Wake Forest Demon Deacons - NCAA Football Odds, Lines & Betting

Going into 2006, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons had struggled through three straight losing seasons and a 7-17 mark in the ACC. Highly regarded head coach Jim Grobe was just 26-32 in five years in Winston-Salem. But Wake was returning 19 starters from the previous season, which is often a positive sign and they proceeded to win their first five games before falling to Clemson. Then, they won four more in a row, including 30-0 win at Florida State. A loss to Virginia Tech followed, but Wake Forest won at Maryland to win the ACC's Atlantic Division, then beat Georgia Tech 9-6 in the conference championship game.

Wake represented the conference well in giving Louisville a tough game in a 24-13 Orange Bowl loss. On the season, the offense ranked just 96th in 1-A, but a respectable 44th in rushing, while the defense ranked 45th overall and 21st vs. the run. The Deacons also benefited immensely from their plus-13 turnover ratio, which ranked as sixth-best in the country. This season, Wake returns eight starters on offense, including QB Riley Skinner (66% completion percentage as a freshman last year) and three on the offensive line. But they lost their top two receivers. The Deacons also return just five starters on defense after the losses of All-ACC safety Josh Gattis and LB Jon Abbate, the team's emotional leader. But Wake does have back K/P Sam Swank, who not only handled every conversion attempt, field goal, punt and kickoff last year, but was voted MVP by his teammates.

This year's schedule includes visits to Boston College, Virginia, Clemson and Vanderbilt, and home games with Nebraska, Maryland and Florida State. Wake Forest captured lightning in a bottle last year in producing the finest season in school history. While another bowl bid is possible in 2007, do not expect them to be quite as electric.

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