Quote :

" Despite losses, Wake Forest early season's surprise winner Sep. 25, 2006 By Dennis Dodd CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer Tell Dennis your opinion! When Riley Skinner called for the first snap of his career, it hit the man in motion. The injured left tackle has been replaced by ... lots of guys, most notably senior Steve Vallos, who plays the position every other series. That's when he's not playing right tackle. A junior with 53 career carries replaced the banged-up starting tailback. This is a profile of an ACC contender, which is as much an indictment of the league as it is a tribute to Wake Forest. One-third of the way through the season, Wake is one of only 16 4-0 teams in I-A. That's the program's best start since 1987, and it's soon to be 5-0 considering this week's scrimmage against Liberty. The Demon Deacons can win their division, at least. There's not another team left on the schedule that projects to a definite loss. The only other undefeated ACC team, Virginia Tech, is in the other division. It is the only program in the country with four wins against teams from BCS conferences. (It's hard to play a twinkie when you're Wake Forest). The defense leads the ACC in sacks. As soon as backup quarterback Skinner stopped calling for balls to be snapped into motion men, Jim Grobe resumed his reputation as one of the craftiest coaches in America. How much worse could it get? Three offensive starters were lost for extended periods by the third game. Take away No. 1 Ohio State's quarterback (Troy Smith), left tackle (Alex Boone) and tailback (Antonio Pittman) and see how far it gets. Suddenly, Wake is on top of the world, the one that consists of the rest of the ACC's Atlantic Division. "It's way, way far in the back of my mind," Grobe said of ACC aspirations. "We're one of those teams that is good enough to win, but not good enough to show up." Yes, but there is something to be said for beating Syracuse after losing your starting quarterback (Ben Mauk) in the season opener. Then winning at UConn after losing the tailback (Micah Andrews) and left tackle (Arby Jones). Saturday was particularly impressive, a 24-point win that embarrassed Mississippi in Oxford. That back with the 53 career carries, De'Angelo Bryant, carried 22 times for a career-high 105 yards. Wake freakin' Forest? Chris Paul's Wake Forest? Skip Prosser's? Grobe himself can't believe it. "When I first got here," said the sixth-year coach, "that's all anybody talked about. If you're just competitive, we'll be happy. "Now there are expectations from our fans." Not the message board-burning kind that anticipates results the size of Tim Duncan. More like: Hey, what are we doing Saturday? There's a football game. The story begins 2½ quarters into the season opener against Syracuse. Mauk broke his arm and dislocated a shoulder and was out for the year. In the third game, Andrews tore his ACL and Jones tore his MCL. Grobe, a master of the "flexbone" offense, had no choice but to insert Skinner, a redshirt freshman who was the default choice when fellow redshirt frosh Brett Hodges hurt his shoulder in August. Bryant replaced Andrews. The offensive line was shuffled. Vallos was inserted as a utility infielder at what is arguably the most important position on the line. No big deal there. Vallos had played every line position but center as a sophomore. "I don't know if I ever felt sorry for myself," Grobe said. Why should he? His existence has been as the gritty underdog. Wake was picked last in the division after losing the ACC Player of the Year (tailback Chris Barclay) and the nation's best punter (Ryan Plackemeier). The unique "flexbone" offense has been the great equalizer at Ohio (1995-2000) and Wake Forest. It was kind of important for Skinner, in the shotgun, not to have the snap hit the motion man. The "orbit sweep" is one of the staples of the flexbone. The motion receiver grabs the snap as he runs across the formation. That sort of eliminates the middle man (quarterback) and gets the runner to the edge sooner. Grobe's previous five years at Wake have included two winning seasons and one bowl game. Off the field, the Wake Forest administration was a leading proponent of expansion, which helped the football program only in profit margin. Until now. Before conquering the ACC, Wake is already the class of the state. The rest of North Carolina's programs (N.C. State, North Carolina, Duke, East Carolina) are a combined 4-11. If Clemson is the people's, Atlantic Division (and ACC) favorite, then Wake isn't far behind. The Deacons have won the past two meetings with the Tigers in Winston-Salem by a combined 32 points. Check back on Oct. 7 when Clemson comes to Wake. Labor Day night seems so far away. No Miami. No Florida State. That day, maybe we'll see the biggest conference game of the year. "

http://www.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/9684430

Okay I'll give Wake some credit for starting off 4-0, but it's not like they've played a legit Top-25 team yet (Syracuse, Duke, UConn, Ole Miss). Claiming that they are going to be able to hang with and beat a Florida State, VT, or Clemson is pretty ridiculous in my opinion. Plus stating that they are already the best in NC when they haven't even played us or UNC. This guy is seriously jumping the gun.

