Post by captaggie on Sept 18, 2004 11:31:12 GMT -5
www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031778024598&path=!sports!football&s=1037645509262
NOTE: I only posted the portion of the article that dealt w/ A&T.
Deacons expecting tough game from Aggies
Wake Forest, 1-1 after two road games, gets ready for first home game this season
By Dan Collins
JOURNAL REPORTER
Wake Forest's Cory Randolph, talented quarterback, bright student and solid citizen, has never been one to talk trash about the other team.
But he'll disparage the other team's band in a drumbeat.
So when it was mentioned earlier this week that today's opponent, N.C. A&T, has a really good marching band, Randolph said he has heard better. And Randolph, a product of Lake City, Fla., further inflamed the matter by saying he has heard better from the same conference as N.C. A&T, the MEAC, while attending football games of Tallahassee's Florida A&M.
"I know they have a great band," Randolph said of N.C. A&T. "They don't have the best (MEAC) band though.
"That's FAMU, right around my area."
Coach Jim Grobe of Wake Forest, who knows bulletin-board ma-terial when he hears it, scrambled to defuse the issue.
"Everybody I talked to said that A&T has a great band," Grobe said. "I think they're better than FAMU's. I just want to let that be known if Cory feels the other way.
"And, of course, they have a really good football team."
Pride will obviously be on the line tonight when the Deacons play their home opener against the Aggies at 6:30 at Groves Stadium. Wake Forest is a proud member of the Atlantic Coast Conference of the NCAA's Division I-A, and as an ACC team has never before played, much less lost to, a team from the Division I-AA MEAC.
Meanwhile, the Aggies, who filled in a hole in the Deacons' schedule after Air Force postponed a trip to Wake Forest, will be representing their school, their conference and their division. After last week's 16-13 loss to Alcorn State, N.C. A&T (1-1) will be one of the biggest underdogs to visit Groves Stadium.
Nevertheless, Grobe maintains that his Deacons will have to play well to win. On this subject, he and Randolph agree.
"It's going to be a hard physical game," Randolph said. "I watched film and they've got a lot of great athletes. They're very similar to ECU, very athletic.
"So it's going to be a tough game."
The Aggies, who finished 10-3 last season, needed a last-second 50-yard field goal to beat N.C. Central 16-15 in this season's opener. Grobe said they actually played better against Alcorn State, when they amassed 224 rushing yards on 53 carries.
Senior Christopher Jones, in his first college start, gained 117 yards on 27 carries and senior Micheaux Hollingsworth gained 84 yards on 12 carries.
The Aggies, coached by George Small, have averaged 286 yards, 1391/2 rushing and 14611/2 passing. Opponents have averaged 266 yards, 132 rushing and 134 passing.
"I'm really impressed with how well they're coached," Grobe said. "They don't beat themselves.
"Their defense is really impressive. They fly around and chase the football, and they're very sound fundamentally.
"Offensively they play to their defense. They're a field-position football team and they take good care of the football.
"They have a lot of talent. They run exceptionally well."
The Deacons will play without four players who started the season opener at Clemson: wide receiver Jason Anderson, fullback Damon McWhite, offensive guard Brodie Overstreet and defensive end Bryan Andrews.
Anderson sprained an ankle last week against East Carolina, and will miss at least a week. McWhite partially tore a knee ligament against ECU and is out for four-to-six weeks. Overstreet will miss the season after an examination revealed the possibility of damage to one of his eyes. And Andrews, who got a bruised shin and sprained ankle in the opener at Clemson, is expected to miss at least one more game.
Now that the Deacons are finally back home, after opening the season with two road games, they can make themselves comfortable in the knowledge that six of their next seven games will be played in Groves Stadium.
But Grobe warned that the Deacons can't make themselves too comfortable. After today's game, Wake Forest will play at home against Boston College (Sept. 25), Virginia Tech (Oct. 9), Florida State (Oct. 23), Duke (Oct. 30) and North Carolina (Nov. 13).
Their only road trip during that stretch is against N.C. State on Oct. 2.
"The tough part is opening on the road twice, in really hostile environments," Grobe said. "What you worry about is exactly what happened. We're beat up right now.
"So you come home and you say 'It's good to be home.' Then you look at who you play, and you're not really excited about that because everybody we play at home is a good football team - and will be motivated to come in here and play us.
