Comments

Tulane (they are nowhere near like us, by the way) would have been a better opening game because they would have provided a higher level of competition for our younger players to get their feet wet.  But with a team as young as ours, the “tune up” is almost necessary.  I just hope that our kids can sharpen themselves up in time for game 2!

DC on 09/04/2010 (10:04 am)

According to an un named source I just spoke to ALL ACC schools call the attendance based on tickets sold. And I am a witness to the Wake Forest ticket agents sitting at a table in Hanes Mall the last three Sundays selling last nights game tickets at a discount rate.  Just to add humble opinion this goes back to the old debate do we play a “tune up”, do we play a school like us (Tulane), do we play a block buster? I like the block buster idea.  My tail gating crew likes easy wins for home games.

Doug on 09/03/2010 (6:10 pm)

DC#68,
You had me scrambling back to read all my copy on my blog and my morning article to find the mistake I knew I was going to make. Then I found it in my answer to Lexie’s question. That’s bad, but not as bad as if it had been in, say the headline of the Journal. I mean absolutely no disrespect to the Blue Hose, who I thought showed a great deal of spirit and energy. I wish them well.
But thanks for the heads up. When I have food in my beard, I’d much rather somebody tell me than not know what everybody is laughing about.

Dan on 09/03/2010 (5:38 pm)

HOES???? I think you meant hose’s but I am smiling

DC#68 on 09/03/2010 (5:08 pm)

I seriously question some of these comments from people who don’t seem to have ever played football.  Griping about the o-line not pushing the d-line off the line of scrimmage, but rather allowing the backs to run around them.  Duh, alot of Wake’s offense is mis-direction, etc.  Go on line and re-look at the replay on 3.com and look as if you were a coach; the o-line did a great job trapping and opening up great holes for all those long runs.  People need to chill out this was the first game and a great opportunity for Grobe to get everyone some playing time, because to Dan’s point on Wilber’s injury last year, not having good backups means not having a good team.  And you can’t have good backups unless you give them some playing time to see who they are?

Steven N on 09/03/2010 (4:39 pm)

Lexie, The win does count toward bowl eligibility. I asked, and the media relations director from PC said the Blue Hose had the requisite number of scholarships.
John Allenstein, If there was a bad exchange between snapper and holder, I missed it. Apparently so did Coach Grobe, who said after the game he was disappointed in the miss. But I will ask in the press conference next week, and if Jimmy is not to blame I’ll certainly make note. Thanks for pointing out your observation.

Dan on 09/03/2010 (3:42 pm)

Newman missed the kick because the snap was bad.  The holder bobbled it - one or the other.  Watch it again.  The secondary got burned because one of the starters in the secondary, not named Okoro, is not very good.  A 235 pound defensive tackle is a complete joke - that doesn’t help.  Otoh, our running backs looked super.

John Allenstein on 09/03/2010 (3:11 pm)

they kept saying during the game that presbyterian was transitioning to fcs… this game still counts towards bowl eligibility though correct? i remember last year the transitioning fcs school that duke beat couldnt count towards their eligibility. is that because they were in the initial year of transitioning?

lexie on 09/03/2010 (3:01 pm)

As a former Football player at Wake some of the comments are harsh & typical of bandwagon fans/ I do suppose all of you bloggers are aware that those   young men who play for our team most assuredly reads this blog/I saw a lot of good and some disappointing plays but I AM STILL LOOKING FOR OUR GUYS TO SUCCEED/ that’s why it’s call a team and the bond they have with each other will hopefully propel them into some surprises for you NAYSAYERS.

DC#68 on 09/03/2010 (2:52 pm)

Dan, it looked to me by the middle of the 2nd quarter that there could have been close to 28,000- it filled in nicely.  No excuses for the students not to have been there in full force, though.

John on 09/03/2010 (12:51 pm)

Jerry,
I haven’t heard about Midnight Madness. I do think it would be a great idea, given all the newness in the program with new coaches and new players. Most times these decisions aren’t made until much closer to the season. I’ll ask around.

Dan on 09/03/2010 (12:30 pm)

Dan,
I realize I appear to be a typical retro Wake fan—-looking forward to basketball season after only one football game. But I have a question, actually 2 questions:

Do you know if Bzdelik and Co are planning a “midnight madness”? If not, why not?

Such BB kickoff events are being written about online almost every day now. The deal is to see what 4-5 star prospect is attending what school’s extravaganza.

Of course, it would be embarassing if we gave a party and nobody came.

For my part, I would like to see the return of “midnight madness”( I remember Dave Odem held midnight opening practices, but they were very low key compared to what appears to be the norm today), and retire the stale motorcycle at games in favor of some some fresh stuff.

Jerry on 09/03/2010 (12:09 pm)

Ted or Tanner?  Obviously the coach thinks his future likes with the Texas lefty. To my eye, his footwork, and delivery skills are already far superior. Cool. But a problem remains, the same that turned Riley Skinner into Fran Tarkenton (old school reference here to
an NFL great QB who didn’t so much run for yards ala M Vick,  but “scrambled”-darted in and out of the pocket - until the broken field revealed an open receiver - more often that not it was Wake’s best offensive play for two whole seasons).

