One-year wonder? Wake eyes repeat

The Demon Deacons are
hoping to build on their 2006 success.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Saws buzzed and drills rattled at Wake Forest Tuesday as work continued on the glitzy new Deacon Tower at Groves Stadium.

On the field, work continued on building the Demon Deacons into something more than a one-year wonder, a surprise team that somehow claimed the Atlantic Coast Conference title and sneaked into the Orange Bowl.

“It kind of happened at the same time, with last season and our program really coming on the rise,” quarterback Riley Skinner said. “I guess it is kind of a metaphor and a coincidence that it all came together at the same time.”

Skinner and Wake Forest can only hope the seven-story, 123,000-square-foot tower of luxury boxes, club seats and a new press box rises as impressively as the Demon Deacons’ fortunes did during the 2006 season. Picked last in the ACC’s Atlantic Division, Wake Forest wound up winning the league and playing in the Bowl Championship Series.

The improbable championship helped legitimize the program-building philosophy coach Jim Grobe emphasized when he came to Winston-Salem in 2001 — redshirting freshmen, developing them into solid players and patiently developing a foundation for steady success.

Tougher job

“What we did last year probably helps us a little bit from a confidence perspective, but other than that, it probably makes our job a little tougher. ... We’re not going to sneak up on anybody,” Grobe said. “They realize we’re going to have to go back to work if we’re going to have a good season coming up.”

Things may have changed the most for Skinner, who as a redshirt freshman went from anonymous backup to the ACC’s rookie of the year. Skinner surely has come a long way from last year’s preseason, when he wasn’t sure if he would even be No. 2 on the depth chart behind Ben Mauk.

“Last year, he was that scared little boy, and when he came in for his first snap, he was a little timid,” center Steve Justice said. “To being grown up and trying to run this offense, he kind of did that throughout the year and took hold of it towards the end of the year. He took it upon himself to really develop and be the leader.”

Skinner took over when Mauk was injured in the season opener against Syracuse and wound up passing for a school-record 2,053 yards while leading Wake Forest to a school-record 11 wins and its second ACC title and first since 1970.

“When it comes down to close situations, close games, being a lot more calm since we’ve been in that situation before — that’s kind of the biggest thing I got from last year,” Skinner said.