From a fan’s perspective, yesterday’s 30-28 win over Ole Miss had plenty of emotional highs and lows. The game started on a high note when Wake recovered a muffed punt (I guess it just hit someone in the head, but I think it’s still technically a “muff”) and scored a quick touchdown. Unfortunately, the feeling didn’t last as Ole Miss scored 14 unanswered points and took a 14-10 lead into halftime.

The third quarter brought back some good feelings; with Wake scoring 10 points and taking a 20-14 lead into the fourth quarter. The fourth was one of the more nerve-racking quarters of Wake Forest football I’ve ever witnessed, including some pretty terrible moments (Alphonso Smith’s fumble on punt return, phantom pass interference call) to some incredible ones (Pendergrass TD, Sam Swank’s 41 yard game-winning field goal).

It wasn’t looking good when the Rebels scored a touchdown with only 1:01 left on the clock, but Riley Skinner, Sam Swank, and the rest of the Demon Deacons weren’t ready to throw in the towel. The offense moved the ball efficiently, completing two short passes on the sideline to conserve clock before finding D.J. Boldin wide open down the middle for 22 yards. Several plays later (and a heads up timeout call by holder Ryan McManus when the play clock was about to run out) Sam Swank drilled a 41 yard field goal, leading wake to a 30-28 victory.

The final statistics reveal some not-so-good things, but ultimately it’s the score on the board that counts. Ole Miss’s offense out-produced Wake’s—360 yards to 348—and did so in 12 fewer plays than Wake. They outgained Wake 107-81 on the ground and came close in the air (253-267) on 11 fewer plays. Ole Miss also sacked Skinner four times, but Wake’s two interceptions and one fumble recovery (Ole Miss only had a fumble recovery) won the turnover battle.

On the ground Brandon Pendergrass had 49 yards on 8 carries, including two great runs in the third quarter that led to his touchdown. Josh Adams only gained 43 yards on 12 carries. Riley Skinner was 32 of 43 through the air for 267 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. D.J. Boldin had 11 catches for 123 yards, while Marshall Williams and Kevin Harris both had touchdown receptions.

The team Ole Miss put on the field yesterday was much more impressive than the one I expected to see. Jevan Snead is a very good young quarterback with a bright future, and the Rebels have several talented receivers. Their defense, which supposedly has been decimated by injuries, still gave the offense fits, sacking Skinner four times and causing heavy disruption to Wake’s running attack. Houston Nutt is clearly a good coach who has the program moving in a positive direction. In many ways Ole Miss out-played Wake yesterday, but turnovers, penalties, and the “clutch-ness” of Riley Skinner and Sam Swank proved to be too much. They’re going to win some SEC games this year and I think Wake fans are happy they aren’t on schedule again anytime soon.

As for Wake, a win is a win and there shouldn’t be too much complaining, but clearly there is work to be done. I saw a lot of improvement in the second half after a very rough first half, but the Deacs still need to find a way to move the ball on the ground and the defense didn’t have a great performance

I want to talk briefly about the decisions to kick PAT’s instead of going for two after both second half touchdowns. The first one, after the third quarter touchdown, was an absolute no-brainer. In the third quarter of the game in that situation there’s no way it makes sense to go for two. When Wake scored again with 11:37 left in the fourth quarter and again kicked the PAT I heard a lot of people second guessing the decision. I, however, agree with the decision all the way. At that point it was likely Ole Miss would have the ball two more times. Had Wake missed the two point conversion, two field goals would have won the game. Furthermore, with a missed conversion Wake would have been leading by five, 26-21. If things played out the way they did and Ole Miss scored a touchdown with 1:01 left then they’re up 27-26 and have an absolute no-brainer to go for two. If they make the conversion Ole Miss is leading by three, 29-26, and when Wake drives down and makes a field goal it sends the game into overtime instead of to the final whistle and a Wake victory. I think a lot of people are neglecting that side of the equation when they evaluate the decision. I know Jim Grobe said afterwards that he had been second guessing the decision, which is totally understandable, but you have to look at all sides and all possible outcomes and realize that the decision definitely wasn’t a bad one. I’m not saying it would have been wrong to go for two, but kicking the PAT wasn’t wrong either.

Sam Swank deserves to be mentioned again for a great game. Three field goals, including a game winner, and three extra points is a great day from a guy who definitely should be on his way to an All-American season.

