Deacon Decade - Football
12/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 29, 2009
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The top 10 most significant moments of the decade for Wake Forest football can all be attributed to a singular decision made by Director of Athletics Ron Wellman: to hire Jim Grobe as head football coach. Grobe was introduced as Wake Forest's head coach on Dec. 11, 2000. But, for the purposes of defining the football Deacon Decade, we will concentrate on the other 10 most significant events that affected the football program.
10. The 2008 EagleBank Bowl
For the first time in school history, Wake Forest earned bowl bids in three consecutive years. After trips to the FedEx Orange Bowl following the 2006 season and the Meineke Car Care Bowl in 2007, the Deacons were invited to the EagleBank Bowl in Washington D.C. to face Navy on Dec. 20, 2008.
In similar fashion to the Meineke Bowl a year earlier, Wake Forest fell behind early and trailed the Midshipmen 13-0 late in the second quarter. A Josh Adams touchdown run just before the half cut the deficit to 13-7 at intermission. Kevin Harris carried 13 times in the first half for 97 yards. He would finish the game with a career-high 136 rushing yards on 24 carries.
During the regular season, Navy had upset the 15th-ranked Deacons 24-17 at BB&T Field as Wake Forest committed a season-high six turnovers. Unlike that game, when Riley Skinner threw a career-high four interceptions, the junior quarterback turned in a stellar performance in the bowl game. Skinner set an NCAA bowl record by completing all 11 of his pass attempts, totaling 166 yards.
While Harris moved the Deacons up and down the field on the ground, it was Adams who finished off the drives, scoring on runs of 4 and 5 yards.
Wake Forest took a 14-13 lead midway through the third quarter but Navy bounced back to lead 19-14 early in the final quarter. Taking over at their own 20 with 12:31 to play in the game, Skinner and Harris moved the Deacons to the Navy 8 when Skinner hit tight end Ben Wooster in the back of the end zone for the go-ahead score. Skinner then threaded the needle on the two-point conversion pass to Devon Brown to give the Deacs a 22-19 lead. Rich Belton would add a 35-yard insurance touchdown in the closing minutes to account for Wake's 29-19 win. During the game, cornerback Alphonso Smith became the ACC's all-time interception leader, picking off his 21st career pass.
9. The 2002 Seattle Bowl
Jim Grobe's first season as head coach resulted in a 6-5 record, a vast improvement over the 2-9 mark of 2000. But Wake Forest was not situated high enough in the ACC standings for a conference tie-in bowl and the Deacons did not receive an invitation to an at-large bowl. That snub set the stage for a determined Deacon team that vowed to earn a bowl bid following the 2002 season. The Deacons became bowl-eligible with a 30-27 win over Navy on Nov. 23 and received an invitation to the Seattle Bowl to face Oregon on Dec. 30 at Seahawks Stadium. Quarterback James MacPherson passed for a season-high 241 yards and two touchdowns in leading the Deacons to a 38-17 win over the Ducks. MacPherson, who was named MVP of the game, hit Jason Anderson with scoring passes of 57 and 63 yards. MacPherson, Ovie Mughelli and Chris Barclay all rushed for touchdowns and Matt Wisnosky booted a 43-yard field goal.
8. The 2007 Meineke Car Care Bowl
After starting the 2007 season with a 6-2 record, the Deacons found themselves in the thick of the race for the ACC Atlantic Division. But late losses to Clemson and Virginia dashed hopes for a second straight ACC title. The Deacons rallied to close out the regular season with wins over NC State and Vanderbilt to earn a berth in the Meineke Car Care Bowl against Connecticut.
After falling behind 10-0 in the first half, the Deacons rallied to score 24 unanswered points for a 24-10 win over the Huskies. Kenny Moore earned Most Valuable Player honors as he caught 11 passes for 112 yards. Riley Skinner completed 29 of 38 passes for 268 yards and a touchdown pass to John Tereshinski. Josh Adams and Micah Andrews each rushed for a score and Sam Swank added a 43-yard field goal.
7. Wake Forest 32, North Carolina 31
In Jim Grobe's first year, Wake Forest surprised a number of folks with a 4-4 record through the first eight games. The Deacons were hoping for a winning season but had to get past North Carolina first. When Wake visited Kenan Stadium on Nov. 10, 2001, the Deacons had lost 10 of its last 11 games vs. the Tar Heels.
Little went right for Wake Forest in the first half as North Carolina built a 24-0 lead. The Tar Heels held a 338-118 advantage in total offense yards and had completed 15 of 19 passes for 264 yards. Wake Forest had just 49 yards passing through the first two quarters.
After Wake punted on its first possession of the second half, things started to go Wake's way. After Marquis Hopkins recovered a UNC fumble, the Deacons drove to the Tar Heel 11 before John Stone ran it in for a score with 9:19 to play in the third quarter. UNC punted on its next possession and Fabian Davis scored on a five-yard run to cut the lead to 24-14. UNC scored on its next possession to extend its lead to 31-14 after three quarters.
