Wake Forest looks a little weak in the secondary heading into the season opener against Vandy.
Defensive coordinator Dean Hood of Wake Forest calls it the "brook-trout look." It's a look he would rather not see Sept. 1 in the Deacons' season opener against Vanderbilt.
Hood, who also coaches the secondary, spoke about the look in relation to Eric King, a Wake Forest cornerback who made first-team All-ACC as a junior and second team as a senior. It's the facial expression of a cornerback who knows he has been burned, and, furthermore, knows that tens of thousands also know he has been burned.
"To me, what separated Eric King from anybody else is he never got shook," Hood said. "Yeah, he got beat. There are great receivers in the ACC.
"But he never had that brook-trout look. He wanted to go right back out there and cover the guy again.
"You've got somebody that gets shook, you can't put them in a game. And I've had a bunch of great players that have played corner, and with every single one of them at one point I had to say, 'You can't go back in. I've got to go with somebody else.'
"I never said that with Eric King."
It's unfortunate for Hood and the Deacons that King is now playing for the Buffalo Bills. Marcus McGruder, last year's other starting cornerback, also graduated.
Consequently, life on the edge has become a little edgier in the Deacons' secondary. In the season opener, chances appear better than even that Wake Forest will start two freshmen cornerbacks who have never played a game of college football.
"That's life," Hood said.
The news story of the preseason actually broke before the first practice, when running back Chris Barclay and Riley Swanson were suspended for the first game for an offseason incident in which Swanson was cited for misdemeanor possession of marijuana. It was obviously a blow to lose Barclay, a senior well within range of the all-time rushing record at Wake Forest. But it was probably a bigger blow to lose Swanson, whose absence left the Deacons with sophomore Johnny Edwards and freshmen Alphonso Smith, Kevin Patterson and Kerry Major battling for playing time at cornerback.
Edwards played sparingly last season. Smith, Patterson and Major redshirted last year and thus have never played college football.
The first quarterback they will face will be Jay Cutler, a senior who was voted preseason All-SEC by the conference's coaches.
Hood said he has two sources of consolation. One is that last year's safeties, juniors Patrick Ghee and Josh Gattis, survived their own baptisms under fire and emerged tougher and more experienced. And the second is that the cornerback corps is, as a group, more talented than the one it will replace.
"Our quarterbacks, on defense, are really our safeties," Hood said. "So you knew (last year) you were experienced out there on the edge, and you felt good about it. But having young guys at safety, you worried about them busting a call. Last year, those young safeties, Ghee and Gattis, came along and did a great job for us and (Warren Braxton) had a great senior year.
"We're going to be OK. We've got some experience at safety, which helps calm those corners down. And we're talented. We're talented at corner.
"Really I would say top to bottom - if you put all the corners we had last year and then all the corners we have this year, and shook them up - top to bottom I think we're more talented. But it's just a matter of game experience."
Swanson and Edwards were listed as starters on the only depth chart released so far by the coaching staff. But Smith and Patterson have been running on first team in recent practices.
Smith is a 5-9, 185-pound product of the same high school in Pahokee, Fla., where wide receiver Demir Boldin and linebacker Antonio Wilson played. Patterson, who is 5-10, 182 pounds, is from Kingsland, Ga.
"I think you just have to adapt to the environment," Patterson said. "I'm willing to accept the challenge. After my redshirt year, I'm kind of hungry right now.
"I'm ready to get out there and see how it is."
Both freshmen agree that there will be plays on which they get beat. And both agree that how they react will tell the tale.
"The best cornerbacks you find have short memories," Smith. "I know if I get beat, I care. But at the same time, I wouldn't care. I'm going to play hard and give 100 percent.
"Getting beat isn't a fear for me. I'm a competitor. I just compete."
Hearing of Smith's confidence brought a smile to Hood's face.
"I don't think you get a scholarship for college football at corner and lack confidence," Hood said. "There probably aren't a whole lot of those cats around. You might find them at another spot maybe. Not corner.
