The option offense was never really much of an option for Coach Jim Grobe of Wake Forest as long as he had Riley Skinner at quarterback.
So as much as Grobe hated losing Skinner, who rewrote the Deacons' record book during his 49 starts over four seasons, he loved the idea of returning to an offense that had previously been so good for him and his teams.
Yesterday morning's first controlled scrimmage of the season at BB&T Field revealed how much work the transition back to the option offense is going to take.
"All those guys have a lot of work to do," Grobe said of the quarterbacks competing to succeed Skinner. "We really don't know what we are right now, because we don't know what their strengths and weaknesses are.
"But as we keep scrimmaging and practicing, by the end of spring I think we'll have a pretty good feel about these guys."
With one of the prime quarterback candidates, redshirt freshman Ted Stachitas, sidelined by a strained hamstring injured in Thursday's practice, sophomore Skylar Jones, freshmen Brandon Cross and Patrick Thompson and walk-on Turner Faulk took turns directing the Deacons' attack.
Jones, who spent the second half of the 2009 season at wide receiver, looked the best. He completed three of five passes for a modest 23 yards, but was more impressive while carrying nine times for 46 yards. The offensive highlight of the day was the lone touchdown drive of 65 yards on 15 plays, during which Jones completed two of three passes for 19 yards and carried six times for 35 yards.
But even on that drive, Grobe said he won't be sure how well Jones led the offense until he breaks down the film.
The longest completion of the day was Jones' pass for 13 yards. Grobe said more downfield routes were called, but the offensive line had trouble keeping the pass rush out of the backfield.
The defense had 14 tackles for losses, led by two each from Alex Frye and Tripp Russell.
"I thought Sky did a great job a couple of times of pulling the ball down and running and hurting the defense," Grobe said. "But if the throws are there, we'd rather him sit in there and make the throws.
"We'll have to look at that on Monday and see if the scrambles were warranted or whether he needed to have a little more patience. But it's sure nice to see some mobility out of our quarterback position."
Cross, who spent the 2009 season running the scout team as a redshirt, completed three of seven passes for 14 yards, Faulk completed five of six for 35 yards and Thompson was 0 for 2 passing.
Stachitas, one of the fastest players on the team, may be the Deacons' best dual threat. But he has had two shoulder surgeries since high school and missed last season by the continued rehabilitation of his shoulder and other injuries.
Grobe said he was missed yesterday.
"That's disappointing because he needs a lot of work," Grobe said. "It's his turn get a look, and it doesn't do you any good not to be practicing. But that's just the way it is.
"I told our players (yesterday), durability is going to mean a lot."
Injuries have taken their toll on the center position where Russ Nenon is out while recovering from labrum surgery, Chance Raines is out with a sprained knee and Whit Barnes is sidelined by a strained hamstring.
The starters on the offensive line yesterday were Dennis Godfrey at left tackle, Joe Looney at left guard, Garrick Williams at center, Michael Hoag at right guard and Doug Weaver at right tackle, although Hoag limped off midway through the scrimmage with a strained hamstring.
dcollins@wsjournal.com.
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