My point being that the play as drawn-and executed - ala 2006 and BEFORE, has diminished in direct proportion to the reliance on the “spread offense.”  And the problem within, is within the offensive line - again.  PC was what, really?  A division TWO loser, that had a first down inside the WF 30 early in the third that could have pulled them within 37-20 had they scored - again. I had hoped to see WF line up and EXECUTE - looked for some return to what I consider the bread and butter and “glory days” of the Grobe offense… when Wake lineman would fire off low and hard, and pound the football for big chunks of yardage, burning big chunks of time, shortening the field and the game.  Instead, I see lineman playing very high, tipping plays with their stance, and rarely moving forward…  a sliding scheme that seems to ask the runner to do the same, looking for a crack to attack.
Yeah, Wake showed 409 rushing yards. Anyone notice that 168 of those came from QB keepers off the dive read?  And Devon Brown with 85 in one chunk, and Josh Harris another after the fact 34?  There has been a notable loss of physicality on both interior lines.  Honestly, Wake QBS were UNDER FIRE in the “pocket” all night.. (Conversely, take away Dwight Wilbur, and where exactly was the Wake pass rush?  Did an INTERIOR DL make penetration all night, while these PC kids rolled up 290 passing yards?).  With all due respect Dan, there has been a lot of talk about team speed, and sure i saw some, but this much about the game has never changed - never - this sport is won and lost by the five guys who block, and the guys on the other side who defeat the blocks.  You can play 2, 3 or 4 QB’s (as coach joked) - let’s hope it is an OPTION and not a necessity due to
attrition.  That said - HOW I LOVE OUR PLACE - and hold on to this hope:  I recognize that WF ran - what Dan, maybe 8 plays all night?  NEVER ONCE ran an offensive play from under center, never once ran from the I, or the “Navy” flex-bone.  Blitzed maybe twice.. I get that.  I know they were holding back.  I hope so.  One final thought - congrats to you Dan for your comments about the crowd. I too have seen the place full (or not) many times.  I put the real turnout at 19K.

GLenn Williams on 09/03/2010 (11:08 am)

..yes Dan I agree. In spite of the score I saw more things to feel bad about than good about. There were several nice rushing gains up the middle in the third quarter against WFU’s down lineman. That should never have happened. That offensive line didn’t move hardly anyone off the line of scrimmage, but did allow the backs to run around the defense. This was Presbyterian not Virginia Tech, not even Florida State. I noticed more than one scowl on the coaches’ face for one reason. That speed that stood out last night won’t mean as much for here on it. Like you I was disappointed.

pensive1 on 09/03/2010 (11:03 am)

I think it was a good game and there were a lot of positives for this game.  We have a lot of talent and a lot of speed, and it looks like our guys thirst for contact and love to hit.  That said, I think the attendance number was accurate.  Capacity is 31,5, but they usually put up to 34k in there when it is packed.  The visitor side was in the sun and extremely hot so people didn’t sit there until the sun went down.  The home side was pretty full except in the corners, then there is the tower.  Did you see all those kids at half on the field?  There were probably 2k kids who likely invited at least 1 parent that may or may not have cared about the game and left at half.  The number was probably inflated but 28k would be way small attendance in most stadiums.  Wake is going to win a lot of football games regardless of who the QB is.  Stachitas looked good, but the QB can’t turn the ball over (fumble) for the team to be successful.

Brian Thacker on 09/03/2010 (10:17 am)

Watched the game on my computer…20” LCD screen and the quality was superb!

Noted in the 3rd quarter when Price misfired on a pass, the camera got a close-up of Coach Grobe and it was obvious what his response was; just say it was slang for feces…LOL!

Don’t blame him though as I had a few choice words too!

The third quarter play concerned me…Either they ran out of gas or became disinterested since they knew what the final outcome would be. Will be much different next week when Duke comes to town!

I was impressed with Skylar Jones short time on the field…That young fellow is a great runner. First time I have seen him in action. Great potential!

Tom on 09/03/2010 (9:39 am)

DC, Inflated attendance???  Let’s do some real digging and see how that number is calculated. Investigative journalism at its finest. Call the NCAA to come up from Chapel Hill and check the stats….

I know I saw 6,000 to 7,000 in bathroom lines. You just couldn’t see them from the luxury of the pressbox. The Deacon crowd is also extremely green. The old ones all packed into one Prius so the lot wasn’t overflowing. Think of all the gas they saved. I’m sure all the students walked over. The Deacon crowd has been on a diet all summer so with all the weight they lost it looked like there were 7,000 less people in the stands. We’ve got lots of pregnant fans too. You must not have counted the unborn babies that were cheering in vitro….

Come on man. I’ve been to Wake games in the 80’s where the attendance was less than 10,000 and all of us Deacons have seen those days.

I say give them a pass on the inflated attendance.

Lee Jackson on 09/03/2010 (9:26 am)

Hey, Dan, I have four seasons tickets and my wife made me go alone last night because I refused to fix the toilets in my house yesterday.  I took all four tickets and had them scanned anyway.  I think I like it this way—no nagging.  I’ll probably be doing this for the rest of this year and all other husbands out there should do the same.

DannyB on 09/03/2010 (9:03 am)

Dan - I sure wondered what you’d have to say today in MTOW, and you did not disappoint.  You always call ‘em as you see ‘em, and you did just that regarding both Wake Forest’s play and the announced attendance.  I was surprised to see how empty the stands were for the opening game of the year and by the relative lack of enthusiasm in the stands.  While it might be a bit harder to get up for a game against Presbyterian than, say, Florida State or Clemson, I would have thought that the first game of the year on such a beautiful night would have brought out many more of the Deacon faithful.  After watching last night’s game I am really excited about the upcoming season…next year.  Then all of these youngsters should be a lot more experienced, and I think we should have a pretty good squad then.  But this year’s team looks like it will struggle quite a bit during 2010.  Hopefully they can bring it together a good bit more before Duke next week.  At least they’ll have some extra time to prepare for that game.  Thanks again, Dan.

Matt on 09/03/2010 (8:56 am)

Dan,

Justin Jackson out for season?  How bad is the knee?  What does Grobe think about our LB core minus JJ?  Thanks!

Nick on 09/03/2010 (8:54 am)