The Quintessential Jim Grobe/Wake Forest Football Game

[Kent]

Yesterday's chapter in the WFU book of blown opportunities had more to do with defense than offense or Lobo. The QB made our defense look better than it was for a while. They moved the ball effortlessly on us when it counted.

 

[ChrisL68]

Okoro, Marshall, Noel, Allen, Bush, Jackson, Wilbur, Nikita,Thompson, Ehrman, Looney, Chase, Price, Bohannon, Harris, Penergrass, Cam, Givens, Davis

I will take all of those guys and go to war.

I'm not saying we have SEC talent everywhere but other than the freak D-line players which we will not get we are competitive. Our coaches do a great job of developing this talent.

Why the hell don't we just go ahead and make the proper in game decisions and win - that's it. Lobo has skills below the level of our talent, and at the margin he is the weak link.

Do you think we will have as many players in NFL camps as FSU or Clemson or GT or Miami or VT or UNC? Those players give us a chance to be competitive.

The "proper in game decisons" seem to be decisions that end up in success because I have seen all kinds of decisions that aren't executed properly criticized on this board.

 

[dmcheatw]

think that was 08. Could have also gone had Marshall Williams held on to the td catch at state.

So that would have been three ACCCG appearances in six seasons.

that was the other williams, the one who wasn't as good wasn't it?

 

[tau06]

Reality is that we won the ACC Championship 5 years ago and we had a real shot at going back today. If you want to be average, you can be average. I would rather shoot for greatness and hit it every now and then.

Bingo. Well said.

 

[Bluegrass Deac]

The play that bothered me the most that I haven't seen discussed here (but haven't read the thread too closely) was the third down out pattern pass to Camp in the end zone before the missed FG. To me that was the textbook throw away play called by Grobe. Had about a 20% or less chance of being successful and no chance of hurting you. We had been gashing them pretty badly with our running game so I would have preferred a run there. BP was tired from his previous run so I thought giving Orville a shot there would have been a nice high percentage chance at busting one.

Two other things, I thought Tanner should have run the ball on the second down play before the one I mentioned above where he avoided the sack, and then on the last possession he avoided a sack again and instead of running for some pretty easy yardage threw a pass that had no chance. He will learn that with time.

 

[ChrisL68]

Camp got held on that play. It should have been called.

 

[ChrisL68]

We were playing to win. not for OT.

 

[ArlingtonDeac]

agreed. grobe gets one more year to bring us our long deserved national title. one. after that he must go.

it's absurd. we see schools like lsu and usc and alabama winning national titles, and it's just frustrating. frankly, i'm sick of it.

I see we're on the same page. Which is weird, since you're usually so sarcastic.

Honest question: do people really believe that what we have now with Grobe can never be eclipsed by another coach? I don't, but I'd like to hear what others think. I think Grobe did the hard part, which was establishing that WF could be a legit threat in football. That was an incredible feat that can never be understated. But the next coach will enter a situation where everyone already understand that WF can not only be viable, but can play for bowls and titles. And I think there are better game coaches out there that would jump at a BCS job. So in my mind, I just don't consider Grobe as irreplaceable as most, and therefore am more critical of our persistent inability to close games or seasons. Am I wrong?

Also, the neg rep I got on this thread is so foul, and so violently angry, that I can't help but be impressed. Well done, anonymous poster. You're a wordsmith. Afterbirth as an insult, who knew? Thanks from a fellow Deacon fan!

 

[dmcheatw]

I see we're on the same page. Which is weird, since you're usually so sarcastic.

Honest question: do people really believe that what we have now with Grobe can never be eclipsed by another coach? I don't, but I'd like to hear why others think. I think Grobe did the hard part, which was establishing that WF could be a legit threat in football. That was an incredible feat that can never be understated. But the next coach will enter a situation where everyone already understand that WF can not only be viable, but can play for bowls and titles. And I think there are better game coaches out there that would jump at a BCS job. So in my mind, I just don't consider Grobe as irreplaceable as most, and therefore am more critical of our persistent inability to close games or seasons. Am I wrong?

Also, the neg rep I got on this thread is so foul, and so violently angry, that I can't help but be impressed. Well done, anonymous poster. You're a wordsmith. Afterbirth as an insult, who knew? Thanks from a fellow Deacon fan!

it's not that simple, of course there are better coaches than grobe that would jump at the job but identifying one, and then having good luck (luck/fate plays into everything), and that person being a good representative of the school is an exceedingly difficult combination to find and history has shown that a new hire would be more likely to fail than succeed no matter who that hire is.

i also disagree that the perception of wake has changed in the eyes of the greater population. yes i believe what you say, wake is legit. i don't think general population sees wake as anything more than a novelty that will soon fade.

 

[deacfreke2]

I see we're on the same page. Which is weird, since you're usually so sarcastic.

Honest question: do people really believe that what we have now with Grobe can never be eclipsed by another coach? I don't, but I'd like to hear what others think. I think Grobe did the hard part, which was establishing that WF could be a legit threat in football. That was an incredible feat that can never be understated. But the next coach will enter a situation where everyone already understand that WF can not only be viable, but can play for bowls and titles. And I think there are better game coaches out there that would jump at a BCS job. So in my mind, I just don't consider Grobe as irreplaceable as most, and therefore am more critical of our persistent inability to close games or seasons. Am I wrong?

Great post. My thoughts exactly and no, you're not wrong.

 

[Bluegrass Deac]

Camp got held on that play. It should have been called.

He could've been tackled and the ref would have called the ball uncatchable.