Finally, let’s take a look at the questions I asked in the game preview and see how things turned out:

1. What effect will Hurricane/Tropical Storm Hanna have on this game?
Absolutely none, except maybe in the way the teams prepared. I don’t know where the storm went, but when I woke up Saturday morning it was completely clear and for most of the afternoon there weren’t but a few clouds in the sky. It was even pretty hot, about like it always is for early September games. I’m glad it left us alone, but it was weird for it to completely disappear the way it did.

2. Will the offensive line’s pass protection hold up? Will the run blocking improve?
I don’t think we saw a step backwards this week as much as we just didn’t see a step forward. Ole Miss has a talented line and they were able to sack Skinner four times and disrupt the passing game some, but I don’t think the line’s played any worse in pass protection; they just faced a better unit. That’s not to say I think it was acceptable, as I would have much rather seen them step up and play better than last week, but I don’t think it was worse.

I have a similar response to the run game. It was really a pretty similar performance to last week, with plenty of mistakes and struggles. They looked better in the second half, particularly on the drive that ended in Pendergrass’s 12 yard touchdown run, but they did not show the improvement I thought we might see this week.

3. Can the receivers avoid dropping passes?
Pretty good job by the receivers this week. Off the top of my head I can only think of a couple drops towards the end of the game – one from Kevin Harris and another from Marshall Williams. Granted, they came at a crucial point in the game when you don’t want to be having any mistakes at all, but on the whole I thought it was a very good performance from the receiving corps.

4. Will Ole Miss avoid turnovers? Will Wake be okay if they do?
No, the Rebels did not avoid turnovers. Two interceptions and a lost fumble led to 10 Wake Forest points. The fumbled punt that led to the first score by the Deacs could have been the difference in the game. Without that Wake probably goes into halftime in a big hole and may not have been able to climb out in the second half.

5. How beautiful will Deacon Tower be?
It was definitely beautiful, but I was somewhat surprised they didn’t do anything special to commemorate it. I’d love to hear from anyone who was up there for the game what their thoughts are. Is it a great place to watch the game? Are the amenities and service up to par for gameday? I’m guessing the answers are yes, but I’d love to hear about it.

As for my predictions, well, let’s just say they weren’t so good. Other than the fact that Wake won I didn’t really get anything right. I thought the run game would have a better week, including someone going over 100 yards. Seeing as how there weren’t even 100 yards total, clearly that didn’t happen. I said Ole Miss definitely wouldn’t score 27+ points and they did (28). I predicted 31-17, and although I came close with the 31, it clearly wasn’t the game I projected. Ole Miss gets a lot of credit, but a win is a win and I’ll gladly take it.

Read More...

For a season opener, Thursday night’s 41-13 victory over the Baylor Bears leaves little to complain about. No matter who the opponent is, a convincing road win to open the season can’t do anything but help a team.

It wasn’t a perfect showing, but it was pretty dang good. Riley Skinner had an excellent start, completing 27 of 36 passes for 220 yards and three touchdowns. He found D.J. Boldin more than anyone else – seven times for 33 yards, but had the most success throwing to Ben Wooster (six catches, 90 yards, one touchdown) and Chip Brinkman (three catches, 29 yards, two touchdowns).

The rushing game struggled, although the final total of 165 yards wouldn’t show it. Were it not for C.J. Washington’s two carries for 63 yards on the final drive of the game, that number wouldn’t have been nearly as impressive. Josh Adams carried the ball 14 times for 37 yards and a touchdown, and Brandon Pendergrass’s 14 rushes only went for 34 yards and a touchdown. Neither had a run longer than 10 yards, and averaged 2.6 and 2.4 yards respectively.

Sam Swank looked very solid, making field goals of 40 and 42 yards, all five extra points, and causing three touchbacks on eight kickoffs. His punting was pretty solid, too, averaging 39 yards and putting three of four punts inside the 20, once all the way down to the four.

It was great to see Skinner avoid throwing any interceptions, however four fumbles (two were lost) aren’t going to cut it in the future against stronger opponents.

Defensively, Aaron Curry led the way, making seven tackles and half a sack. He made some great hits and just looks like a leader on the field. Hunter Haynes, Chantz McClinic, and Boo Robinson all recovered fumbles, and Alphonso Smith and Alex Frye had their first interceptions of the season.

Baylor’s offense could never get much going. They were held to 94 rushing yards and 156 passing yards. Freshman quarterback Robert Griffin showed some promise for Baylor, but with Art Briles’ new offensive scheme and his lack of experience he just wasn’t able to get anything going.

