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Let me just start by saying that when I say “little” excitement, I am more than likely being a highly generous individual to head coach Jim Grobe and his Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team after their annual spring game today. Nonetheless, Grobe and company took the field Saturday in front of 4,200 fans in Winston-Salem, NC to gauge their progression from last year’s 5-7 campaign.
If the defense was any indication, then the Wake Forest Demon Deacons are primed and ready to rise back into bowl contention in 2013.
If the offense was any indication, then that warm seat that some have Coach Grobe sitting on is going to burst into flames by season’s end.
With the three points that were actually scored–a 39-yard field goal by K Chad Hedlund–not being scored until about an hour into the 70-minute scrimmage, there was very little action provided as far as moving the ball down the field goes.
Returning quarterback Tanner Price, while not completely ineffective, managed just 82 yards on 9-for-16 passing controlling the first-team offense. Either way, the Wake Forest coaching staff better hope that Price is ready to step up and lead. Price’s backups, Patrick Thompson and Kevin Sousa, didn’t quite prove that the Demon Deacons have much quarterback depth.
The backup duo combined for just 46 yards through the air and three interceptions. So, we learned that Wake Forest at least doesn’t have a quarterback controversy.
To put the day for the Wake Forest offense into perspective statistically, the offensive unit was on the field for a total of 20 possessions. 16 of those failed to produce a first-down. So, that right there is pretty much self-explanatory.
For what it’s worth however, Grobe did make it a point to mention that they purposely held much of the offensive gameplan out of the scrimmage. His reasoning was the fact that the game was broadcast on the ACC Digital Network, so he did not want to give a lot of looks to their first conference opponent this season–the Boston College Eagles.
Whether it was the inability of the offense to move the ball effectively themselves or not, the Wake defense played quite solidly.
Completely shutting down the rushing attack, the defense held the offense to minus-five yards on 32 total attempts. Five sacks were produced by the squad, contributing to those stats. Redshirt freshman defensive end Josh Banks led the way for the defense with two of those sacks and six total tackles.
You don’t want to discredit the defense too much, but it was clear that the lackluster overall performance today was due to the offense’s inability to get anything going. No matter how much Grobe claims that he held out some offensive nuances, this team clearly has some work to do in regards to how they perform when they have possession of the football.
Jack is a College Football Contributor for Rant Sports. Follow Jack on Twitter @FSUYankee14
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