Deacs tackle malaise

Senior members of the Wake Forest football team called a players-only meeting earlier this week to head off any potential negativity surrounding the team after two consecutive conference losses.

Quarterback Riley Skinner, linebacker Aaron Curry and defensive end Matt Robinson decided the meeting was necessary to ensure teammates were on the same page and not bickering as the Demon Deacons enter a critical stage of their season. They insisted there were no issues that prompted the meeting.

"We don't want anything to happen," Wake middle linebacker Stanley Arnoux said.

After dropping games to Miami last week and Maryland on Oct. 18, and struggling for weeks to find cohesion on offense while dealing with key injuries, the Deacs (4-3 overall, 2-2 ACC) host a rebuilding Duke team (4-3, 1-2) on Saturday at BB&T Field.

Picked in the preseason to finish second in the ACC's Atlantic Division, the Deacs are tied for third place with Boston College behind Florida State and Maryland, who are tied for first.

With four conference games remaining on the schedule, earning a berth into the ACC Championship Game on Dec. 6 is still a possibility for the Deacs, although they hold less control. Players have the attitude that the season is not over and thus called a meeting to voice that message.

"You want the entire team on the same page of the attitude," Robinson said. "Mostly everyone was, but you never know. A younger guy might not know what adversity is and what it takes to beat it."

Robinson, who returned to the team last year after breaking his kneecap and missing the 2006 season, was a likely choice to speak in the 20-minute meeting. He said players needed to hear that in tough times winning teams stick together and ignore outside distractions, whether in the media or among family members. He said there was no need for finger-pointing on either side of the football.

"It was made known that if they didn't want to be on that page, they didn't have to be here," he said.

Wake coach Jim Grobe said players-only meetings are not uncommon and often come on the heels of losses. This one came at a time when the Deacs are searching for answers on offense, having switched in the Miami game from a spread offense to an I-formation run team.

Seniors take the lead

"When you've got five games left and you've had a couple [of] tough losses like we've had, the seniors start realizing the clock is ticking pretty fast now," Grobe said. "So it's good when the older guys pull people together."

He said there is no room to point fingers, especially among coaches who have recently faced hurdles. In particular, offensive coordinator Steed Lobotzke has come under pressure as the Deacs have scored just two touchdowns against four ACC opponents.

The Deacs are ranked 12th in scoring offense (17.4 points per game) and 10th in total offense (303.7 yards per game) among conference teams.

They also rank 11th in red zone offense, having scored points on 18 of 25 chances inside the 20-yard line. Among those points, they've scored 10 touchdowns in the red zone this season. Miami, the top-ranked red zone team, has scored 29 of 31 times, including 20 touchdowns.

Still, Grobe supports Lobotzke, who came to Winston-Salem with the coach eight seasons ago.

"There's not anything we do offensively or defensively that I'm not in approval of," Grobe said. "They have to get me before they get Lobo."

This week the Deacs will try to find some balance between the run and the pass. They operated almost exclusively on the ground against the Hurricanes, though they will look for more chances for Skinner to impact the game.

They will try to score points despite the loss of senior kicker Sam Swank, who for the fourth consecutive game could be sidelined with a strained right quadriceps.

Wake's staff is keeping late hours trying to think, diagram and scheme their way out of a malaise that could derail a season that started with such promise.

"We had such high expectations before the beginning of the season," Arnoux said. "It's been a crazy season so far. We still can win, so [we're] just making sure everyone's on the same page.