Obviously there’s a lot more to a football game than statistics and numbers, so let’s take a look at the questions I asked in Wednesday’s preview:

Will we see a noticeably different defensive scheme this year?
I’m going to have to review the film to give a good answer to this question, but my quick answer is that it’s not all that different, just better. I didn’t see anything in the actual scheme that stuck out to me as “different,” but I did see some very effective play from the defensive line, linebackers, and secondary – in other words, everyone. We all know this, but I’m going to say it anyway: Alphonso Smith’s technique is flawless. His defense on the pass to the corner of the endzone was absolutely perfect, and that wasn’t the only example. His heads-up interception was great as well. Still, I’m not convinced the defensive scheme is any different.

How will Steed Lobotzke balance the pass and run?
This one went almost exactly how I expected. I’d have to go back and look at some numbers from last season to see how different the pass/run numbers actually were (given the fact that the offense ran the ball a lot in the fourth quarter to kill the clock there may not actually be a statistical difference), but it was clear that this offense is going to rely on the passing game. Riley Skinner is definitely up to the challenge, and although they weren’t particularly consistent, the receivers showed a lot of promise. D. J. Boldin looked great, but had a case of the drops, particularly on plays that required him to jump to catch the ball – he just couldn’t hang on when he hit the ground. Chip Brinkman wasn’t flashy, but he was definitely effective when it mattered. Ben Wooster is definitely a go-to target for Skinner and does a good job getting yards after the catch. If it weren’t for a few very unnecessary drops and the fumble by Marshall Williams this group would have been nearly perfect.

In pass protection the offensive line did a very good job. They only allowed one sack and I was pretty impressed. When it came to opening up holes for the running backs, however, things started to break down. There just wasn’t a significant enough push to really get anything going. If they’re having those kinds of problems with Baylor’s defensive line I don’t want to imagine the problems they could have with teams like Clemson. Josh Adams and Brandon Pendergrass have the ability to do some really good things this season, but I think they’re going to need some more help to really have outstanding seasons. Even though it was with and against the second string, C.J. Washington was probably the most impressive running back on the field in his two carries. It will be interesting to see if that performance leads to any first team carries next weekend. He definitely made the most of the opportunity.

All of that is a very long answer to the question, but I think the takeaway is that the offense should and will rely heavily on the passing game this season, and the talent is there to make that strategy work.

How many true freshmen will actually play?
This one’s easy. Two.

Joe Looney and Andrew Parker both got playing time early and fairly often. I’ll pay closer attention to them when I’m able to go back to the film, but neither did anything to really stand out positively or negatively. As expected, Kenny Okoro and Chance Raines did not play.

Is it safe to let Alphonso Smith return kicks?
For tonight, yes. I’m still not entirely convinced, but I’m becoming more and more agreeable to this idea, particularly because I understand that you can’t not do things that will help the team just because you’re scared of an injury. As I expected, Alphonso Smith was effective, and nearly looked like he would break a big one in the second half. I’m sure he will sooner rather than later.

Reflections on my prediction:
I predicted a 30-10 victory, and I was happy to see the offense greatly exceed my expectations. I had predicted a defensive/special teams touchdown (which didn’t happen) so the offense actually scored 18 more points than an I predicted. The defense did about what I expected, and I have no complaints there, although I’m sure the defense was glad they didn’t have to face Robert Griffin later in the season when he had a few more games of experience under his belt. If Wake continues to exceed my expectations like this throughout the season, they’ll have a pretty incredible year.

I know that's a lot from me, but what are your thoughts on the game right now? How does this one make you feel as we look towards the rest of the season?

Read More...

The time has finally come for Wake Forest to kick off its 107th season of football, and it’s a good thing because I don’t think I can wait much longer.

The Details:
Date: Thursday, August 28, 2008
Time: 8:00 p.m. EDT, 7:00 p.m. CDT
Location: Floyd Casey Stadium, Waco, Texas
TV/Radio: FSN, ISP Radio Network. More details here

The Demon Deacons are 0-4 all time against Baylor, having lost 31-0 in their last meeting – a 1961 matchup in Waco. Another historical record that doesn’t bode well for the Deacs is their 0-11 record all time in games played in the state of Texas. I don’t put a lot of stock in things like that, particularly when much of the data is over 50 years old, but it’s always interesting to see.

As most everyone probably knows by now, Baylor enters the 2008 season with a new coach, Art Briles. Briles is apparently some sort of offensive guru, and based on what he did at Houston, the Wake defense is about to see a pretty interesting and somewhat unique offensive scheme. As far as I can tell, Briles doesn’t really call a single play, rather he gives the offense options, and they have to all read the defense to determine which option is the best (If I got that all wrong you can let me know, Baylor fans).

