Hodges ready to do his part for Demon Deacons

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By CURT McKEEVER / Lincoln Journal Star

Brett Hodges had committed to play football at Wake Forest during the summer before his senior year of high school in 2004, and for six months was the only quarterback in the Demon Deacons’ class.

Then, shortly before the signing date, assistant coach Tom Elrod called Hodges’ Winter Springs, Fla., home to let him know the Demon Deacons were taking another 6-foot-1 prospect from Florida, Riley Skinner.

No problem, Hodges told Elrod. Competition’s good. Now how about giving me his phone number, so I can welcome him to the team?

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Wake Forest QB Brett Hodges (Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Media Relations)

Wake Forest QB Brett Hodges (Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Media Relations)

Back then, Hodges had no idea he and Skinner, both of whom redshirted in 2005, would wind up running neck-and-neck to be the backup to incumbent Benjamin Mauk last season.

Nor that similar strange twists of fate that occurred nearly a year apart would thrust them into much bigger roles.

Last year, Skinner wound up leading Wake Forest to its first Atlantic Coast Conference championship in 36 years after Mauk dislocated his shoulder and broke his arm in the season opener against Syracuse. But had Hodges not suffered a separated shoulder prior to the final scrimmage of fall camp, he might have been the one taking the reins and producing the school-record numbers during the most-memorable football season in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Going into that scrimmage, Hodges had a slight edge over Skinner, who, perhaps with less pressure to perform, played well to wrap up the spot as Mauk’s backup.

Hodges, though, refused to get too discouraged. He rushing through rehabilitation, preparing himself to be ready in case Skinner faltered or incurred the kind of luck that had sidelined Mauk. Since then, Mauk completed his undergraduate degree at Wake Forest and transferred to Cincinnati, where he’s now starting.

And sure enough, it happened again. Late in the third quarter of last week’s season opener at Boston College, a scrambling Skinner was hit and landed hard on his right shoulder. He tried to ignore the pain, but on the next play, threw an interception. Skinner suffered a slight shoulder separation and was done for the day.

“It was very ironic,” said Hodges, who will make his first start for the Demon Deacons when they play host to Nebraska on Saturday. “Our  offensive coordinator came up to me and told me to get ready, so I warmed up, and then the first series I just put the ball in the playmakers’ hands.”

Playing like his coaches expected him to, Hodges led a 77-yard touchdown drive, completing all five of his passes, to pull the Deacons to 35-28. The next series, he completed three of four passes, but the series was stopped when he was sacked.

Undaunted, he came back to complete his next five passes, but Wake Forest gave the ball up near midfield after runs on third-, and fourth-and-1 were stuffed. After the Eagles drove for a field goal, Hodges had Wake Forest on the move again by connecting on four of five passes, including a fourth-down completion. But following three straight misfires, he threw his first interception and Boston College could relax.

The numbers from Hodges’ 30 snaps — 17-for-23, for 130 yards, a touchdown and interception — help Wake Forest believe it can move forward while Skinner heals.

In fact, some Deacons would tell you if Hodges and Skinner wore the same jersey number (Hodges is No. 6 and Skinner No. 11), it’d be difficult to differentiate between the two.

“I think Brett’s got it all. He’s been doing all the same things that Riley’s done, he just hasn’t been able to do them in a game,” coach Jim Grobe said. “What I really enjoyed (last Saturday) was when I looked down the sideline and Brett was warming up. He looked over at me he smiled. He wasn’t nervous. He was excited about getting a chance to play. He knew it was his turn, and he went in and played really, really well.

“It was just fun to see Brett go out and take charge and seize the moment. A lot of kids would have panicked a little bit, and he was excited to get the chance.”

Understand, too, that Hodges walked off the field with bittersweet feelings.

As excited as he was for getting the chance to play, and as encouraged as he was that twice in the fourth quarter Wake Forest got the ball with a chance to tie the game, the Deacons were expecting a different result.

“I made a couple of big mistakes that I can’t be making from here on out,” Hodges said. “That kind of haunts me a little bit.

“Boston College was a great team, but at the same time we made too many mental errors, physical errors that we shouldn’t have been making, so that’s something we need to come back this week and fix.”

Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.