By Mike Hogewood for theACC.com

Wake Forest is enjoying its finest days of football in the history of the school. Last year's Deacons won nine games including a victory in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. In 2006, Wake won the ACC championship. With 20 wins in two seasons, the Deacons' days as a league pushover are over and 2008 should be another banner year in Winston-Salem. Give credit to Jim Grobe who has done what many thought was an impossible task - building Wake Forest football into elite status in the ACC. "We needed good football players, we needed good students, but more than anything else, we wanted to bring in a group of kids that will be pretty apt to put themselves second and put the team first." Grobe puts an emphasis on smart disciplined play on both sides of the ball, one reason almost every player redshirts his first year.

Quarterback Riley Skinner

The running game will be solid led by speedy Josh Adams. Adams was second-team All- ACC a year ago and just missed rushing for a 1,000 yards. The offensive line has some holes to fill including the loss of All-ACC center Steve Justice. Grobe plans to play a lot of lineman to try and wear down opponents. Last season's top playmaker, wide receiver Kenny Moore, is also gone. Grobe says a lot of players at that position will get their hands on the football. "I think overall our talent level at receiver is as good as its been since I've been at Wake Forest, but a lot of the guys are young and I don't know how they're going to respond when they get in competition."

Linebacker Aaron Curry

Aaron Curry is a huge playmaker at linebacker. He returned three interceptions for touchdowns last season. All of those he credits to being in the right place at the right time in a very disciplined defensive scheme. "With Coach Grobe, it's either be disciplined or don't play. You can be the best athlete in the world, but if you don't know where you're supposed to be or how to get there, you just won't play."

All-ACC cornerback Alphonso Smith heads up a secondary that has a knack for making big plays. Smith set a school record last year with eight interceptions. Smith and Curry are also the vocal leaders on this unit that stresses team play. Smith says, "It's not about talent. It's about teamwork, everyone being in tune. We hold each other accountable. If you don't know what you're doing, you can't play. That's one reason everybody redshirts."

To add to the experience on offense and defense, Wake may have the best kicker in the ACC in Sam Swank. Swanks holds almost all of the school kicking records and has great range. He's 9-12 from beyond 50 yards in his career. The Deacons do have to find new returners. Moore and Kevin Marion were outstanding returning kicks the past few seasons; both have graduated.

Wake Forest's success the past few seasons has shown up in the stands at BB&T field. Last year Wake set a school attendance record. This year new suites and a new press box will be unveiled as stadium improvements continue. Grobe says there have been major improvements to the facilities every year he's been at Wake. "We'd like it to be the Wrigley field of the ACC where we can put 32 to 35 thousand fans in there. Hopefully, it can be one of the most fan friendly places to come and watch a football game."

The Deacons season begins in prime time on August 30th at Baylor. Grobe says that there's not one opponent this season that his team can't beat but on the other hand he says there's not one team that doesn't have the talent to beat his Deacons. Wake Forest is showing up in many of the national preseason polls. It's certainly different than past years, but it's not something that Grobe is shying away from. "I think it's nice to feel like people think you're going to be a good football team. That's a good feeling. We just can't let it go to our head."