Saturday scrimmage report

Winston-Salem, NC - The Demon Deacon offense appeared more comfortable with the off-season changes in Wake Forest's second scrimmage of the spring, scoring on short touchdown runs by Tanner Price (three yards) and Josh Harris (four yards).

Offensive coordinator Steed Lobotzke called an option and run-heavy set of plays, as Wake ran 57 times for 192 yards to nine pass attempts that produced five completions for 92 yards.

Harris led the way with 14 carries for 67 yards and his scoring plunge, while DeAndre Martin added 63 yards on eight touches.

Orville Reynolds was also used well in the Deacs ground game on wide receiver sweeps from his slot position, gaining 36 yards on four carries.

The offensive line is still influx as Hunter Goodwin replaced Will Smith at left tackle in the starting lineup. Goodwin was joined by Ty Hayworth at left guard, Whit Barnes at center, Frank Souza at right guard[/db] and Dylan Intemann at right tackle.

Cody Preble, who plays offensive tackle and center, sprained his ankle on the final of the play of the scrimmage, putting an already lean group at greater risk. Wake Forest's offensive line began the scrimmage with players due to injuries.

Defensively, the Demon Deacons had stellar performances from Ryan Janvion, Zach Thompson, Brandon Chubb and Marquel Lee.

Janvion finished with a scrimmage-best nine tackles, while Chubb and Thompson added seven apiece, and Lee assisted on five.

Post-scrimmage Q-&-A's …

Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe

Coach, it looks like you're getting Marquel Lee a good number of reps. What are you seeing from him? I know he hasn't been here very long. "Lots of good stuff, lots of good stuff. This is a tough deal for him right now, because he's seeing so much misdirection stuff right now that it's hard for those inside linebackers. It's even hard on [Brandon] Chubb and some of the more veteran guys, but I think Marquel is doing some great things."

"Teddy Matthews is doing some good things. I like the play right now of our inside linebackers. I think they're doing some really good, good stuff right now."

You really like this defense don't you? "I do, I do, and you know we are not putting Nikita [Whitlock] out there a lot, but the thing that I like on this defense is we've got a handful of guys that are pretty good at taking the ball away. They're athletic."

"I think A.J. Marshall's had a great spring. He's doing a great job back there coordinating that secondary. We haven't been able to use Merrill Noel as much as we needed to this spring, because of his shoulder surgery, but Kevin Johnson's done some fantastic things."

"I think Chubb's really had a good spring. I think getting Mike Olson back will help us. Getting him healthy will certainly help us."

"As I mentioned we haven't used Nikita a lot. I think all of those defensive front guys … Zach Thompson's had a great spring. He's one that nobody ever talks about, but he's had a great spring and Justin Jackson is a really good player. I'm happy defensively right now."

"Our offense is stretching our defense out. They're making them be assignment-conscious, be in the right spots, so we don't just have guys running around without thinking. They got to know where they got to be. I think defensively we got to get better, but I like the way we're playing right now."

Wake Forest free safety Ryan Janvion

You had a great scrimmage out there. Will you tell me what you saw out there and what you were doing well? "In high school I just ran to the football and made plays all around the field. I really wanted to try to bring that to college. The hardest part was getting used to all the play coverages and knowing what to do on the field. Today I really felt comfortable out there and I just ran to the football and made plays."

Last week coach told us they're really trying to simplify things defensively for you guys. How do you feel that impacting your game right now? "Oh it's great. When the defense doesn't have to think so much it makes things a lot easier. It just allows you to be able to run to the football faster, play faster, work together easier and make plays all around the field. I really like that he's doing that."

Is the game slowing down for you a little bit? "Yeah, big-time. I was just talking to some of my guys. The first week I got out here everything was moving at lightning speed and it's just slowing down gradually. I'm thankful for that."

How's it feel to get that redshirt off? "It's nice. I was eager to play last year. Coach Grobe was excited. He wanted to play me last year, but he felt that I'd be better to the time taking the redshirt and sucking it up for a year."