Wake Forest vs. Vanderbilt- Retro Diary

1st quarter

Vandy receives the ball to start the game.

-Wake gives up a 17 yard run to Zac Stacy to start the game. Kevin Johnson needed to close the gap and it could have been a gain of only 1.

-4th and 1, and Vanderbilt picks it up. I applaud James Franklin for making the correct decision to go for it.

-Another 4th and 1, and Franklin again elects to go for it. Jim Grobe needs to take notes.

-Very next play Vanderbilt converted the easiest touchdown pass I've ever seen. 7-0 Commodores.

Wake Ball

-Tanner does a nice job buying time to hit Camp for a first down on 3rd and long. Nice follow up with a swing pass to Camp. Gotta get him involved.

-Early doses of Deandre Martin.

-Huge pass interference call. Pick up the 1st down and it's 1st and goal from the 2.

-Would you look at that? T-Bo gets a touchdown on his first run of the season. Use him more! Great answer by the Deacs!

Vanderbilt Ball

-The artist formerly known as Kenny Okoro continues to get picked on like a fat kid in a dodgeball game.

-We are generating some pressure on Rodgers, but are unable to get an sacks.

2nd quarter

-Okoro on Jordan Matthews might be the biggest mismatch in all of college football.

-Outstanding forced fumble by Joey Ehrman.

Wake Ball

-Tanner has done a better job today hanging in the pocket long enough to throw the ball down field. Nice connection with Michael Campanaro.

-Tanner really missed on that pass to Sherman Ragland III. I hated the call to play-action on third and long. No one is biting on that play fake.

-Alex Kinal broke an ACC record for punts in a season. All you need to know about Wake's offense this season. Punt coverage was horrible and Vanderbilt returned it into Wake territory.

Vanderbilt Ball

-Wake has been unable to capitalize on Vanderbilt's penalties so far today.

-The younger brothers are killing us today. Rodgers and Tate have been a force. Wake needs to answer here.

Wake Ball

-Why must we continue to field it at the goal line and only return it to the 15?

-After a nice pick up to Campanaro, Wake just gave up too many sacks on the next series of downs.

Vanderbilt Ball

-Rodgers to Matthews on a 64-yard touchdown pass. Wake's secondary has been nothing short of atrocious today.

Wake Ball

-Wake was about to return it from 5 yards deep in the endzone, but we botched the catch a bit and took a knee instead.

-Wake gets a first down on a unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, and then Sharman Ragland III recovers it. 28-7 is imminent.

Vanderbilt Ball

-Stacy just went untouched on that touchdown run. Absolutely too easy out there. I am beyond jealous that they have James Franklin and we don't.

Wake Ball

-Early prediction is that even though we have 3 times outs we'll be content going into the half with this 28-7 score.

-Surprisingly we're actually trying to do something on offense. Let's hope our clock management is better than Virginia's was earlier.

-I like that we went for it on 4th down, but execution was nothing short of awful on that one. It was like we didn't even put any thought into the play.

Vanderbilt Ball

-Okoro finally gets an interception, but there are only 7 seconds left in the half.

Wake Ball

-Wake tries a big play, but is intercepted. End of the half.

3rd quarter

-Wake gets incredibly lucky that Vandy drops a guaranteed pick 6. Sure enough Vandy blocks the punt and recovers it in the end zone.

Final Thoughts

I'm just finished when this team and this season. It has been beyond frustrating and the fans deserve so much better from the coaching staff. They are coming nowhere near close to earning their paychecks. Changes must be made. It would be a complete embarrassment if this team made a bowl game on an APR technicality.

I'm not even going to comment on the rest of the game. Sweeping changes absolutely must be made in order for our football program to move forward and grow. We need a youthful and excited coach to reinvigorate the program. There's no excitement around this program anywhere. I'm sorry, but we can't be living in 2006 forever. This coaching staff failed to capitalize on 3 straight bowl appearances from 2006-2007. This year will mark the third year out of the four since that we have failed to win six games in a season. It will be the fourth year in a row that we will finish with a sub .500 record. That's unacceptable and that's certainly not worthy of $2.25 M/year.

Prior to this game we've been outscored 327-201. I can't even begin to describe how terrible that is. It has gotten to the point where it is frustrating for me to watch good college football teams. I realize they have superior talent, but they are so much better coached. Our extreme conservatism limits our ability to win games. Vanderbilt has been a perennial doormat. James Franklin has come in and completely changed things. They had consecutive 2-10 seasons before he got there, and he has led them to two consecutive bowl trips. Their win over Wake will also be their 8th of the season, which will be their most in wins in 30 years. He's taking a school with very similar demographics and athletic limitations and has transformed them to a team that went 5-3 in the SEC.

I can understand that due to finances Jim Grobe will in all likelihood be retained, but something must be done about the rest of the coaching staff. We run soft coverages and and have a conservative offense. There's no reason that we shouldn't consistently be making bowl games in the lowly ACC. This year we lost to Duke, Maryland, Florida State by 52, Clemson by 29, North Carolina State by 31, Notre Dame by 38. We're losing to bad teams and getting flat-out embarrassed by good teams. That just doesn't happen to well-coached teams. I'm done. I welcome comments, and I hope our athletic department makes changes this offseason. Something tells me our athletic department couldn't be happier. Hopefully our president isn't.