Deacs Get Offensive

GOOD DAY: ‘CONSISTENCY'S THE KEY,' GROBE SAYS

After getting pushed around much of the spring, Wake Forest's offense exacted at least a measure of revenge yesterday at the spring scrimmage held in front of around 5,000 people at BB&T Field.

Devon Brown broke a 65-yard run for a touchdown, Willie Dixon V scored on a 3-yard run and Jimmy Newman kicked three field goals on four tries as the offense piled up a total of 374 yards on 81 offensive plays.

Coach Jim Grobe cited at least three reasons the offense performed better than during the two previous scrimmages this spring at BB&T Field.

The quarterback play, with the emergence of Skylar Jones as the starter and the return of Ted Stachitas and Brendan Cross from injuries, was better. Jones completed four of five passes for 38 yards and carried seven times for 21 yards. Stachitas, who missed much of the spring with a pulled hamstring, completed four of seven for 8 yards and carried seven times for 18 yards. Cross, who missed several practices while recovering from a concussion, completed nine of 12 passes for 73 yards and carried nine times for 12 yards.

"Consistency's the key," Grobe said. "Sky has a leg up just from durability. He went every day and didn't miss anything. But you can see that Brendan and Ted both have ability. They do some things really well.

"We've got talent at quarterback. I think the guy who takes the first snap against Presbyterian (in the season opener) first of all will be the most durable guy, but I think also he's going to be the guy that develops the most consistency."

The offensive line blocked better than it had in previous scrimmages. With center Russ Nenon out all spring while recovering from labrum surgery, the offensive began yesterday's scrimmage with a starting line of Doug Weaver at left tackle, Gabe Irby at left guard, Garrick Williams at center, Joe Looney at right guard and Steven Chase at right tackle.

The second-team line consisted of Dennis Godfrey at left tackle, Ryan Britt at left guard, Whit Barnes at center, Michael Hoag at right guard and Devin Bolling at right tackle.

Brown gained 81 yards on four carries; Willie Dixon, a junior walk-on from Durham, had 29 yards on nine carries; Josh Adams carried twice for 11 yards, and Brandon Pendergrass carried three times for 2 yards.

"The five guys who end up at the start of the season will be the toughest, most durable guys," Grobe said. "We've got enough talent to get it done. We're just not sure right now who the guys are going to be.

"Certainly we think Nenon will be one of them. I think Joe Looney has been dynamite. I think Doug Weaver has been really good. And from the rest of those guys, we've got to find a couple of more guys who can sink in there and we feel like they can start the season and end the season making every practice and every game."

And Grobe admittedly pulled in the reins a bit on the defense, compared to the first two scrimmages when the quarterbacks were under duress the whole time. The Deacons blitzed occasionally yesterday, but not as often as the two previous scrimmages.

Justin Jackson, a 6-1, 205-pound redshirt freshman linebacker from Rockingham, led the Deacons with six tackles; safeties Cyhl Quarles and Duran Lowe and linebacker Kyle Jarrett had five tackles each, and linebacker Hunter Haynes, nose tackle Nikita Whitlock and cornerback C.J. Washington had four each.

Whitlock and defensive end Tristan Dorty each had a sack.

"We really don't want to call a blitz or call a defense that stops a play because of a good defensive call from the coach," Grobe said. "We wanted guys just hitting offensive players and getting off blocks and making plays, and that's what we looked for today.

"Although there were times we had some things coming. I didn't want to the defense playing with one arm behind their backs, but at the same time, come Monday we'll use this as great evaluation tool to set a depth chart going into August."

dcollins@wsjournal.com
727-7323