 

[Buttermaker]

Just as classic Wake would have been to somehow pull that game out and then lose at home to a bad Maryland team. But agree, losing that game in that fashion was classic WFU football.

 

[diverdeac]

Yesterday's chapter in the WFU book of blown opportunities had more to do with defense than offense or Lobo. The QB made our defense look better than it was for a while. They moved the ball effortlessly on us when it counted.

Clemson is really good on offense. We did about as well as we could there. We had to control the game with our offense which was our advantage.

Poor play calling at key situations killed us, and that is Lobo. They should never have gotten the ball back with time on the last posession as a prime example.

Lobo is not incompetent but he is not talented, and at the margin we can do better.

 

[diverdeac]

There was a way to do both when you have all three timeouts left. Actually we played the only way that we could possibly lose before overtime. We should have run the first two plays in a way to guarantee that the clock would continue to run. There are some passes that are almost certain completions....short pass in the flat, etc., where the guy might be able to make something happen after the catch....or a reverse, etc. There is a possibility for good yardage there....but even if it isn't broken for good yardage, the clock still runs....and if we gain yardage we have three timeouts left to get in more plays. If not, on a worst case basis, Clemson has to use its timeouts, so if we can't drive down the field, they get the ball at their 30 or wherever with 30-40 seconds left....and no timeouts.

If we gain some yards, we have a chance to win....but we have eliminated the possibility of losing in regulation. And the idea that we would be at some kind of huge disadvantage in overtime is without foundation. In any event, we could easily have eliminated the possibility of losing as we did.

GEEZ Chris - I mean come on. Seriously can you not grasp this?

 

[Buttermaker]

I see we're on the same page. Which is weird, since you're usually so sarcastic.

Honest question: do people really believe that what we have now with Grobe can never be eclipsed by another coach? I don't, but I'd like to hear what others think. I think Grobe did the hard part, which was establishing that WF could be a legit threat in football. That was an incredible feat that can never be understated. But the next coach will enter a situation where everyone already understand that WF can not only be viable, but can play for bowls and titles. And I think there are better game coaches out there that would jump at a BCS job. So in my mind, I just don't consider Grobe as irreplaceable as most, and therefore am more critical of our persistent inability to close games or seasons. Am I wrong?

Also, the neg rep I got on this thread is so foul, and so violently angry, that I can't help but be impressed. Well done, anonymous poster. You're a wordsmith. Afterbirth as an insult, who knew? Thanks from a fellow Deacon fan!

Good post.

 

[ChrisL68]

That's exactly what we did. We ran passes to the underneath guy on 1st down and 2nd down and they were both incomplete.

Of course, somebody else criticized us for going with the safe routes. If we don't execute, it Lobo's fault.

 

[diverdeac]

I see we're on the same page. Which is weird, since you're usually so sarcastic.

Honest question: do people really believe that what we have now with Grobe can never be eclipsed by another coach? I don't, but I'd like to hear what others think. I think Grobe did the hard part, which was establishing that WF could be a legit threat in football. That was an incredible feat that can never be understated. But the next coach will enter a situation where everyone already understand that WF can not only be viable, but can play for bowls and titles. And I think there are better game coaches out there that would jump at a BCS job. So in my mind, I just don't consider Grobe as irreplaceable as most, and therefore am more critical of our persistent inability to close games or seasons. Am I wrong?

Also, the neg rep I got on this thread is so foul, and so violently angry, that I can't help but be impressed. Well done, anonymous poster. You're a wordsmith. Afterbirth as an insult, who knew? Thanks from a fellow Deacon fan!

The amount of money we now are getting from TV as part of the ACC is completely changing the landscape. We have an excellent "brand" in football. Grobe has developed a formula for success at Wake which will not be changed. We are recruiting nationally now, and as I have said other than the big ugglies we have dramactically closed the talent gap with speed and player development.

There can be no argument that our program is in great shape. I argue that it is in better shape than you LOWF chaps.

We are right where we need to be. National TV game at home vs. Notre Dame and a great showing, followed by a shot at the Acc.

The only thing missing is a spark of intellect at the offensive co-oirdinator spot. Lobo has been there long enough and it is time to move on.

Yes - there will be days when a bigger team pounds us between the tackles but that style of play is being eclipsed by a more open game like Oregon plays. We can play that way.

Lobo just does not have a talent for play calling and adjusting. He's good at the pre game planning phase.

Jim - please give someone else a shot.

 

[Say Hey Deac]

Anonymous neg reppers are having a field day with this thread. Not sure what my original post said to warrant me fucking myself, as I think it's hard to dispute the fact that the game was all too familiar. Upset perhaps that I referenced aliens? The universe is a big place, my angry friend. It is certainly possible that life exists elsewhere. Admittedly, it is unlikely that alien life would land on my front lawn. You have me there.

 

[dmcheatw]

i dont see how you guys jump from the fact that better coaches than grobe exist to concluding that if we make a new hire it will lead to improvement on the field. that's a huge leap, a leap that history suggests will not come to pass, and in my eyes is sort of foolish to think this way.

why roll the dice we we have a really good thing going, with either grobe or lobo. but especially grobe.

 

[Deacsfan27]

If you are going to pass in that situation on the first two plays....and there is nothing wrong with that....you must throw passes that are almost 100% certain to be completed...to keep the clock running. And there are passes like that....like a 5-yard pass out in the flat to a back, etc. The bottom line is that the clock has to keeping running on the first two plays in that situation!

The underneath routes are connected almost every time...it is literally one of the safest routes to run (especially for us), other than a curl route.