Though that may sound daunting for some visiting defenses, it sounds like the type of scheme that takes a considerable amount of time to implement effectively. I think it will be at least three weeks before the Baylor offense really has the chance to start clicking. Given the experience and talent Wake will have on the defensive side of the ball, I wouldn’t want to be a young Baylor quarterback trying to figure out which play is most likely to work – the results could be disastrous.

Add to all of this the fact that no one outside of the team knows who the starting quarterback is going to be (heck, I’m not even sure the team knows who its quarterback is), and you’ve got the recipe for a shaky offensive night for the Bears.

Wake’s offense isn’t without its fair share of question marks. Is the offensive line ready to step up in a real game situation? Will the receivers continue to impress like they have for the last month of practices? I don’t expect to see the Deacon offense put a huge number on the scoreboard this week, but it should be enough to get the job done.

I’ve got some other questions going into this matchup as well:

Will we see a noticeably different defensive scheme this year?
The last two seasons under Dean Hood Wake has played conservatively on defense, utilizing a “bend but don’t break” attitude that puts an emphasis on avoiding big plays. That doesn’t mean they didn’t try to make plays on the ball (obviously they did), but it wasn’t a very aggressive scheme. Under Brad Lambert I think we may see a slightly more aggressive defense; one that brings more pressure and allows the guys to react instinctively as the play develops.

How will Steed Lobotzke balance the pass and run?
I don’t know the actual statistics, but for the last couple of years Lobo has run a fairly conservative package that focuses on possessing the ball and maximizing field possession by using lots of rushes and short, accurate passes. With the questions at offensive line, the preseason success of the wide receivers, and the continued improvement of quarterback Riley Skinner, I think we may see a heavier emphasis on the pass game. Particularly if the Deacs struggle to move the ball on the ground early, Lobo might try letting Skinner air it out a little bit.

How many true freshmen will actually play?
The season’s first depth chart, which includes four true freshmen, reveals some interesting things. For one (and Grobe made this clear yesterday), OG Joe Looney and TE Andrew Parker will not be redshirting. Furthermore, center Chance Raines and CB Kenny Okoro will be traveling with the team, but Grobe may try to keep them off the field and redshirt them if possible. Redshirt freshman Dennis Godfry, who moved to the offensive line less than a week ago, is already number two on the depth chart at right guard – not a good indication for the line’s depth.

Is it safe to let Alphonso Smith return kicks?
The depth chart lists Phonz as the starter for both kick return and punt return. While he’s definitely a playmaker and I understand the desire to give him touches, the increased potential for injury worries me. I think this is one of those decisions that will turn out to be incredibly smart or will be looked back on as the downfall of the 2008 campaign. Either Phonz will dazzle in the return game, or he’ll go down with an injury – a major blow to the team. I don’t think there’s an in-between; if he stays healthy I can’t imagine him not doing some pretty special things. I guess that kind of upside is worth risking the potential injury, so I guess I’m going to have to trust the coaches on this one.

Do you have different answers to one or more of these questions? Leave a comment and tell me what you think.

Final Prediction: Wake’s offense struggles early and only manages a couple of field goals in the first half, but a touchdown on defense or special teams sends Wake to the locker room with a 13-3 lead. The offense gets its act together in the second half and the Demon Deacons leave Waco with a 30-10 victory and a respectable start to the 2008 campaign.

Read More...

Following this afternoon's practice, left guard Russell Nenon checked in with these notes from practice:

• Practice had high intensity today for the first day in shells.

• The defense did real well in the team segment at the beginning of practice, but...

• The first team offense looked very good in the team segment at the end of practice.

• There were lots of installations of special teams today.

Other observers checked in with the following details:

• The defense in particular was excited to have some pads on and hit some people.

• At one point Devon "Y'lou" Brown took a hit from behind and sat out the rest of practice, but was still on the field watching.

• During 1-on-1 drills Chip Brinkman made a good grab on a deep ball but was tripped up by Chip Vaughn, landed awkwardly, and also sat out the rest of practice. Hopefully both Brinkman and Y'lou are fine, but we'll have to see if they practice tomorrow.

• Kerry Major practiced and appears to be just fine.

• During today's Skelly period (7 on 7) the offense had the upper hand except for a pick-6 by Alphonso Smith. Riley Skinner looked particularly good in this drill as well as 1-on-1 drills. DJ Boldin had some good catches, and Brandon Ghee looked good in coverage.

• Punt team work is starting up and looks more stable than it did in the spring. The snaps look pretty good so far.

Read More...

Today was the local media day for Wake Forest football, which is great except for the fact that I'm not going to be local media for another two and a half weeks. Information on the event and quotes from Jim Grobe and a handful of players can be seen here on the official site.

