Wake Forest football’s first day of practice: Early look at the QB battle, and more

Wake Forest football took to the practice field for the first time this fall on Monday, and remained on its outdoor fields even as the rain started to pour down.

“Before the first game, you want to get two or three days of wet ball work, and so when it first started raining, I was thinking about coming inside and I’m like, ‘You know what, we’re already out here. It’s already wet,’” head coach Dave Clawson said. “I think it’s good to get work like that because chances are we’re going to find a game or two like this.”

The Demon Deacons, aiming to rebound from last year’s 4-8 record, practiced for about 90 minutes Monday morning. Clawson was pleased with the opening day of training and how his players adapted to the weather.

“When you have the first practice in helmets and spiders, the two things that you look for is you want people to stay off the ground, and I thought we had minimal guys on the ground today, and then you just don’t want it to be sloppy,” Clawson said. “You throw the weather in there and they have every excuse for it to get sloppy and it didn’t … I thought our ball security was decent.”

With the starting quarterback spot up for grabs and a first look at some new and returning faces in the wide receiver and defensive back rooms, here are some key takeaways from Monday’s first day of fall practice.

A first glimpse at the QB battle

Louisiana Tech transfer Hank Bachmeier and redshirt senior Michael Kern both got their first opportunities to impress this fall in the adverse weather conditions on Monday.

Kern, who missed time during spring camp with an injury, consistently ran with the starting group of receivers in Taylor Morin, Donavon Greene and Horatio Fields on Day 1, while Bachmeier threw to the second unit of receivers.

Both are likely to get plenty of chances to throw to a variety of wide receivers in the coming weeks with Clawson in no rush to make a decision on the starter ahead of the Demon Deacons’ season opener against North Carolina A&T on Aug. 29.

“We’re gonna play the long game with this one,” Clawson said. “I think 2021 might have been the only year here that we didn’t have to start different quarterbacks. We have two guys in their sixth year and then we have a bunch of guys in their first and second year and I hope that we can keep those guys healthy, but certainly odds are that we’re going to need both of them.”

Kern connected on a couple of long throws to Morin during an 11-on-11 drill against the starting defense and found Greene a couple times early on in his return to fall camp. The redshirt junior suffered a knee injury on the first day of practice last year that caused him to miss the entire 2023 season.

“Hank and Kern (are) two older quarterbacks, have played a lot of football, it’s been good working with them,” Greene said. “We’ll see which one comes out on top but in my opinion, (they’re) two really good quarterbacks that can run this offense.”

Bachmeier connected with Deuce Alexander consistently throughout Monday’s practice. The redshirt freshman looked sharp and could play a role in the wide receiver room this season after catching just two passes for 30 yards last year. Freshman and four-star recruit Jeremiah Melvin also caught passes from Bachmeier on Monday.

Freshman Jeremy Hecklinski, who impressed in April’s spring game with 204 yards on 12-for-21 passing and three touchdowns, had an up and down day. He connected on two deep balls to Wesley Stroebel and EJ Reid but threw a poor interception straight to defensive back Devin Cook.

While Clawson didn’t rule out other players emerging in the preseason quarterback battle at last week’s ACC media day, it appears that Bachmeier and Kern will be the primary duo competing for the starting spot throughout the rest of fall camp.

“To make a premature decision and just anoint somebody, I don’t think that’s good for them, I don’t think it’s good for the team,” Clawson said. “At some point, we’re going to have to make a hard decision on who the starter is and who the backup is. But there’s no point in making that decision until we have to, and we don’t have to make it until the start of the first game.”

Quick hits

▪ Monday also provided another look at a group of new defensive backs featuring Kent State transfer Capone Blue, who Greene often matched up against and enjoyed battling with. Greene mentioned redshirt sophomore Jamare Glasker, redshirt sophomore Zamari Stevenson and freshman Sam Neely as other names to keep an eye on in a crowded defensive back room.

▪ Morin, Greene and running back Demond Claiborne were involved in Monday’s punt return drills. Clawson said Claiborne, who returned a kickoff for a 96-yard touchdown against Virginia Tech last season, will still be involved in the Demon Deacons’ return game at ACC Media Day on Wednesday.

▪ Speaking of Claiborne, the junior returns as the starting running back after leading the team with 620 yards and five touchdowns last season. Clawson said that while he’s still not a finished product, “he has a chance to be a really, really special player for us.”

▪ “Every time he gets his hands on the ball, you just have a feeling that something special and exciting is going to happen,” Clawson said of Claiborne. “That big play explosiveness, I don’t know if we’ve had that since Kenneth Walker.”