Wake Forest's Capital Statement

WASHINGTON -- Jim Grobe was always certain he could turn Wake Forest, a program that was barely a speed bump on Tobacco Road and little more than road kill on the national scene, into an ACC champion and an elite football program. So, as the coach sat next to the monument-sized trophy for winning the inaugural EagleBank Bowl in Washington, a grin began to form underneath his baseball cap as he admitted something he thought even he'd never thought he'd see.

"I never thought an eight-win season would be a disappointment at Wake Forest," Grobe said.

Congratulations coach, that's the price of building a program. And of being as good as the Demon Deacons were over the final three quarters in the come-from-behind 29-19 win over Navy.

If you needed a sign of just how far Wake Forest football has come under Grobe, who wrapped up his eighth season in Winston-Salem with his third consecutive bowl appearance and second straight bowl win, Saturday's win was the kind of blinking, neon announcement that might've fit in on the Las Vegas Strip.

Despite temperatures that seemed to rival the number of letters in Navy quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada's last name and an early 13-0 deficit, the Deacons won their eighth game for a third straight season, exactly three times as many eight-win seasons as the school had in the pre-Jim Grobe era.

And they did it in what is unmistakeably the Wake Forest way under Grobe.
There was a defense that racks up turnovers with a sense of timing Rolex might envy, an offense that wants nothing more than to methodically grind the opposition into Gatorade powder, and, when all else fails, a little luck.

The Demon Deacons had all three Saturday. Quarterback Riley Skinner was perfect. The defense and surprise star Kevin Harris weren't far behind.

"Give a lot of credit to those guys," Navy running back Shun White said, "They made all the plays they had to to win."

It was Skinner that won game MVP honors, but had it gone to Harris or Alphonso Smith, who made the game's biggest play with his ACC record-setting 21st interception, no one would've demanded a recount.

The Deacons fell behind 13-0 early in the second quarter, allowing two field goals and a touchdown by Rashawn King after the rare Deacon fumble, an echo of the six turnovers Wake Forest uncharacteristically coughed up in their previous loss to Navy this season. But from then on the Wake Forest ran over the Midshipmen, checked the rear view mirror, and ran over them again, finishing the game on a 29-6 blitz.

Smith's interception on the Wake 2-yard line kept the Deacons out of an even bigger disadvantage, then the Deacons methodically marched 98 yards down the field, the football equivalent of a baseball bat to the mouth of the Midshipmen.

"Whenever someone makes a play like that it's going to change the morale of the players," White said. "When we got back on offense, their defense was flying around."

Even when the Deacons fell behind again, trailing 19-14 early in the fourth quarter after Navy's only offensive touchdown, there was no discomfort on the sideline, other than the lack of portable heaters that left Harris high stepping on the sideline to stay loose and linebacker Dominique Midgett dancing during a television timeout.

"We didn't say anything," Grobe said of the surprise deficit. "You could tell our players weren't panicked."

Credit that to the metronome consistency of the Wake Forest backfield.

Skinner didn't miss, connecting on all 11 of his attempts, but if he had Harris could've found plenty of seating on his broad shoulders for the team. The converted fullback who's managed to find most every injury in the medical dictionary in his four years at Wake Forest didn't know he was starting until three minutes before the game. He responded with 24 carries and 136 yards, both easily career highs.

"I'd like to tell you we're smart coaches and figured out Kevin was the guy," Grobe said. "But we didn't. He played well against Vanderbilt and we though he deserved the opportunity to start. So we figured we'd hang our hat on Harris unless he proved us wrong."

He didn't. Harris tore through the Midshipmen defense like a bowling ball through Navy's white-jerseyed pins, if only bowling alleys were sloped 45 degrees downhill. Harris even managed to surprise himself.

Asked if he was ready for a 24-carry afternoon, Harris' response was as brusque as his running style.

"Absolutely not," said Harris, whose only other 20-plus carry game two seasons ago. "I told them to watch me when I tap my helmet [to come out of the game]. ... Every time I tapped, we were in the red zone."

So Josh Adams took over, punching in two scores and helping Wake Forest to another bowl victory in the best series in school history.

"The thing I want to stress is that we had a heck of a season," Grobe said. "It wasn't as good as we wanted, but eight wins isn't too bad against the teams we were playing.

"I'm proud of the way we hung in there."

That too caused a grin under Jim Grobe's baseball cap.

But this time it was because that's exactly what Grobe always expected. Winning the Wake Forest way.