Wake Forest had its first full scrimmage of Fall camp. Predictably, there were some things the coaching staff was pleased with, and some things that head coach Jake Dickert was less than happy about. But what could not be ignored after the two hours of play was Dickert describing the scrimmage as “A grind.”
Just to be clear, he was not describing a 1950s Big 10 football game in the inclement weather of the Midwest. He was describing the uneven performance of what is supposed to evolve into a power spread offense.
Wake’s First Fall Scrimmage
Offense Ups and Downs
While the offense had made up a little bit of ground on the defense over the last week of camp, it gave much of that back Saturday afternoon at Allegacy Stadium. The scrimmage was officiated by a full ACC crew. The Demon Deacons may regret that decision. Our unofficial count (official stats were not kept) was nine penalties on the offense. The defense was credited with two.
The false starts and holdings are one thing. But perhaps the most inauspicious moment was one of the quarterbacks (notice we did not say which one) was called for intentional grounding, when his effort to throw the ball away to avoid the sack was a full two yards short of the line of scrimmage.
Comparing the Two Sides
“We need to value the ball on offense,” Dickert told the media after the scrimmage. The defense had no such issues. “I thought the defense was elite today,” Dickert said. Inarguably, the secondary, which was the bane of the coaching staff last year, is playing as well as at any time in the last three years. Dickert said they had better energy throughout the scrimmage.
Dickert acknowledged that the offense was handicapped a little by not giving running back Demond Claiborne too much work. But he said it was more than that in terms of what needs to be worked on. “Our shot game. Our explosive plays. Everything was just a grind out here. We’ve got to be able to hit on those.”
The Quarterback “Race”
The number of quarterback snaps weighed heavily in favor of Deshawn Purdie and Robby Ashford. Steele Pizzella actually was the quarterback who took the offense on its first touchdown drive of the day. But that was the fourth offensive series of the scrimmage. He had a few more series with mixed results, as did all three quarterbacks.
Purdie’s decision-making left something to be desired as far as Dickert was concerned. “It was a rough day. I mean that is what it was. I thought he’s really made strides the last four practices. So, we’re going to have to reset. It’s one day. It’s one evaluation point. Now it’s behind us.”
The coach, of course, needs to watch the film (which he has by now), but he came away saying he did not believe Purdie’s issues were with the offense in particular; that it was decision-making. He also said some of it had to do with offensive line deficiencies.
That is a two-sided coin. Some of those deficiencies were self-inflicted. Some were created by a defensive line that played very well. George Sell took over at center about halfway through the scrimmage. It is a position he said he has not played since his freshman year in high school. But moving the chess pieces on the offensive line is critical for most teams at some point during the season, and Wake is certainly no different.
Tick Tock
Part of the challenge going forward is the calendar. Wake has one more scrimmage on Friday, August 15th, the last day of camp. After that, they go into game prep for the season opener against Kennesaw State.
So, how quickly can these improvements be made? Dickert was clear on his expectations. “We’ve got to be a better team come Monday. Whether you like what you did today, whether it wasn’t your best, that’s who we are at this point.” He added, “It’s got to happen in a fast order for all of us.”
Dickert said he had faith that they would get there, but said there are only three weeks left to do it.
Main Image: Tony Siracusa