"The schedule is not easy, but it is nice to be at home..."
NOTE: I only posted the portion of the article that dealt w/ A&T.
Deacons expecting tough game from Aggies
Wake Forest, 1-1 after two road games, gets ready for first home game this season
By Dan Collins
JOURNAL REPORTER
Wake Forest's Cory Randolph, talented quarterback, bright student and solid citizen, has never been one to talk trash about the other team.
But he'll disparage the other team's band in a drumbeat.
So when it was mentioned earlier this week that today's opponent, N.C. A&T, has a really good marching band, Randolph said he has heard better. And Randolph, a product of Lake City, Fla., further inflamed the matter by saying he has heard better from the same conference as N.C. A&T, the MEAC, while attending football games of Tallahassee's Florida A&M.
"I know they have a great band," Randolph said of N.C. A&T. "They don't have the best (MEAC) band though.
"That's FAMU, right around my area."
Coach Jim Grobe of Wake Forest, who knows bulletin-board ma-terial when he hears it, scrambled to defuse the issue.
"Everybody I talked to said that A&T has a great band," Grobe said. "I think they're better than FAMU's. I just want to let that be known if Cory feels the other way.
"And, of course, they have a really good football team."
Pride will obviously be on the line tonight when the Deacons play their home opener against the Aggies at 6:30 at Groves Stadium. Wake Forest is a proud member of the Atlantic Coast Conference of the NCAA's Division I-A, and as an ACC team has never before played, much less lost to, a team from the Division I-AA MEAC.
Meanwhile, the Aggies, who filled in a hole in the Deacons' schedule after Air Force postponed a trip to Wake Forest, will be representing their school, their conference and their division. After last week's 16-13 loss to Alcorn State, N.C. A&T (1-1) will be one of the biggest underdogs to visit Groves Stadium.
Nevertheless, Grobe maintains that his Deacons will have to play well to win. On this subject, he and Randolph agree.
"It's going to be a hard physical game," Randolph said. "I watched film and they've got a lot of great athletes. They're very similar to ECU, very athletic.
"So it's going to be a tough game."
The Aggies, who finished 10-3 last season, needed a last-second 50-yard field goal to beat N.C. Central 16-15 in this season's opener. Grobe said they actually played better against Alcorn State, when they amassed 224 rushing yards on 53 carries.
Senior Christopher Jones, in his first college start, gained 117 yards on 27 carries and senior Micheaux Hollingsworth gained 84 yards on 12 carries.
The Aggies, coached by George Small, have averaged 286 yards, 1391/2 rushing and 14611/2 passing. Opponents have averaged 266 yards, 132 rushing and 134 passing.
"I'm really impressed with how well they're coached," Grobe said. "They don't beat themselves.
"Their defense is really impressive. They fly around and chase the football, and they're very sound fundamentally.
"Offensively they play to their defense. They're a field-position football team and they take good care of the football.
"They have a lot of talent. They run exceptionally well."
The Deacons will play without four players who started the season opener at Clemson: wide receiver Jason Anderson, fullback Damon McWhite, offensive guard Brodie Overstreet and defensive end Bryan Andrews.
Anderson sprained an ankle last week against East Carolina, and will miss at least a week. McWhite partially tore a knee ligament against ECU and is out for four-to-six weeks. Overstreet will miss the season after an examination revealed the possibility of damage to one of his eyes. And Andrews, who got a bruised shin and sprained ankle in the opener at Clemson, is expected to miss at least one more game.
Now that the Deacons are finally back home, after opening the season with two road games, they can make themselves comfortable in the knowledge that six of their next seven games will be played in Groves Stadium.
But Grobe warned that the Deacons can't make themselves too comfortable. After today's game, Wake Forest will play at home against Boston College (Sept. 25), Virginia Tech (Oct. 9), Florida State (Oct. 23), Duke (Oct. 30) and North Carolina (Nov. 13).
Their only road trip during that stretch is against N.C. State on Oct. 2.
"The tough part is opening on the road twice, in really hostile environments," Grobe said. "What you worry about is exactly what happened. We're beat up right now.
"So you come home and you say 'It's good to be home.' Then you look at who you play, and you're not really excited about that because everybody we play at home is a good football team - and will be motivated to come in here and play us.
"The schedule is not easy, but it is nice to be at home..."