With 11:01 to play in the game, Tarence Williams ran up the middle for three yards and a score and Wake trailed 31-21. After Carolina punted, Wake marched to the UNC 25 where Tyler Ashe kicked a 42-yard field goal to make it 31-24 with 5:56 to play.
Wake forced the Tar Heels into a three-and out and the punt snap went over the punter's head and out of the end zone for a safety. Wake was within five at 31-26 with 4:59 to play in the game. After the free kick, Wake started at its 41 and ran the ball deep into Carolina territory. On second and goal, James MacPherson scored on a 1-yard run. The 2-point PAT failed, and Wake led 32-31 with 1:17 to play. UNC reached the Wake 47 when Quintin Williams came on a safety blitz, knocked the ball out of Darian Durant's hand and Caron Bracy recovered with 45 seconds remaining.
6. Wake Forest 31, Maryland 24 (OT)
Coming off the magnificent Orange Bowl season of 2006, hopes were sky-high for a repeat performance in 2007. But Wake Forest opened the 2007 campaign with a 38-28 loss at Boston college as Matt Ryan out-dueled Riley Skinner in a matchup of premier quarterbacks. Even worse, Skinner suffered a separated shoulder against the Eagles that would sideline him for two games. After a 20-17 home loss to Nebraska and a lackluster 21-10 win over Army, the Deacons welcomed back Skinner with a home game against Maryland on September 22, 2007.
Things could not have gone worse. Wake trailed 17-3 at the half and 24-3 in the third quarter. With just over three minutes to go in the third quarter, Maryland stopped the Deacons on a fourth-and-four from the Maryland 43. Two plays later, Darrius Heyward-Bey rambled 54-yards on a reverse to set up a first-and-goal at the Wake 3. After an incompletion, Maryland quarterback Jordan Steffy threw into the end zone where Alphonso Smith intercepted the pass and rambled 100 yards for a touchdown. Faced with trailing 31-3, the Deacons now had life and were behind just 24-10. Smith's interception sparked the Deacons as Riley Skinner scored on a 1-yard sneak to pull within a touchdown at 24-17. After trading interceptions, Wake Forest got the ball back at its own 20 with 1:51 to play. Skinner completed six of eight passes on the drive, the last one a six-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-goal from the five with three seconds to play.
In overtime, redshirt freshman tailback Josh Adams carried three straight times to put Wake ahead 31-24. The Deacon defense did the rest, sacking Steffy on third and fourth down to preserve the win.
5. Wake Forest 38, Maryland 24
Much was on the line on Nov. 25, 2006 when Wake Forest traveled to Maryland for what was an Atlantic Division championship game. Wake Forest was 8-2 overall and 5-2 in the ACC; a win would give Wake Forest the Atlantic Division title for the first-time ever and propel it into the ACC Championship game in Jacksonville. A win by Maryland would give the Terps the Atlantic Division crown. Kevin Harris and Kenny Moore each rushed for touchdowns in the first half and Riley Skinner hit Willie Idlette with a 49-yard scoring pass as Wake Forest took a 21-14 lead into the locker room at the half. Harris pushed Wake's lead to 28-14 with a 3-yard run early in the third quarter but the Terps answered with a field goal. Sam Swank's 36-yard field goal extended the Deacons' lead to 31-17. Another Maryland score brought the Terps within seven points at 31-24 but the Deacons iced the game with a 10-play, 76-yard drive that concluded with Rich Belton's 1-yard touchdown run.
After the game, the Wake Forest players ran to the far corner of the end zone and serenaded the Wake Forest faithful with a rendition of the school fight song.
4. Wake Forest 30, Florida State 0
Wake Forest won its first five games of the 2006 season and had broken into the national polls. At 8-1, the Deacs were ranked 18th when they traveled to play at FSU on Nov. 11, 2006. Florida State was 5-4 on the season and unranked but the Seminoles were still the Seminoles. Wake Forest had not beaten Florida State since 1973 and had not won in Tallahassee since 1959. But the Deacons played a superb game, scoring 17 points off four FSU turnovers and posting a 30-0 win. It marked the first time in Bobby Bowden's 31 years as head coach that the Seminoles had been shutout at home.
Sam Swank kicked a pair of field goals to stake the Deacons to a 6-0 lead. Riley Skinner threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to John Tereshinski one play after Stanley Arnoux had intercepted a Xavier Lee pass. Rich Belton's 33-yard touchdown run put the Deacs up 20-0 at half. After Swank boomed a 51-yard field goal in the third quarter, Kevin Patterson capped the night with a 48-yard interception return for a touchdown and the 30-0 victory. The win jumped the Deacons to No. 14 in the nation.