"Those guys are used to life on the edge."
http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/S...84564590&path=!sports!article&s=1037645509200
Defensive coordinator Dean Hood of Wake Forest calls it the "brook-trout look." It's a look he would rather not see Sept. 1 in the Deacons' season opener against Vanderbilt.
Hood, who also coaches the secondary, spoke about the look in relation to Eric King, a Wake Forest cornerback who made first-team All-ACC as a junior and second team as a senior. It's the facial expression of a cornerback who knows he has been burned, and, furthermore, knows that tens of thousands also know he has been burned.
"To me, what separated Eric King from anybody else is he never got shook," Hood said. "Yeah, he got beat. There are great receivers in the ACC.
"But he never had that brook-trout look. He wanted to go right back out there and cover the guy again.
"You've got somebody that gets shook, you can't put them in a game. And I've had a bunch of great players that have played corner, and with every single one of them at one point I had to say, 'You can't go back in. I've got to go with somebody else.'
"I never said that with Eric King."
It's unfortunate for Hood and the Deacons that King is now playing for the Buffalo Bills. Marcus McGruder, last year's other starting cornerback, also graduated.
Consequently, life on the edge has become a little edgier in the Deacons' secondary. In the season opener, chances appear better than even that Wake Forest will start two freshmen cornerbacks who have never played a game of college football.
"That's life," Hood said.
The news story of the preseason actually broke before the first practice, when running back Chris Barclay and Riley Swanson were suspended for the first game for an offseason incident in which Swanson was cited for misdemeanor possession of marijuana. It was obviously a blow to lose Barclay, a senior well within range of the all-time rushing record at Wake Forest. But it was probably a bigger blow to lose Swanson, whose absence left the Deacons with sophomore Johnny Edwards and freshmen Alphonso Smith, Kevin Patterson and Kerry Major battling for playing time at cornerback.
Edwards played sparingly last season. Smith, Patterson and Major redshirted last year and thus have never played college football.
The first quarterback they will face will be Jay Cutler, a senior who was voted preseason All-SEC by the conference's coaches.
Hood said he has two sources of consolation. One is that last year's safeties, juniors Patrick Ghee and Josh Gattis, survived their own baptisms under fire and emerged tougher and more experienced. And the second is that the cornerback corps is, as a group, more talented than the one it will replace.
"Our quarterbacks, on defense, are really our safeties," Hood said. "So you knew (last year) you were experienced out there on the edge, and you felt good about it. But having young guys at safety, you worried about them busting a call. Last year, those young safeties, Ghee and Gattis, came along and did a great job for us and (Warren Braxton) had a great senior year.
"We're going to be OK. We've got some experience at safety, which helps calm those corners down. And we're talented. We're talented at corner.
"Really I would say top to bottom - if you put all the corners we had last year and then all the corners we have this year, and shook them up - top to bottom I think we're more talented. But it's just a matter of game experience."
Swanson and Edwards were listed as starters on the only depth chart released so far by the coaching staff. But Smith and Patterson have been running on first team in recent practices.
Smith is a 5-9, 185-pound product of the same high school in Pahokee, Fla., where wide receiver Demir Boldin and linebacker Antonio Wilson played. Patterson, who is 5-10, 182 pounds, is from Kingsland, Ga.
"I think you just have to adapt to the environment," Patterson said. "I'm willing to accept the challenge. After my redshirt year, I'm kind of hungry right now.
"I'm ready to get out there and see how it is."
Both freshmen agree that there will be plays on which they get beat. And both agree that how they react will tell the tale.
"The best cornerbacks you find have short memories," Smith. "I know if I get beat, I care. But at the same time, I wouldn't care. I'm going to play hard and give 100 percent.
"Getting beat isn't a fear for me. I'm a competitor. I just compete."
Hearing of Smith's confidence brought a smile to Hood's face.
"I don't think you get a scholarship for college football at corner and lack confidence," Hood said. "There probably aren't a whole lot of those cats around. You might find them at another spot maybe. Not corner.
"Those guys are used to life on the edge."
http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/S...84564590&path=!sports!article&s=1037645509200
