Based on what he has seen from Ted Stachitas, Coach Jim Grobe feels good about starting him at quarterback in Saturday's ACC opener against Duke.
"We feel like Ted Stachitas can win a bunch of football games for us," Grobe said at yesterday's media conference.
But it was based on what he hasn't seen from Stachitas that compelled Grobe to play freshman Tanner Price at quarterback in last Thursday's season opener against Presbyterian, thereby spiking any discussion whether Price would be redshirted his first season. What Grobe hasn't seen is Stachitas stay healthy long enough to play for an extended period.
Stachitas, a right-hander, has had two rounds of surgery on his right shoulder, one just after his senior season at Nease High School in Ponte Vedra, Fla., and the other after he arrived at Wake Forest. He also missed practices last preseason with an infected foot, and more in the spring because of a pulled hamstring.
"Two shoulder surgeries on his throwing shoulder is problematic, and we worried about that," Grobe said. "I think as he plays more, he's going to be better. But his injuries have been an issue for us.
"You just have to have Plan B ready, basically because of his history injury wise."
That explained why Price was thrown into the fray. As for the question of when the move was made, Grobe said that was equally self evident.
"We just wanted, as much as anything, to get the redshirt deal off the table," Grobe said. There's so much discussion about, ‘Are you going to play him, aren't you going to play him?'
"We felt like we have to play him because really with Ted's history of being banged up. And we just felt like it was going to be important for us to play Tanner with the thought in mind it's going to give us a better chance to win football games.
"I didn't want to wait until we had a crisis to put Tanner Price on the field."
So as of yesterday's practice, Stachitas remained first team with Price second team and Brendan Cross and Skylar Jones waiting in the wings. The competition is clearer now, Grobe said, with no cards left to be played.
"So now there's no gray area out there," Grobe said. "All four of them can play. They know that.
"There's no wondering behind the scenes what's going to happen. The guys who play the best are going to be on the field."
None of the quarterbacks reminded anyone of Riley Skinner against Presbyterian. They ran the ball better than Skinner, the Deacons' four-year starter who graduated last May, but didn't pass nearly as well.
Stachitas completed 7 of 13 for 84 yards, Price 1 of 4 for 4 yards, Cross 1 of 3 for 3 yards and Jones 1 of 1 for 3 yards.
Grobe said that even after the two surgeries, Stachitas has the requisite arm strength.
"There were times even this past spring where we had somebody down the field that was open, and I thought he labored to get the ball to them," Grobe said.
"That doesn't seem to be an issue right now.
"I think they biggest issue for us right now is just accuracy. At times he throws passes that you're really impressed with. They're right there where they need to be. But at times we've got open receivers, and we're not hitting them with the football. And I think it's probably a little bit of a combination of experience and just getting that shoulder back to where there are no concerns anymore, where he can just let it go.
"And that's going to take time."
dcollins@wsjournal.com
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