{"id":123216,"date":"2025-08-06T09:14:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T09:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/123216\/"},"modified":"2025-08-06T09:14:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T09:14:09","slug":"wake-forest-offense-finding-some-footing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/123216\/","title":{"rendered":"Wake Forest Offense Finding Some Footing"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Wake Forest nears the halfway point of Fall camp<\/a>, the offense is still getting its footing. The gap between the performance of the defense and that of the offense is not as big as it was last week. But there are still questions to be answered.<\/p>\n

Wake Forest Offense<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"WakePhoto from Tony Siracusa
\nProgress Made?<\/p>\n

After a feisty full-contact practice in pads on Tuesday, Wake head coach Jake Dickert said he was pleased with the progress the offense has made in recent days. \u201cWe are pretty much fully installed on both sides of the ball,\u201d he told the media after practice on Tuesday. \u201cThe ebbs and flows throughout camp are good. You don\u2019t ever want one side smoking the other side.\u201d<\/p>\n

He called Tuesday a humbling day for the defense. There were a handful of what he called discipline penalties during the live scrimmaging. Offsides and pass interference calls put the defense in some tough spots. \u201cThe things you control can beat you,\u201d he said of the mental errors. \u201cI was trying to make our team understand, we own that stuff. The more disciplined we can be to our execution and habits, the better football team we\u2019ll be.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Quarterback Race<\/p>\n

There is no change in the quarterback race. Dickert said he was pleased with the progress from Robby Ashford and Deshaun Purdie. But it is still a three-person race for snaps in a game. \u201cOur guys need to be on the move. They need to be running. You see the skill sets now that are really developed,\u201d Dickert said, as he referred to those skillsets as, \u201cElite.\u201d That includes true freshman Steele Pizzella. \u201cThis guy can roll. Every situation we get in, he\u2019s answered the bell,\u201d Dickert said. \u201cHe\u2019s kind of a little bit of a hybrid blend of those two guys (Ashford and Purdie).<\/p>\n

Offensive coordinator Rob Ezell, the day before, said he was encouraged that the quarterback competition had three players taking the bulk of the snaps. \u201cAll three have really elevated their play from the Spring,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Discipline Issue<\/p>\n

Defensive lineman Nuer Gatkuoth felt the issues on his side of the ball on Tuesday. \u201cI think today we were undisciplined as a whole. We had a lot of mental errors, and you could the offense get one up on us,\u201d he said after Tuesday\u2019s practice. \u201cThere was just a lot of undisciplined people on the field, including myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

He had one of those offside penalties that Dickert referred to. \u201cThat was me, undisciplined, so I\u2019ve just got to get back,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m going to get my a** chewed out in the meeting room today, but it is what it is. I\u2019m going to come back next practice and change it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freak<\/p>\n

The day before, we broke the news to Ezell in our time with him that Bruce Feldman\u2019s annually anticipated \u201cFreaks List\u201d included one Demon Deacon. He was not surprised when we told him who it was. Running back Demond Claiborne is 63rd on the list of 101 physically gifted college football players.<\/p>\n

Claiborne is listed as only 5\u2019-10\u201d, 200 pounds. But he has verifiably squatted 500 pounds in the weight room. He is also considered one of the fastest running backs in the country. \u201cAt practice, every rep for him is like a game rep,\u201d Ezell said.<\/p>\n

Dickert said it was an easy call for Claiborne to be on the list. \u201cThis guy IS a freak in everything he does and the way he practices,\u201d Dickert said it was the best (most productive) \u00a0Summer of Claiborne\u2019s career, and the results are clear to see.<\/p>\n

Claiborne Says<\/p>\n

We asked Claiborne if he was offended to only be number 63 on the list. \u201cIt\u2019s cool. I play ball,\u201d he said with a chuckle. \u201cAll that weight room stuff, you can be a weight room All-American and not touch the field.\u201d But the longer he talked about it, it was almost as though he couldn\u2019t help himself. \u201cTo be tagged with an award and to be number 63, some stuff is just disrespectful. And I just let that be disrespectful, and I just keep moving with my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Claiborne gave credit to strength and conditioning coach Ben Iannochione for boosting his strength and dropping his body fat. Wake will have a full run scrimmage on Saturday morning.<\/p>\n

Main Image: Tony Siracusa<\/p>\n

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