Deacs improve with QB Tanner Price

The way Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe described quarterback Tanner Price's true freshman season, you’d think his quarterback was a boxer.

Price, Grobe said, “got his nose bloodied last year and slapped around and really took his lumps.”

This year, it’s Price who has been delivering the blows.

Price’s value to his team was clear from Week 1, when his injury against Syracuse not only took him out of the game, but took the Deacs out of it as well. As Price goes, so does Wake Forest, and both have improved enough this year to give the Deacs a legitimate chance to upset Florida State on Saturday. The Deacons have won three straight and are coming off a 27-19 win at Boston College last weekend in Chestnut Hill. Wake Forest ended a four-game losing streak to BC and won for the first time at Alumni Stadium since 2003. A win against Florida State this weekend would give Wake Forest its first 3-0 start in ACC play. Ever.

Think it can’t happen?

Price begs to differ.

“I’m very confident in our team right now,” he said. “These next eight games are really going to test just how good of a team we are. I’m looking forward to it and I think our team is going to rise to the challenge. It’s going to be a lot of fun to go out and play great teams and test our capabilities.”

There’s no question Wake Forest’s toughest stretch lies ahead, but the program has already matched its win total from a year ago. The entire team is better, but quarterback play has been a major factor. The Deacs have the nation’s No. 17-ranked passing offense heading into the FSU game, and are averaging 34.5 points. By comparison, Florida State has the nation’s No. 14-ranked passing offense and is averaging 34.7 points.

Price has completed 80 of 127 pass attempts for 1,119 yards and seven touchdowns with just two interceptions. His 867 passing yards in the first three games of the season marked the second-most passing yards ever by a Deacon in the first three games.

He threw the ball into coverage more last year than he has this season, and he’s seeing the field much better. He also has a better supporting cast, as the receivers are hanging onto the ball, running routes better, and the offensive line is getting better protection.

“It was a rough year last year,” he said. “I try to put that in the past. It wasn’t fun, but it’s something you kind of have to experience. It’s growing pains. I think I’ve learned a lot of lessons from last year, even though it wasn’t fun at the time, it’s been very valuable to me now.

“I feel much more comfortable,” he said. “I feel like the game has slowed down a lot for me. It’s slowed down, but I’m able to play faster, and as a result, it’s slowed down.”

Price is second in the ACC in passing average per game, and sixth in pass efficiency. Still, it’s a learning process, and Price hasn’t reached his full potential yet.

"The thing that Tanner has learned is that you still have to be smart about your decisions,” Grobe said. “We made a poor decision in the third quarter at Boston College and got a ball picked off. That gave them momentum and got them back in the game. Tanner is continuing to grow and learn, but so far we are really happy with what he has done."

Odds are most college football fans won’t realize it, though, until Wake Forest gets a statement win. They’ll have that opportunity on Saturday.

“I think we’re always overlooked,” Price said. “That just comes with Wake Forest and their history of not being one of the better teams in the ACC, but I think the team embraces it and we use it as motivation to prove people wrong and show the nation what kind of team we are and show we can compete in a great conference.”

Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/48806/deacs-improve-with-qb-tanner-price

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