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By Marc Hudgens
SouthernPigskin.com ACC Columnist
SouthernPigskin.com ACC Columnist Marc Hudgens wonders how Wake Forest will be after the Riley Skinner era?
Wake Forest’s Jim Grobe is a very good coach, no doubt. Only the uninformed would disagree with that. He’s accomplished quite a bit since 2006, when he won the school’s first ACC title since 1970 and its most games (11) in school history. Since that year the Demon Deacons have been a force to be reckoned with, and this year shouldn’t be a lot different, if any.
However, there has been one other little factoid contributing to the Deacs’ success since ’06, and that’s the presence of quarterback Riley Skinner.
The Jacksonville, Fla., native clearly has been instrumental in Wake’s rise in the ACC, as he rose from being a virtual unknown as a recruit to being named the conference’s Rookie of the Year for ’06. He is the ACC's most efficient passer, as he is currently the conference’s career leader in completion percentage at over 67 percent. A senior this year, Skinner will likely turn out another memorable performance in his final season.
Which kind of begs the question -- will Wake Forest continue in its budding tradition when Skinner is gone after this year?
Very good question. Before Skinner and since Grobe, the Deacs earned a 26-32 mark, translating to a 44.8 percent winning percentage over that five year span. When starter Ben Mauk went down during the first game of ’06 against Syracuse, Skinner debuted, leading the team to the aforementioned ACC championship. During this three-year Grobe/Skinner era so far the team went 28-12, skyrocketing to a 70 percent win rate. So clearly Skinner was a major factor since, obviously, the quarterback is perceived to be the most important position on the field.
Had Mauk not broken his right arm nor dislocated his right shoulder, would Wake been successful? Perhaps, as Mauk was only a junior that year. Sure he got some serious field time the two year prior but he was way young. Tough call. What you can say is there was, at the very least, no drop off from Mauk to Skinner. Depending on your view you could say there may have been big improvement.
This all is not a diss on Grobe, he’s one of the nation’s best. You can’t be that bad when you’ve been courted by the likes of Arkansas and Nebraska. But one does wonder what 2010 will hold.
Rewinding a bit, it was once believed that Chuck Amato was one of the ACC’s top commodities when he first got there, as he garnered a 34-17 mark and four bowl trips in his first four years. But a lot of that success was largely because of standout quarterback Philip Rivers, now a top NFL quarterback for the San Diego Chargers. Since Rivers left after the ’03 season, the Wolfpack spiraled to 15-20 and only one bowl invitation the next three years under Amato, which ultimately led to his departure after the ’06 season.
It’s widely believed that the only reason Amato appeared good was because of Rivers, so it makes one wonder if history will repeat itself albeit at another school, Wake Forest.
Furthermore, Virginia Tech’s offense hasn’t been performing at higher levels since Michael Vick left, and Florida State’s offense took a clear dip since Heisman winner Chris Weinke departed.
Or maybe Wake will be more like Boston College, who lost standout Matt Ryan after the ’07 season and still won the Atlantic Division the following year without him. The ACC as a whole should hope so.
Yeah yeah, it may be a reach. And way too early, I’ll admit. But you can’t deny the “coincidence” between Skinner’s success and Wake Forest's team success. People believe this year the Demon Deacons will take a dive because of a lot of loss on defense, but this is a Jim Grobe team that still has Skinner. But after 2009 is when the real questions will begin to be asked.
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Stories written by SouthernPigskin.com columnists are done independently. Views do not always coincide with those of the remainder of the staff or the ownership of SouthernPigskin.com.
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Comments
Interesting question for sure. Likewise, how will the wvu coach do after pat white?
Remember, grobe never had a winning in the ACC in his tenure before Skinner. Indeed, grobe went 4-7 in each of the two years right before skinner. Then suddenly 6-2, 5-3, 4-4 in the ACC. Will grobe still be a genious if he returns to 4-7 efforts?
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