He sat there, lip a quivering, clearly holding back the tears, for about 20 or 30 of the most painful seconds I have ever witnessed until Steve Shutt, the Deacons assistant director of athletics for media relations, asked him if he wanted to leave the room to compose himself. Skinner took him up on the offer.
Somebody among the media wondered if he would be back.
I know Riley Skinner, and I knew he would be back.
Riley returned about five minutes later, eyes glistening, and he patiently and without any sign of resentment answered every question he was asked.
And they were tough questions. Someone wondered if his the memories of his career flashed through his mind during his final home game.
“They will probably later on this week and the beginning of next week,’’ Skinner said. “But right now I’m just thinking about this last game and how we missed a couple of opportunities for sure. I didn’t play the way I wanted to, and it’s tough. It’s tough to end it like this. But there are some good memories going through my head too and I’m trying to pull those out a little more than I am thinking about this game.’‘
I asked a Xs and Os question, why the Deacons didn’t throw downfield more. Skinner completed 28 passes for 227 yards, breaking Rusty LaRue’s school record for yards in a season (2,788), but few of them were for more than 10 yards.
“I guess it was kind of part of our game plan,’’ Skinner said. “We thought they’d be blitzing a good bit. We wanted to kind of work the edges of the field. There were a couple of opportunities, and we called it going downfield. Unfortunately every time we called it to go downfield they got into a coverage that we didn’t expect. And with two safeties back there it took away a couple of our routes that we wanted to take a shot at.
“We didn’t really get into a really good rhythm and the turnover in the red zone was tough. We tried to take a couple of shots downfield but I guess when that happened we didn’t execute them and sometimes they weren’t there.’‘
We would have understood if Riley had not returned to the interview room. We might have grumbled a bit and regretted not having any quotes from his final home game, but we would have understood.
But Riley Skinner is a stand-up guy who stood up yesterday under perhaps the most crushing loss of his career.
I’ve come to expect nothing less.
Back to the main page.
By Dan Collins on 11/14/2009 (6:41 pm)
Comments
you couldn’t be more wrong Chuck. Letting obligation or emotion cloud what needs to be a forward looking step like succession planning requires at least some game time experience. And to imply that Duke is not the caliber of the rest of Wake’s competition is a really ignorant statement, and I hope you don’t eat your words if Duke beats us like 7 other teams have done this year. That’s why other national programs have younger guys who always seem to “reload”; because they get the younger guys into games before it’s officially “their time”- like it will be for either of Ted, Brendan, or Skylar next year.
Steve on 11/19/2009 (3:53 pm)
There will be plenty of time to develop the younger guys…plenty. And them not taking a lot of snaps at Duke isn’t going to kill us…regardless of their improvement, we’re still talking about Duke. Not exactly the best representative of the caliber of talent those guys will be facing. So, if the game ends up being a blow out, then yeah, let the youngsters guys get some experience under their belt; but I think Wake owes Riley his time on the field next week. That’s the least the coaches and fans can do to send him out as a winner.
Chuck on 11/19/2009 (9:07 am)
We all agree and thank Riley for a great four years. But the reality off life, and the future of Wake football, must begin to develop another strong QB for the next few years, so it’s important that Ted Stachitas and maybe Skylar Jones get some meaningful playing time against Duke.
Steve on 11/17/2009 (11:17 am)
Dan-
Great article on an awesome kid. What a success story on the field and a true professional when dealing with the fans & the media. Last December I decided to take my 6 year old son to watch practice before their bowl match-up with Navy. This is no knock to the other players and staff, but the entire team walked by us to the practice field with only two people stopping to acknowledge us (Riley Skinner and Coach Grobe). Riley stopped, spoke, and gave a 6 year-old a high five. Coach Grobe shook our hands and thanked us for coming out support WFU. Win or lose these men are true professionals that get it! Thanks Dan for a timely article and thanks Riley and Coach Grobe for a great ride the last four years! As Charles W. said, where would we be without Skinner or Grobe?
Brad on 11/16/2009 (8:38 pm)
Dan, Yes Riley is a standup guy. A great QB. One of WF greatest. Can’t understand the lob pass on the two yard line . Not the best playcalling with the speed of their defensive backs. We just didn’t make the BIG plays and FSU. did. We’ll be back as long as we have Coach Grobe. Dan, enjoy your articles. I read four to five papers each day , and yours are equal , if not better than other writers, Keep it up, From Durham, NC
Cal on 11/15/2009 (5:04 pm)
I have been to all the home games this year and yesterday was a dissapointment, but we should remember the four great years that Riley and the seniors gave to us. Just one win in a close game could have turned our season. Instead of having four losses, there may have been only one.
Thanks Riley and the 22 seniors for playing hard in the Miami and Georgia Tech games. We did not win but the effort is appreciated. Thank you.
Charles W on 11/15/2009 (1:18 pm)
Dan,
You really captured Riley. He’s a standup guy and one of the best representatives of the program that we could ever have. You know he’s disappointed to end his seniorr year like this, but Riley is Wake. Without him where would we be?
Alex on 11/15/2009 (12:44 am)
There will be plenty of time to critique this disappointing season. Thanks to Riley Skinner and the rest of the seniors on the team for a great four years. Hopefully we can finish the year on a high note at Duke in two weeks and get back to the success that we’ve all grown accustomed to next season.
DC on 11/14/2009 (7:32 pm)
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