Wake Forest Athletics
Demon Deacons Raise The Bar
10/25/2013 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 25, 2013
By Emma Lingan, WakeForestSports.com
Last week's victory over Maryland saw records broken, honors earned and history made, but shortly after, the Demon Deacons were back to work. The hype surrounding the Deacs' second straight conference win has not diverted their attention from the next task at hand: this Saturday's road matchup at No. 7-ranked Miami.
"It's hard to compare, but [Miami is] just like Clemson," said head coach Jim Grobe. "Very talented, good people up front, good skill guys, well-coached--all those kind of things. You don't get to the top 10 without being a heck of a football team, which they are for sure."
The comparison to Clemson may sound daunting at first, given Wake Forest's 56-7 loss to the then-No. 3 Tigers on Sept. 28, but Grobe believes that the Deacs are in a much better position now as they prepare to take on the Hurricanes.
"It's certainly more comfortable than it was going to Clemson," Grobe said. "The problem is we played so poorly at Clemson that it's got everyone on edge. We know Miami is a great football team, but we know to go down there and win, we've got to play really, really well. I thought going down to Clemson we had a football team that could go compete with those guys and we didn't do it. I think going to Miami, our players and our coaches know that we've got to bring it. We can't just go down there and show up against this great team. Even if we play well, we're going to have to play a little above that to get these guys. They're a heck of a team."
Coming off two straight conference wins, the Deacs are confident that things will be different this time around.
"We're playing with more energy out there, and it's always fun when you're winning," said senior flanker Michael Campanaro. "We've just been really upbeat around the team. Back-to-back ACC wins--it just feels good--and being 4-3 feels good."
The Demon Deacons' heightened confidence has made them even more passionate in their pursuit of excellence, and the momentum from last week's win is only fueling their fire.
"I think that we knew that we could play at the level that we're playing at now--the way we played NC State, the way we played Maryland and the way that we plan on playing Miami," said senior nose guard Nikita Whitlock. "I think that three weeks ago, we viewed ourselves as a team that wasn't playing to our potential. I think we're doing it now, and now we're looking at ourselves like we need to keep it up."
Recognizing the challenge that lies ahead, the Deacs are eager to put in the extra work needed to keep improving their performance.
"We're definitely a confident team," Campanaro said. "Even when we were 2-3 I think we were pretty confident. We know we have a lot more work to put in, and we definitely think we can improve on both sides of the ball. It's definitely going to be a huge challenge this weekend."
The offense in particular, after playing its best game of the season against Maryland, is determined to continue on its upward trend.
"As an offense, especially, we feel like we've been playing better the past two games, but we still have a lot to work on," said senior offensive tackle Steven Chase. "Every day in practice we come out and we're buying into what the coaches are telling us and trying to get better. This weekend, hopefully we can keep it rolling."
The Deacons will head to Miami this weekend fully aware of the challenge that awaits them, but fully confident that they can rise to meet it.
"It's Miami," Chase said. "It's the same story with all the schools in the ACC. You're going against a guy who is probably going to end up playing in the NFL at some point. We know our work is cut out for us, but we're preparing and we think we're going to go down there and play well."
Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPNU. It can also be heard on the Wake Forest IMG Sports Network and online at WakeForestSports.com.
