Maryland loss hurts Deacs in more ways than one

Wake Forest left Saturday's 26-0 loss at Maryland hurting in more ways than one.

Besides losing center Trey Bailey for at least the rest of the regular season because of a broken ankle, the Deacons sustained a number of significant injuries across their depth chart. Three starters — cornerback Brandon Ghee, safety Kevin Patterson and tight end Ben Wooster — are listed as questionable for Saturday's game at Miami.

And kicker Sam Swank remains questionable as well after missing the past two games with a strained quadriceps.

"I think some of the coaches are questionable," Coach Jim Grobe said, in jest. "It was a physical game up there at Maryland.

"This was as banged up as we've been after a football game. We've really been pretty fortunate. We really haven't had too many serious injuries."

Ghee sprained an ankle, Patterson sprained a medial-collateral ligament, and Wooster pulled a hamstring. Football trainer Don Steelman said before last night's practice that Wooster will definitely miss the game against Miami and that Ghee and Patterson will have to heal in the next couple of days to have a chance.

Wooster was not in uniform. Ghee and Patterson dressed for practice but did little. Neither was optimistic about his chances of playing Saturday.

"We'll just see how it is," Grobe said. "It's one of those deals where kids all heal differently.

"(Patterson) said he felt twice as good (Monday) as he did Sunday. So we'll see."

Grobe said that if Ghee, Patterson and Wooster are unavailable, he would start redshirt freshman Josh Bush at cornerback, sophomore Alex Frye at safety and freshman Andrew Parker at tight end.

"We've had some guys dinged and donged along the way, but this is the first time we've had this many front-line guys who are banged up," Grobe said. "It's a really big concern, but at the same time, one guy's misfortune could be another guy's opportunity.

"The problems you get into with those type things is it just becomes a depth issue. Now we've bumped Russ Nenon to center, and you're asking a freshman, Joe Looney, to play more snaps than he is used to. You start running out of bodies after a while."

Cameron Ford, a redshirt freshman who missed valuable practice time in the preseason with a high-ankle sprain, has looked better in recent practices. He most likely will split time with Parker.

"I'm hopeful that Cameron could start playing a little," Grobe said. "He had a high-ankle sprain for about three years now, I think. He finally got over it, so if we could get him going, that would be really good for us.

"He seems healthy. He's smiling once in a while now. He is actually practicing hard. So hopefully both of those kids together could give us a good effort at that position."

The loss of Bailey, who started the first six games, left the offensive line without any apparent depth.

Other than the Navy game, when redshirt freshmen Michael Hoag and Doug Weaver were thrown into the breach because of an ejection of Joe Birdsong and knee injury suffered by Jeff Griffin, the Deacons have gone with six linemen.

Looney, in effect, was the depth. He'll start against Miami.

Grobe said that Steed Lobotzke, the offensive coordinator and line coach, will continue to work to improve Hoag and Weaver. He also raised the possibility that two juniors, Boomer Peterson and Gage Crews, might use the opportunity to carve out the first appreciable playing time of their careers.

"Guys that were kind of on the outside looking in are now on the inside," Grobe said. "We'll see how they respond. We'll see if you step up or step down."

Grobe said he probably won't learn whether Swank can kick and/or punt until late in the week. Swank has missed two games since sustaining an injury in practice Oct. 6.

Swank was not dressed out for last night's practice.

"We're still up in the air on him," Grobe said. "I chuckled at first when Don came over and told me he had hurt himself kicking footballs. I thought that was funny at the time. It doesn't seem very funny right now.

"He was by himself. He was over working on his fundamentals, and it pulled."

Dan Collins can be reached at 727-7323 or at dcollins@wsjournal.com