College Football: My Preseason Top 25, Part 4

Here are the links for parts 1, 2, and 3:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/35120-college-football-my-preseason-top-25-part-1

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/35642-college-football-my-preseason-top-25-part-2

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/36513-college-football-my-preseason-top-25-part-3

Here we go:

16. Wake Forest (Athlon No. 24, Phil Steele No.27, SI No. NR, ESPN No.22)

Overall: Do you like Wake Forest? Do you like Jim Grobe and the work he has done building this program? (By the way, Grobe has built and not rebuilt, because you have to have previous glory to rebuild)

Of course you like WF and Jim Grobe. You are a college football fan. Wake Forest was mostly a perennial doormat from 1888 to 2006. Then, all of a sudden, the Demon Deacons were in the Orange Bowl. Despite many detractors, Wake managed a perfectly respectable 9-4 last year, including a win over UConn in the Meineke Bowl. Do they have a chance to improve on that record in 2008? Certainly.

Wake Forest returns 6 starters on offense. While the offensive line returns three starters, none of those players started more than 8 games last year and some experts challenge the overall quality of the unit. QB Riley Skinner and RB Josh Adams are easily the two best players on a relatively weak looking offense. Adams has good speed and might be worked in with redshirt freshman Brandon Pendergrass. Skinner is going to be the difference maker this year for this offense. He has decent numbers, including the best completion percentage in the NCAA (72.4 completion percentage, 2,204 yards passing, 12 TDs and 13 INTs). This is a good offense and the staff is fantastic at developing talent. Developing quality wide receivers from good talent and little game experience is another test for offensive coordinator Steed Lobotzke. Chip Brinkman is the only returning wide receiver. Overall this is not an offense that would rival many other teams I have written about previously, but should do well in a relatively weak ACC.

Defense is the key for the boys in Winston-Salem this year. The defense returns 9 starters this year (losses at DT and DE). Last year’s defense was ranked 27 in total defense. Improvement here could really cause a stir in the ACC. While the defensive backs struggled against the pass earlier in the year, then Brandon Ghee started at corner and the pass numbers became much better. The turnover margin of plus 9 (18^th best in the NCAA) speaks for itself.

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