As for the actual practice, here are some notes:

• Practice was delayed about a half hour due to some pretty big thunderstorms, and ended with another big thunderstorm.
  

• More team drills today; D.J. Boldin caught a deep ball that would have gone the distance and made a few other nice catches
  

• Alphonso Smith had one of the easiest picks of his career after a ball deflected right at him off a receivers hands. It may not have been the receivers fault though; the throw was high.
  

• Kerry Major is practicing, but there's no contact at practice right now so we'll have to see what he does when there is in a few days.
  

I think things will pick up once the team starts adding pads to the mix; I'm guessing the guys are ready to start hitting each other.

Read More...

As Old Gold & Blog enters its second school year covering Wake Forest athletics, it seemed a fitting time to update the look and layout of things. Hopefully you like the new design and don't have any problems using it, but if any issues arises please let me know. Don't worry, the header images will change on a seasonal basis; other sports will have their chance in the spotlight later in the year.

I also recognize that many of you have become new followers of Old Gold & Blog in the last few months, and I want to point you towards the subscription options over to the right. If you subscribe via RSS you'll be updated every time there's a new post. Subscribing via email puts Old Gold & Blog in your inbox once per day. There's no better way to keep track of the latest Wake Forest news and analysis.

On to the news...

Yesterday was the first day of practice for the Demon Deacons. Besides my report, the Nenon report, and this report from the official website there wasn't a whole lot of specific practice coverage.

Still, yesterday produced plenty of other Wake Forest links. I asked my three questions a couple days ago, but Heather Dinnich finally asks hers. The Raleigh News & Observer has a few questions as well. Dinnich also names Alphonso Smith and Sam Swank as two of the top five clutch players in the conference, and Swank makes it into the nation's top ten.

The previews keep pouring in, this time Dan Collins for the Sporting News.

Want to take a look inside Deacon Tower? Done.

Want to be amazed by Aaron Curry? He can power clean a lot of weight. 374 pounds to be exact. Check it out:

Read More...

Apparently Alphonso Smith (along with Wake's other Florida players from the area) got their speed from chasing rabbits. Go figure.

Wasn't exactly what I expected when I checked Heather Dinnich's ACC Blog today, but its a fun story and Wake gets some coverage.

Read More...

Last night I got to talk to cornerback Alphonso Smith for a few minutes about Dean Hood and the coaching changes. It was an impromptu conversation, so I'm just going to paraphrase what Phonz said:

Hood leaving has been hard on the team and on Alphonso personally. He has talked to coach Hood several times and definitely would like him to still be around. Nonetheless, he understands why he took the job (family reasons, mostly) and wishes him all the best.

According to Alphonso, Hood and Lambert are/were the two best coaches on the staff, so with Lambert filling the role of DC he doesn't expect there to be any drop off. Alphonso is confident next season's defense will be the best in Wake Forest history.

It was great to hear how close the team and the coaches are and that they have formed such strong relationships. Also, there is clearly no ill will between players and coaches who have moved on. We have a strong staff and they are ready to fill in the holes and not skip a beat. As far as coaches are concerned there should be nothing to worry about for next season.

Read More...

This was apparently published late last week, but somehow I missed it.

Steve Justice and Alphonso Smith have been named to the Walter Camp Football Foundation All-American 2nd team. Justice was also named a CBSSports.com All-American 1st team and an AP 1st team All-American, while Smith is a 3rd team AP All-American

Redshirt freshmen Josh Adams and Hunter Haynes were both named to the Sporting News ACC All-Freshman team, and Adams was named to their national All-Freshman 2nd team.

Congrats to all of them for earning these honors!

Read More...

I know I’m biased, but come on ESPN… LSU for last weekend’s game changing performance? I realize that this comes down to voters and the fact of the matter is we don’t have nearly the voting fan base needed to outgun three big state schools, but this is the type of things that just begs for at least a little bit of a rant.

I’ll put some of the blame on ESPN; when the highlights of a game don’t even make SportsCenter on Saturday night, the chances of winning are incredibly slim. If we were going to win this thing we needed at least a little bit of hype on SC to generate just a little bit of word-of-mouth interest.

According to the results presented during Boise State’s 38-16 romp of Southern Miss, LSU’s play got 48% of the vote, followed by Georgia with 25% and Wake with 17%. I guess the only positive is that we didn't get last like Oklahoma State did with 11% of the vote, but when Alphonso Smith clearly had the best play and there’s no prize for finishing second, it’s hard to feel much consolation.

Right? Right.

Read More...