"Week in and week out, no matter what our record is, nobody believes we're going to win. We have to prove ourselves" -- this from Wake Forest quarterback Riley Skinner after Saturday nights' humiliation of once-proud Florida State.
I must admit, that I am one of those who admires what Wake Forest is doing but keeps expecting them to lose. I believed they would lose to Florida State. I thought they would lose to Boston College the previous week. Heck, I thought they would lose to N.C. State. I even picked them to lose at Mississippi.
But they win. They win even when they lose key players -- and they've lost several. They win when other teams push them all over the field. They win when nobody thinks they should. They win because Jim Grobe has put together an experienced solid football team that plays smart, knows the system, believes in that system and is not afraid of anybody. They win because they're prepared, and preparation breeds confidence. And no matter what you do, there's no substitute for confidence.
Saturday night in the pouring rain, the Deacons shocked the partisan Florida State crowd into a stunned silence, humbling a Seminole team like nobody else. At the end, the crowd was begging for points of any kind, even a safety. Standing in that rain, the legendary Bobby Bowden looked dazed and every bit of his 77 years. This was Wake Forest coming into Doak Campbell Stadium and thrashing the one-time big bully of not just the ACC but of college football.
Florida State is just a shade of its former self, but still, for Wake Forest to go to Tallahassee and just dominate the Seminoles, to be the first team to shut out FSU at home in Bobby Bowden's 31 years as head coach there, just shows how good this Wake Forest team is. Smart and well coached, yes. Talented, I think you have to say yes again.
The Deacons are now 9-1. No Wake Forest team has ever been 9-1. They have two tough games left with Virginia Tech and Maryland. I may not pick them to beat Virginia Tech on Saturday. You see, you don't expect Wake Forest to beat a team like Virginia Tech. But it seems to pick against the Deacons on Saturday is to regret it on Sunday.
They're good. No question.
