Wake Forest’s Well Deserved National Attention

General NCS Football18

I ran across this article at CBS Sportsline that heaps deserved praise on Jim Grobe and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons for their undefeated start this season despite losing their starting quarterback and starting running back.

One-third of the way through the season, Wake is one of only 16 4-0 teams in I-A and is the only program in the country with four wins against teams from BCS conferences.

It is no secret that Grobe has long been a favorite of ours at SFN for what he has been able to accomplish. Few coaches maximize talent like Grobe. I still can’t understand why he hasn’t been snapped up by a more prominent program. It would have been interesting to see Nebraska with Grobe’s style on the sidelines as opposed to Bill Callahan’s west coast offense.

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.

In the resulting frustration after the Wolfpack’s loss in Winston-Salem last year we ran a little quiz based on the following information.

Wake

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General NCS Football

18 Responses to Wake Forest’s Well Deserved National Attention

  1. Trout 09/26/2006 at 8:01 AM #

    You can pencil in Wake as a bowl lock. They are 4-0 with Liberty next. They will be 5-0 going into the heart of their ACC schedule.

  2. RAWFS 09/26/2006 at 8:04 AM #

    Good job by Grobe and the Deacs. He has his program in motion and this could still be a very special year for Wake.

    It’s a shame that they have lost their QB and starting RB — because at 4-0 and potentially 5-0 the dream of making it to Jacksonville is still “Faraway, So Close.”

  3. PalmettoWolf 09/26/2006 at 8:09 AM #

    Good Job Wake. Hope we can beat FSU and you can shock Klempsun in Winston so that we can have a 3:30 showdown in Raleigh. It would be good for the state of North Carolina to have two teams competing for #1 in the division.

  4. choppack1 09/26/2006 at 8:14 AM #

    Funny – one team can have QB and RB knocked out of the game, yet seemingly not miss a beat – and another, well…Let’s just say I hope Evans and Brown stay healthy.

  5. Wulfpack 09/26/2006 at 8:25 AM #

    The ACC owes A LOT of credit to Wake for their non-conference success this season. They’re carrying more than their share of the load. Great to see the Deacs have this type of success on the gridiron. We better be ready for them.

  6. noah 09/26/2006 at 8:32 AM #

    A lot of people doubted Grobe as a coach because he had only taken them to one bowl game…but that guy is a brilliant coach. No, he’s never going to win an ACC title at Wake. But no one is going to do that.

  7. Mike 09/26/2006 at 8:51 AM #

    Preseason predictions had NC State picked 5th out of the 6 teams in the division. The 6th? Wake Forest.

  8. BoKnowsNCS71 09/26/2006 at 9:11 AM #

    Wake Forest was pretty smart. They gave Grobe a 10 year contract and took the pressure off winning early. He red shirts almost all his freshman and over time has built a nice team full of experienced players familiar with his system. The fans also give his some slack.

    WF has waxed us for several years — even when Phillip was at his best. They are going to get into the meat of their schedule in 2 weeks (after they get win 5 over Liberty). They might upset some of the ACC teams they have to play but they can’t play like they did at Duke. But winning builds confidence and they will be tough.

  9. noah 09/26/2006 at 9:46 AM #

    It wouldn’t come as a surprise to me if they beat us or UNC. I don’t think we’re THAT much better than they are.

    At the very least, I was glad that Brent Schaeffer had such a poor showing against the Deacs and got benched. Apparently, the Ole Miss coach (who has all the patience, sensitivity and warmth of Charles Starkweather) is going to sit Schaeffer this week as well.

    Cue Nelson and his “AH-ha!” laff.

  10. Gopack80 09/26/2006 at 10:25 AM #

    I hate to say it, but damn, they haven’t played anybody. But when the league is as bad as it is this year, 4-0 is still 4-0. They’ve played a favorable schedule, made the most of it, and are doing what they need to do to win.

    And yes they’ll probably beat us and Carolina this year.

  11. LSUTigerFan 09/26/2006 at 11:01 AM #

    ^noah

    That may be the funniest thing I’ve heard in a while if Ole Miss’ coach Odgeron really benches Schaeffer. It serves him right for naming him the starter in February – seven months before he stepped on campus.

    I’m afraid I have to agree with Gopack80 abouts Wake’s competition. They’ll likely start off 5-0, but they could easiliy finish 5-7. However, the fact that they have 4 wins over BCS teams is impressive even if two of those teams are from the bottom of the Big East and the other two are Ole Miss and Duke.

  12. Red_Leg_Packfan 09/26/2006 at 12:12 PM #

    You have to respect the type of job Jim Grobe has done at WF. Though his teams are not always talented…they are competetive, and they have always been the “giant killers” in the ACC. They are the type of team that, if you do not prepare, will hand your ass to you on a plate. Ask Ole Miss…I’ll bet you they took them for granted and they got punished for it. Face it..this year is DEFINANTLY a down year in the ACC, and I cannot think of another team in our conference who could sneak up on you like the Deacs. We are now in the hard part of the schedule, and I am quite frankly happy we have WF at home this year.

  13. SaccoV 09/26/2006 at 12:45 PM #

    Also, another notch for Grobe’s belt is Ben Mauk is out, probably for the year, and Micah Andrews is out for the year. You wouldn’t expect WF to handle losses at QB and RB for the season and still thrive. They’ve also been a bit lucky but seem to be on a huge roll. Wake Forest will be a tough game for anyone, and any team in this stinking conference should be wary. Good bowl season for Mr. Fishbone himself!!!

  14. RAWFS 09/26/2006 at 12:54 PM #

    One note of caution about Wake is that their lack of experienced quality depth across the board may well come back to bite them late.

    If Wake finishes strong, then Grobe has arrived without doubt.

  15. BJD95 09/26/2006 at 1:25 PM #

    Wake’s hook is that you don’t have to be BAD for them to beat you – just can’t be GOOD. Wake plays with discipline and toughness that usually allows them to have their way with mediocre-to-average teams. I don’t think you’ll see them beat FSU, Miami, or Clemson – but aside from that, they could beat anyone else in the ACC.

    And Grobe very much does get the absolute most out of what he has to work with.

  16. ShootingGuard 09/26/2006 at 1:55 PM #

    BIG SURPRISE!!

    Wake has a great Athletic Director who knows how to conduct a coaching search and put a good coach in place without making the program and the fans look like idiots for wanting to improve beyond what the media thinks they can do!!

    AMAZING!!

  17. bTHEredterror 09/26/2006 at 4:18 PM #

    They have a difficult offense to defend, play mistake free football, and don’t back down from anybody. Even in apparent blowouts they give the better team all they can handle until their depth is exposed. Grobe is building slwo, and their alumni are starting to support their program. They are adding to their stadium this offseason, and if they rpoduce a good bowl win this year, they will likely build a little more. I hope they bite the Tigers rag again, but CU will likely put ’em to the sword this year. I still think they make a bowl game though, because they have us, UNC, and Maryland, and they will (hopefully) win two of those games.

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