More than anything else, this victory proved to the nation that the Deacons had arrived.
3. The Fresh Deacs
Perhaps no single class of recruits carried a greater impact on Wake Forest's football fortunes than the recruiting class of 2004. There was not a single recruit among them that gave Deacon fans hope for the future. Sure, there were some 3-star recruits but none that made fans ooh and aaah about Wake's future.
But when it was all said and done, this recruiting class, ranked 95th-best in the country in 2004, would prove itself as the best in school history. Five players out of this class would be drafted by NFL teams and numerous others found themselves in preseason camps.
Linebacker Aaron Curry was a first team All-ACC performer who won the Butkus Award in 2008 as the nation's top linebacker. Curry was a first round draft pick of the Seattle Seahawks, the fourth player picked overall, in the 2009 NFL Draft.
Cornerback Alphonso Smith set the ACC record for career interceptions with 21 and was a second round draft choice of the Denver Broncos.
Linebacker Stanley Arnoux was a four-year starter at linebacker and became a fourth round pick of the New Orleans Saints. Safety Chip Vaughn was also a fourth round pick of the Saints and contributed one of the most significant plays in school history, a blocked game-winning field goal against Duke in 2006 that led to a 6-0 start for the Deacons en route to winning the ACC Championship.
Jeremy Thompson, the only true freshman to see action in 2004, concluded his career as a draft choice of the Green Bay Packers.
All told, 13 players from the 2004 recruiting class became starters including fullback Rich Belton, wide receivers Chip Brinkman and D.J. Boldin, defensive ends Anthony Davis, Antonio Wilson and Jeremy Thompson, defensive backs Kerry Major, Kevin Patterson, Chip Vaughn and Alphonso Smith, linebackers Curry and Chantz McClinic, and placekicker Sam Swank.
2. Riley Skinner
When Riley Skinner chose to attend Wake Forest University, few knew that the last player signed in February, 2005 would have such an impact on a school's football fortunes. Only a handful of schools were pursuing Skinner to play college football during his senior year at The Bolles School in Jacksonville, Fla. Wake Forest had its eye on one of his teammates, defensive tackle John Russell. Bolles head coach Corky Rogers refused to let Jim Grobe leave Bolles without promising to watch film on Skinner. Grobe had quarterback coach Jeff Mullen also watch film and they agreed to offer Skinner a scholarship. Skinner was the No. 3 quarterback entering the 2006 season behind Brett Hodges but Hodges suffered a separated shoulder in the final scrimmage, making Skinner the back-up to Ben Mauk in the season-opener against Syracuse. When Mauk was seriously injured vs. the Orange, Skinner came on and helped rally the Deacons to a 20-10 win. He would finish his freshman year by taking the Deacons to their first ACC Championship since 1970 and earning ACC Rookie of the Year honors. Four years and three bowl games later, Skinner would conclude his career as the top quarterback in Wake Forest history.
1. 2006 ACC Championship/FedEx Orange Bowl
The culmination of hopes and dreams of thousands of Wake Forest fans came true during the 2006 season when an unheralded Wake Forest team won the ACC's Atlantic Division title, defeated Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship game and advanced to the FedEx Orange Bowl. Wake Forest won a school record 11 games and became the first ACC team to ever go undefeated on the road, compiling a 6-0 record away from home. The ACC Championship was Wake Forest's first since 1970 and just its second-ever ACC title.
Sam Swank booted three field goals to lead Wake Forest to a 9-6 win over Georgia Tech at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville in the ACC title game. Wake had trailed the Yellow Jackets 6-3 in the fourth quarter when Riley Swanson intercepted a Reggie Ball pass to set up Swank's second field goal of the day, a 33-yarder that tied the game with 8:27 to play. The Wake Forest defense forced Tech to punt on the next series and the Deacons took over at their own 20. Riley Skinner completed four consecutive passes to move the ball to the Tech 12. Three straight rushes got the ball to the five allowing Swank to kick the go-ahead 22-yard field goal with 2:55 to play in the game.
Honorable Mention:
Wake Forest 30, Ole Miss 28 (2008): Sam Swank's 41-yard field goal with three seconds remaining lifted No. 20 Wake Forest to a 30-28 win over Ole Miss. The loss to Wake Forest would be the Rebels' only non-conference loss of the year as they would finish No. 14 in the Associated Press poll.
Wake Forest's 34-30 win over Virginia in 2001 ended a 17-game losing streak to the Cavaliers.
Wake Forest's 45-17 win over Clemson on Nov. 1, 2003 featured two defensive touchdowns and a 163-yard rushing effort from Chris Barclay.
Chris Barclay was named the ACC's Player of the Year in 2005 after rushing for 1,127 yards and 10 touchdowns. Barclay was just the fourth Demon Deacon ever named Player of the Year and the first since Jay Venuto in 1979.
