Sports > November 13, 2008

By Martin Rickman | Staff writer

After playing arguably their most complete half of the season, the Demon Deacon football team was able to off a Virginia rally to win 28-17 putting themselves right in the thick of the ACC’s Atlantic division race.

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Redshirt senior Stanley Arnoux carries the ball after intercepting the Virginia quarterback’s pass. (Roger Kirkpatrick /Old Gold & Black)

The Deacs, 6-3 (4-2), played like the teams of the last two years, winning the game with effective ball-control offense and smothering defense.

Redshirt senior linebacker Aaron Curry set the tone for the defense in the first half, forcing and recovering a fumble and covering the entire field, breaking up passes and pressuring Virginia quarterback Marc Verica.

“We were concentrating on coming out swinging,” Curry said. “We knew this was a must-win game and we had to play like our heads were on fire just like Coach Grobe tells us to do. It was good to see the defense play like the old defense and the offense play with some confidence.”

The offense was able to mix up the run and the pass very well against the Cavs, and they did so by executing something they were not doing earlier in the year.

Redshirt junior quarterback Riley Skinner made the most of his chances, completing 14-20 passes for 130 yards, but finding himself with two touchdowns on the day, a strike in the back of the end zone to red-shirt junior tight end Ben Wooster and a well-placed ball between two defenders for a 58 yard score to redshirt freshman Devon Brown.

“We spent half a season in the spread offense and we’ve gone back to basics,” Head Coach Jim Grobe said. “When we were in the spread offense, we spent three quarters of the time throwing the football, but we’ve gone back to old fashioned football, trying to run and throw a little bit, mix it up and be a little bit more balanced.”

The Deacs had a lot of balance on the day, rushing the football 40 times and throwing it 20 times. A lot of the rushes came in the second half as Wake Forest was attempting to run the clock out after leading 28-3 at the half.

Redshirt senior DJ Boldin had eight more catches on the day, and he continues to lead the ACC in receptions. Redshirt freshman Brandon Pendergrass, filling in for the injured Josh Adams, who was a game-time decision, had a career day, rushing for 110 yards and a score on 27 carries. Pendergrass consistently found ways to make something out of nothing, cutting back a number of times and exploding in the open field.

“It’s every lineman’s dream to get to triple-digits,” redshirt sophomore center Russell Nenon said. “It’s gratifying for Brandon and it’s gratifying for us. We’ve worked hard and we’re going to keep working hard. 100 yards isn’t enough for us; we’re going to shoot for 150, 200 every game.”

The defense had its share of big plays against the Cavs too. Curry put a punishing hit on Verica when he was throwing, allowing redshirt junior defensive tackle Boo Robinson to collect his first career interception. The Cavaliers had four turnovers on the day, including an interception to redshirt senior linebacker Stanley Arnoux to seal the victory in the fourth quarter.

No play was bigger than redshirt senior safety Kevin Patterson’s interception for a touchdown. The Deacon defense has made its mark with defensive touchdowns the last few years, but it had not had a score this year up until this play, despite forcing a lot of turnovers.

“When I saw KP score and we got in the end zone, I just thought, ‘that’s about time,’” Curry said. “We’re really playing the style of defense that Wake Forest plays.”

The Wake Forest style of defense, along with the re-emergence of the offensive balance, has allowed the Deacs to get right back in the ACC title hunt. They share the same number of wins with both Maryland and Florida State, but Maryland currently owns the tie-breaker over the Deacs because of their win in College Park in October.

The Terrapins have a tough road, playing UNC-Chapel Hill, Florida State and Boston College in their last three games. If they falter in just one game and the Demon Deacons can hold in their last two games against N.C. State and Boston College, the Deacs will win the Atlantic division.

“We’ve played enough ACC games to know that everyone’s pretty good in the league,” Grobe said. “Going to N.C. State is going to be really tough. Tom (O’Brien) and his staff do a great job and they have a lot of talent, and they’re getting a lot of kids healthy. That’s going to be a battle. We can’t take care of how Maryland plays, but we can take care of how we play.”

The Deacs will travel to Raleigh to face a hungry and bitter N.C. State team who has battled in a lot of games this year but has just a 1-4 record in conference and a 3-6 record overall.

The game against the Wolfpack is televised on ESPN-U and kickoff is slotted for 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov 15. at Carter-Finley Stadium.