Wake Forest Demon Deacons

                                                              Wake Forest Demon Deacons
2009 Record: 5-7 (3-5)
Head Coach: Jim Grobe (59-51, 10th season...92-84-1 overall)
Offensive Coordinator: Steed Lobotzke (8th season)
Defensive Coordinator: Brad Lambert (3rd season)
2009 Bowl Game: None

Offense: 6 starters return, but one of them is not the legendary Riley Skinner. Skinner has moved on and his replacement should be Skylar Jones, but he will be pushed in fall practice by Ted Stachitas and Brendan Cross. No decision will likely be made until the week before kickoff. Everyone loved Skinner, but he was not the most athletic guy ever to play the position of QB, so expect some new looks as Steed Lobotzke will put elements of the spread option game into the plan in 2010. He certainly has a solid back to make it work in senior Josh Adams, a solid contributor for three years. Brandon Pendergrass will also see some time at RB, and Tommy Bohanon is a power FB. The WR group is solid, and will be the strength of the offense if a decent QB is found. Marshall Williams, Devon Brown, and Chris Givens combined for 20 TDs in 2009. The O-Line is a problem, and only two starters return. There is a severe lack of depth as well.

Defense: Only one starter, DE Tristan Dorty, returns on the D-Line. ajor depth problems may plague the Deacons ability to stop the run or get to the QB. The tackles will be VERY young. Matt Woodlief and Hunter Haynes return at LB, but Joey Ehrmann will be a sophomore starting on the outside. Again, this could be bad. There are three starters returning in the secondary, and safeties Cyhl Quarles and Alex Frye are the strength and the leaders of the defense. Kenny Okoro will be back at CB, and he led the team with 3 pick last season, which isn't much. Production needs to pick up and this unit needs to gel early if Wake has half of a chance.

Special Teams: Jimmy Newman returns as a sophmore to his PK duties. He didn;t turn many heads while only nailing 11 of 17 kicks as a freshman. He did hit all 34 PAT's though, so not all is lost. Shane Popham is an ok punter, but he was hurt in the spring. Not good.

2010 Schedule

Wins: 9/2 Presbyterian, 9/11 Duke, 10/30 @ Maryland, 11/27 @ Vanderbilt

Toss Up Games: 11/13 @ NC State

Losses: 9/18 @ Stanford, 9/25 @ Florida State, 10/2 Georgia Tech, 10/9 Navy, 10/16 @ Virginia Tech, 11/6 Boston College, 11/20 Clemson

Presbyterian? Really? What happened? Bloomsburg wasn't available? Those other three wins don't come close to doing anything for Deacon fans in 2010, and there is only one toss games that they can get up for. The rest of the schedule is full of easy losses for Wake.

Outlook: Look out for a long season  at BB&T Field. Sounds like a Monopoly Property, doesn't it? Wake just will not have the ability to overcome, and if you look at the losses, that is a brutal slate for the most part. Shoot the schedule maker. Skinner was not the best QB ever, but he'll be hard to replace, and that will drive any success or lack thereof that Wake experiences.