Wake Forest Athletics
Camp Countdown: Riley's Transformation
8/4/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 3, 2009
One of the unique aspects of collegiate sports is watching 18-year-old kids mature into adulthood during their letterwinning years. For most, it's a gradual year-by-year improvement. For a few unique individuals the change seems to happen overnight. The latter would be the case with current Wake Forest quarterback Riley Skinner.
Skinner's story in 2006 became one of many that made Wake Forest's 2006 ACC Championship and 2007 Orange Bowl appearance so special. Here are some articles that trace Skinner's progress that season, where he made the transformation from back-up QB to ACC Rookie of the Year.
Signing Day Press Release
February 2005
Skinner was one of 22 incoming freshmen to sign in February 2005.
Deacons, Grobe are Counting on Skinner
By Dan Collins, Originally published in the Winston-Salem Journal
9/4/2006
"I'd say, `Riley, take a couple of deep breaths and realize this is a game you've played your whole life,'" Abbate said. "As a freshman quarterback he's going to make mistakes, but as a team we just have to have his back and keep on going."
Wake Forest QB Makes the Most of His First Start
AP Story featured in the Fayetteville Observer
9/10/2006
"I told him after the game when we got back to the locker room, `That's a gunslinger right there,'" Andrews said. "I thought he really grew up today. I'm really proud of him."
Skinner Voted ACC Rookie of the Year, November 28, 2006
"I don't see how I could win over C.J. Spiller. You put me next to C.J. Spiller, and I'd pick C.J. Spiller as well,'` Skinner said. "But it's a huge honor. It really is. I couldn't ask for anything more, and it really is humbling to know that I've received that award.'`
Chance of a Lifetime: Unlikely hero Skinner leads Deacons to bowl.
By Craig Barnes, Originally published in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel
12/29/2006
"He has the arm, the smarts, good speed and is unselfish," Grobe said. "He understands winning. He will take the hard sack or throw it away, things that can be the difference between winning and losing."
Day 30: Wake Forest Football, 1889
Day 29: Assistant Coach Beattie Feathers
Day 28: Wake Forest in Japan, 1974
Day 25: Deacon History 101
Day 24: 'M' Non-Lettermen
Day 23: WF Stuns Undefeated Vols
Day 22: Larry Tearry's Poetry
Day 21: Bill Barnes Just Walked In
Day 18: John Mackovic, A Barberton Boy
Day 17: The Jay Venuto Movie
Day 16: Kenny Duckett Finds Four-Leaf Clovers in Astroturf
Day 15: Conquering Athens, 1979
Day 14: Deacons Rally to Down Auburn at Groves, 1979
Day 11: 1959 Football Media Guide
Day 10: Scenes from 1948
Day 9: UVA Triumph and Tragedy
Day 8: "Hoppy"
Day 7: Wake Stuns UNC 14-13, October 1970
Day 4: Wake 1999 Jeep Aloha Bowl
