Wake Forest Demon Deacons Season Preview

Jim Grobe has been quite the coach in Winston-Salem for these Demon Deacons as he led them to back to back winning seasons from ’01-’02 and he also led this team to their first ACC title since 1970 in 2006 (Fifth year at time).

They ended up losing in the BCS Orange Bowl to Louisville 24-13, but Grobe turned the page that year with an 11-3 record and a #18 ranking.

Grobe is just 62-60 through ten years, mainly because he went 13-21 from ’03-’05 and has posted a 8-16 the past two seasons. The past five years WF is a bit better in ACC play, going 19-21, while in the past ten years in the ACC they are 32-48. They have been a historically bad program, but sadly without Grobe they would be far worse.

They had their best quarterback in school history in Riley Skinner, who left after the 2009 season (team went 5-7), and they went through four different quarterbacks last year due to injuries and ineffectiveness.

True freshman Tanner Price was dinged up against Florida State but still had a solid year after he returned two weeks later. He ended the season with 1,349 and 7 TD/8 INT.

The backfield is no longer crowded because Josh Adams ran for the most yards ever against a Virginia Tech defense in one game last year (241).

Former Maryland coach Ralph Fridgen said he has all the acceleration and speed in the world at just 5’10” and 205 lbs. While Price may have to improve, he will rely on Adams to go off for more than his 720 yards and 7 TD freshman campaign.

The line returns four starters and left guard Joe Looney is the best of the bunch. This should be a much improved unit and they will only help Adams become that much better of a player. The only issue is that the receiving core lacks true big, physical receivers. 

Chris Givens is a speed demon who led the team in yards and TDs, but nobody else has proven to do much. They were abysmal throwing the ball, ranking 114th in passing offense and averaging only 143 yards per game.

Despite becoming a run-oriented offense, they must dramatically improve their passing game if they want to have any chance at reaching a bowl, let alone win a few wins in the ACC.

Ranking 108th in total offense was the second worst in the ACC and fifth worst of any BCS team in the nation.

It is very difficult to recruit since they are the smallest school in the country among BCS schools (4,412). Only Rice and Tulsa have smaller undergraduates, which is amazing if you think about it. 

The defense returns nine starters and they have moved many defensive ends to outside linebacker before. Kyle Wilbur is their best project thus far. He totaled 6 sacks and 8.5 tackles for losses and will need to top those numbers if he expects to be the top player on this team.

Nikita Whitlock is the nose guard and is a run stuffer at 5’11”, 260 pounds. He is very undersized but gets the job done. The rest of the line is mediocre but in the 3-4 they just need to stay healthy because they have lacked the bodies for quite some time.

The linebacker corps are above average and the best since Aaron Curry and Stanley Arcoux led the team to an ACC Title in ’05.

The secondary still misses Alpohonso Smith a ton. Plus, despite returning four starters, they will get sliced and diced all year long.

Kenny Okoro has some promise for a sophomore and senior safety Josh Bush is a solid player as well. The depth is still a concern and the corners lack that elusive speed and physical dimension that all the good teams have. 

The schedule is very tough, arguably among the top 25 toughest in the nation. The first three games are winnable going to the Carrier Dome and then hosting NCST & Gardner-Webb. A 2-1 start is possible, but how about afterwards?

Can they sneak by any other ACC teams besides Duke? I say no, though they could pull off one upset. They should knock off Vandy in the season finale, but going up against Florida State, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, and Notre Dame is murderer’s row. Anything more than a four win season would be spectacular.

Predicted Finish: 4-8, 1-7

Predicted Bowl: No Bowl 

Predicted order of finish in ACC: Sixth in Atlantic, 11th Overall