9/25/2006 4:41:46 PM

NO

9/25/2006 4:42:09 PM

HELL NO

9/25/2006 4:43:41 PM

I would say that right now, they are the best team in the state. They haven't lost, we have - twice.

Not like we have played any contenders except BC.

They won't win the division, durr, but neither will any other NC team.


[Edited on September 25, 2006 at 4:47 PM. Reason : ]

9/25/2006 4:46:45 PM

Wake got incredibly lucky to beat Duke a couple weeks ago, and my high school football team could beat Duke, and they haven't won a game in 4 years!

9/25/2006 4:49:01 PM

With this sort of idiocy the guy has to be a regular on TWW... hcnguyen...JoshNumbers... I dunno

9/25/2006 4:52:52 PM

This guy is an idiot. They will go 3-5 in the conference tops. The BC, FSU, VT stretch they will win no games.

9/25/2006 4:58:21 PM

I wouldn't be surprised at all if, following the Liberty game next week, they lost every game the rest of the season.

9/25/2006 4:59:23 PM

yeah they'll upset someone nice and make a bowl, but they arent that good. Maybe best in NC, but not ACC championship good.


One thing they have working against them is that teams might not sleep on them this year like they have in the past. 5-0...someone is going to put them in their place.

9/25/2006 5:06:35 PM

check out their schedule though, it's like this thing was engineered for them to get all their wins in the first 5 weeks:

9/02/06 Syracuse

09/09/06 Duke

09/16/06 Connecticut

09/23/06 Mississippi

09/30/06 Liberty



10/07/06 Clemson

10/14/06 NC State

10/28/06 North Carolina

11/04/06 Boston College

11/11/06 Florida State

11/18/06 Virginia Tech

11/25/06 Maryland

9/25/2006 9:50:56 PM

maybe liberty can stop them, i may go to that one

9/25/2006 10:18:19 PM

A team minus their starting RB and QB that struggled to beat Duke is going to win the Atlantic?

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

9/25/2006 10:46:09 PM

The RB doesn't matter at Wake. I don't understand why people don't seem to notice this, but the entire Wake offense is built around the run. It's the perfect example of the system making the back.

If you check the stats, you'll notice that Skinner only threw five attempts during the game at Ole Miss. That's not going to fly in ACC competition.

9/25/2006 10:48:22 PM

o, but it flies in the sec

9/25/2006 10:50:25 PM

^^ I agree to an extent... but I think that losing the experienced back will hurt them come ACC play. I'm really impressed by the wins at UConn and the trouncing they laid on Ole Miss...

but the Duke game left something to be desired... we'll see come the Klempson game.

[Edited on September 25, 2006 at 10:51 PM. Reason : ^]

9/25/2006 10:51:34 PM

it does against ole miss

9/25/2006 10:52:12 PM

Quote :

"o, but it flies in the sec"

Sure

if you ignore the fact that the only SEC team they played went 4-7 and 3-8 the last two years.

Obviously the class of the league there.

Quote :

"I agree to an extent... but I think that losing the experienced back will hurt them come ACC play."

Maybe a little, but I don't think it'll be significant. Their O-line does a tremendous job of opening up holes for the run (let's not get into the chop-blocking discussion).

Everyone thought they were going to suffer losing Barclay to graduation...but after seeing Andrews run for over 200 yards in the opener against Vandy last year, I didn't buy that either.

[Edited on September 25, 2006 at 10:56 PM. Reason : ]

9/25/2006 10:52:28 PM

^ I like your optimism. I just want to go to at least one bowl this year... haha.

9/25/2006 11:00:29 PM

They haven't played a defense with speed yet... the ACC has plenty of that.

9/26/2006 12:25:20 AM

Quote :

"I'm really impressed by the wins at UConn and the trouncing they laid on Ole Miss... "

The Syracuse win might turn it to be a bit better win then people think. Cuse took Iowa to 2OT and have looked halfway decent. UConn isn't very good this year and Wake got outplayed for a large portion of that game (the UConn QB had a TERRIBLE game and gave the game away with turnovers)...

They aren't as good as their record.

9/26/2006 12:28:36 AM

no way

keep this thread alive in a few weeks

9/26/2006 9:42:21 AM

I find this thread hilarious and fart in it's general direction.


Why are people counting out FSU for the Division title? Sure, they've lost and looked bad, but they're still likely the best team in the division. Maybe I give the nod to Clemson, maybe. But Wake? Get real.

When I see them beat a decent BCS team or top 25, then I'll stand corrected.

9/26/2006 10:10:01 AM

I've been saying all along Wake will win 8+ games. Already 4-0...

