For the past four seasons Coach Jim Grobe has had playmakers that would step up in the fourth quarter to seal the win for the Deacs such as Alphonso Smith and Aaron Curry on defense and Riley Skinner and Kenny Moore on offense. The question now is Who will be the guy that steps up to make the big play when the game is on the line?
Both the offense and the defense had a chance to seal the game against Navy, but no one stepped up on either side of the ball. As I watched the last three minutes of the game, I felt uneasy. I waited for the big names to take over the game and run out the clock. It didn't happen. The game was placed in the hands of a redshirt freshman runningback, Josh Harris, and he was stopped for a five yard lost. There was no big block, no big run, no big catch or no big play by Tanner Price during the most important offensive series of the game. The Deacs went 3 and out. The defense could have sealed the game too. If they could have kept Navy out of the end zone for 2 minutes, they would have been the heroes. However, as the clock ticked away, the only big plays came from Navy as they advanced the ball 64 yards.The Deacs blitzed corner A.J. Marshall in hopes of making a big play, but Ricky Dobbs made the big play. He converted a 3rd and 10 for a thirty-four yard pass to Gee Gee Greene to get to the Deacs 15yd line. The Deacs were still in the drivers seat, but with 26 seconds left in the game and no time outs it was Navy's Ricky Dobbs who made the big play with a touchdown pass to Greg Jones to secure a one point lead.
The lost to Navy really bothered Coach Grobe and the Deacs. They believed that they were only one play from winning the ball game or maybe one playmaker from winning the ball game. In the pre-season Coach Grobe stated that he was fielding one of the fastest defenses that he has had and one of the most talented offenses that he has had during his tenure at Wake Forest, but they lacked experience. When this young team matures, I believe that a playmaker will arise, but who will it be?
