Wilber: “We’ve Got Something For You’’
Some of you guys—and by guys, I mean it in the more modern non-gender-specific sense—in the Peanut Gallery have wondered what the Wake Forest players feel about being picked by the media to finish fifth in the ACC’s Atlantic Division, and how they might use what some would consider a slight as motivation going into the 2010 football season.
Well once again, here at MTOW it’s a case of Ask And Ye Shall Receive.
Each season, just before practice begins, I like to talk with a number of players to get their take on what to expect. This time around, on Tuesday, I conducted a series of interviews with Jimmy Newman, Joe Looney, Kyle Wilber, Kenny Okoro and Tommy Bohanon. Bonnie Rae, Coach Jim Grobe’s executive secretary and gatekeeper extraordinaire, had them all lined up and we ran them, one by one, through this little film room like clockwork. I enjoyed all five sessions and learned a great deal, some of which I’ve already reported in Journal features on Newman (Thursday) and Looney (this morning). Tomorrow we’ll have a piece on Wilber, and what his return from a broken fibula can mean to a defense that a year ago was sorely lacking in playmakers.
I took the opportunity to ask each player his reaction to the low preseason ranking and whether it would be an extra burr under their saddle this season. Wilber, by nature, really doesn’t like to talk about himself, but he didn’t mind one bit addressing the low opinion others seem to invariably have of the Wake Forest football program. His comments were easily the best of the day on that subject.
“It’s kind of frustrating,’’ Wilber said. “I know our defense is, I would say, one of the best in the ACC. Our offense, we have crazy weapons just ready to explode out there on the field. It’s like that we’re like a small-time school and we’re underdogs all the time. We’re always overlooked. But we’re going to give them something to show this year.’‘
I opined that Wake Forest always seemed to play better as an underdog, and I asked Wilber if he agreed.
“I think it does, because we were all one or two stars on Rivals.,” Wilber said, referring to Rivals.com, an internet website that specializes in recruiting rankings. “We’re out to prove we’re somebody and we can hit you just as hard a five-star player can.
“We’re not going to take this being overlooked by everybody like that. We were overlooked in high school and we’re overlooked in college now. We’re ready to show you now. We’ve got something for you.’‘