09/30/06 Liberty W
10/07/06 Clemson L
10/14/06 NC State W
10/28/06 North Carolina W
11/04/06 Boston College L
11/11/06 Florida State L
11/18/06 Virginia Tech L
11/25/06 Maryland W

That would be 8 but I could see them winning the BC game...and maybe the VT game. VT is not very good this year but their schedule is a joke...8 home games and 4 extremely easy OOC games. And Cincinnati had them on the ropes this weekend. If Cincy could block for the punter and not throw a late pick 6...they would have won.

9/26/2006 11:08:36 AM

You guys are kidding yourselves if you think State will roll over wake.

9/26/2006 11:50:47 AM

I dont see where anyone said NC State is going to roll over Wake

9/26/2006 11:59:25 AM

Quote :

"I dont see where anyone said NC State is going to roll over Wake"

9/26/2006 12:05:12 PM

Actually in contrast, the only place I see the State/Wake game mentioned, it's predicted as a loss.

The problem with Wake is that they're not good enough to stay consistent when playing teams that are about as good as they are. And about 7 out of 8 of their remaining games are against teams about as good as they are.

They'll eek out 3-4 more wins and turn in a 7 win season or so, which is not impressive considering the schedule.

9/26/2006 12:05:53 PM

I never feel confident going in to Wake. This season will be no different. I would actually be surprised if we won. I had more confidence in us beating BC than I will have in us beating Wake.

9/26/2006 12:08:56 PM

Quote :

"VT is not very good this year but their schedule is a joke"

Weak VT >> Wake

9/26/2006 12:28:25 PM

Wake Forest's counter-run offense is deadly against our overpursue, no-experienced LB defense. I know its not the topic of the thread but just wanted to make the point.

I like the idea of them having a good season but I see it ending very soon.

9/26/2006 4:32:59 PM

lowery is only a redshirt seniior leading the acc in tackles. i wish we had an experienced lb

9/26/2006 6:03:54 PM

Anyone speculating that Wake Forest will win the ACC Atlantic Division only 4 games into the season without playing anyone of the teams in the division is SERIOUSLY dellusional...

Did they see Clemson spank Carolina, the FSU-Rice game, or the NC State/Boston College game last weekend?

You've got to be kidding me if you think WF will win this division.... even if they do currently lead the conference in sacks, those sacks aren't against any REAL ACC teams yet...

The only team that I will put them above is Maryland b/c they absolutely SUCK this year, getting spanked by WVU at home and stuff, but that's it...

9/26/2006 10:37:02 PM

bttt

10/16/2006 12:51:01 PM

well wake forest is a ranked team now. LOL

10/16/2006 7:07:20 PM

[no]

10/16/2006 7:48:00 PM

wow...

[Edited on November 11, 2006 at 9:41 PM. Reason : this might actually happen]

11/11/2006 9:41:24 PM

crazy

11/11/2006 9:44:47 PM

Quote :

"Why are people counting out FSU for the Division title? Sure, they've lost and looked bad, but they're still likely the best team in the division. Maybe I give the nod to Clemson, maybe. But Wake? Get real. When I see them beat a decent BCS team or top 25, then I'll stand corrected. "

not that FSU is great this year, but they were shut out at home by WF....do you stand corrected yet?

11/12/2006 12:11:44 AM

Quote :

"he only team that I will put them above is Maryland b/c they absolutely SUCK this year, getting spanked by WVU at home and stuff, but that's it..."

there's another winner

11/12/2006 12:16:51 AM

to be fair I think if all our predictions were brought up from weeks ago most of us would look like complete morons

11/12/2006 12:20:01 AM

Wake Forest man.

That's freaking awesome.

Take care of Maryland please.

11/12/2006 1:31:18 AM

and their only loss of the season was against Clemson who they were beating by a few scores in the 4th quarter before a late meltdown...in actuality Wake should be unbeaten

11/12/2006 1:36:15 AM

if that were the case i think it would be them vs rutgers in the "where the fuck did we come from" bowl

11/12/2006 2:13:04 AM

^ ahahaha

11/12/2006 8:22:04 AM

^^ It still will be.

They will probably match Wake against Rutgers if they both win the conference, just so they can keep saying "they haven't beaten anyone" and keep them out of national contention next year.

11/12/2006 9:40:47 AM

11/26/2006 1:03:50 AM

Quote :

"A team minus their starting RB and QB that struggled to beat Duke is going to win the Atlantic? Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight."

11/26/2006 1:10:36 AM

If Wake Forest can do it, there is NO reason we should be 3-9.



The Demon Deacons (props to them) have won a Divisional title before NC State has.
The Demon Deacons won more ACC games this year than NC State has in the last 2 and a half.
With one more win, the Deacs will tie the 2002 NC State team for number of wins (our school record year).

11/26/2006 1:12:45 AM

12/2/2006 4:30:45 PM

acc champions

12/2/2006 4:32:49 PM