Deacons set higher goals

After winning a bowl but missing an ACC title, Wake looks toward next season

WASHINGTON -- Excited by their 29-19 victory over Navy in Saturday's EagleBank Bowl, Wake Forest football players nevertheless expressed some disappointment about their 8-5 overall record this season. For some, it seemed like a failed effort.

"Everyone on this football team expected an ACC championship this year," said defensive end Matt Robinson, a post-graduate student who started in his final college game on Saturday. "... Things didn't go as great as we planned, but we still won ... and played through adversity.

"There were times where the team could have split, people could have pointed some fingers. That didn't happen. That was good to see."

And for coach Jim Grobe, finishing his eighth season with a program-record third consecutive bowl appearance, the growing expectations from players and fans are welcome.

"It's probably an indication of where we are in our program when you win seven games and you're going to a bowl game and people are a little disappointed," he said. "That's probably a good thing for Wake Forest."

After the Navy game, in which the Demon Deacons posted 405 total offensive yards and jump-started what had at times been a dormant offense, Grobe turned his eyes toward the future.

Wake's 16 seniors leave the program as the winningest class in school history (32-19) while creating significant voids -- particularly on defense -- for the Deacs entering 2009.

Grobe expects next season's team will be "pretty good," and that assessment is easier to make after redshirt junior Riley Skinner's performance on Saturday.

Chosen the bowl's most valuable player, Skinner passed for 166 yards and a touchdown while completing all 11 attempts. Now 26-11 as Wake's starting quarterback, he enters his senior season having passed for more than 6,000 yards and is third in school history with 639 career completions.

Against Navy, redshirt junior Kevin Harris received his first start at tailback and perhaps showed what he's capable of for the future, rushing for a career-high 136 yards on 24 carries. Past injuries had relegated him to fourth-string fullback, but injuries to running backs Josh Adams and Brandon Pendergrass gave him an opportunity late this season.

Adams, who was the 2007 ACC rookie of the year, struggled late in the season with a high ankle sprain after having knee surgery in the summer. The Cary High graduate scored two touchdowns against Navy and appeared to be finding his health, although he admitted, "It's definitely been frustrating."

Pendergrass hurt his knee against Miami on Oct. 25 and then sprained an ankle against Vanderbilt in the final regular-season game.

"Their lack of durability has been an issue, and for us to be good down the road they're going to have to be more dependable,"Grobe said.

Adams and Pendergrass were not the only Wake players hampered this season by injuries. The Demon Deacons also were hit hard by injuries on the offensive line, and it clearly affected their offense. Next season, the offensive line could be one of the most experienced groups on the field.

"That offense line goes from being an Achilles' heel to being a real strength for us," Grobe said.

Wake also was affected by the quadriceps injury that cost senior kicker Sam Swank six games. The school's career scoring leader played his final collegiate game on Saturday. Into his place steps redshirt freshman Shane Popham, a kicker who Grobe said showed a strong leg in filling in for Swank.

The Demon Deacons' defensive unit will look very different with the losses of seven starters, including Aaron Curry, who won the Dick Butkus Award awarded to the nation's top college linebacker, and cornerback Alphonso Smith, the ACC career interceptions leader.

Robinson, the elder statesman on the team who also overcame injury to play, said the younger players must take the example set for them.

"You just don't show up on game days," Robinson said. "It takes a lot of work in between. ... How much are you going to put in? What are you willing to sacrifice for the team?

"If they will look at the senior leaders, if they can emulate that, then they'll be fine. I think the seniors in this program have demonstrated what it takes to make this program successful."