College Sports
Email
Print
Hodges shines for Deacons with Skinner out with sore hamstring
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: August 20, 2008
The battle for starting quarterback at Wake Forest hasn't tightened, but Riley Skinner's hamstring has.
As a result, Skinner, the Deacons' starter the past two seasons, didn't play in last night's final scrimmage of the preseason at BB&T Field. He dressed in shorts and jersey, but without a helmet or shoulder pads.
"He had a tight hamstring (last night), so we didn't put him out there," Coach Jim Grobe said. "He actually tweaked it in the weight room. That's the first quarterback to ever tweak a hamstring in the weight room.
"But we didn't want to take any chances on having him pull it."
Brett Hodges, the Deacons' second-team quarterback, capitalized on his extended play to complete 19 of 29 passes for 246 yards and one touchdown, without throwing an interception. The play of the night was Hodges' overthrown pass that receiver D.J. Boldin caught with one hand for a 28-yard gain.
Redshirt freshman Devon Brown also had a productive scrimmage with eight catches for 99 yards.
"I've got to tell you, I'm really impressed with Brett Hodges," Grobe said. "To be behind Riley and to not complain, and to come out every day and practice the way he has.
"If you watch us practice, you would never know that Brett Hodges is not the starting quarterback by the way he performs on a daily basis. He has gone out all spring and all summer with the (second-team) offense and never complained one bit. And tonight to watch him perform was fun."
Skinner said that it was hard standing on the sideline watching his teammates scrimmage, especially with the opener at Baylor on Aug. 28 barely more than a week away. He spent part of the night signaling plays in from the sideline, and his only exertion came on a few pushups at the end of scrimmage. He dismissed the impact of the injury.
"It's nothing big," Skinner said. "It just got tight on me the last two days, and it was just kind of precautionary. Coach Grobe felt it's not worth the risk to do something running around and pull it when it's not 100 percent and be out four or five weeks.
"I'll be fine come next Thursday."
Skinner, when healthy, has been the Deacons' starting quarterback since Ben Mauk broke his arm and dislocated his shoulder against Syracuse in the first game of the 2006 season. As a freshman Skinner led the Deacons to an ACC championship and was named the conference Rookie of the Year. As a sophomore he led major-college football with a completion percentage of .724.
Grobe left no doubt that the position is Skinner's when he returns to practice, if not by today than soon. Head trainer Don Steelman had actually cleared Skinner for last night's scrimmage, but Grobe made the call for him to sit.
"It'll be up to him (when he comes back)," Grobe said. "It's a little bit like (defensive end) Matt Robinson and (tackle) Jeff Griffin, guys who have been starters for us and know what to do that are proven guys.
"We don't need to find out how tough they are. We just need to make sure before we put them back out there that they're healthy.
"He could have gone (last night). Don gave him the green light to go tonight and I just felt like it didn't do us any good to have him going if his leg is sore."
■ Dan Collins can be reached at 727-7323 or at dcollins@wsjournal.com.
Email
Print
ADVERTISEMENT
N.C. Politics
Federal Politics
See community events or add your own! Click here!
Advertisement
