Dascenzo: Ten reasons Pack had better be ready
By FRANK DASCENZO : The Herald-Sun
fdascenzo@heraldsun.com
Sep 28, 2004 : 10:42 pm ET
I first met Wake Forest football coach Jim Grobe three years ago when he was a guest speaker at the Durham Sports Club.
I was impressed then, but I'm even more impressed now. And that brings me to the 10 reasons N.C. State's football team had better be ready Saturday when Grobe brings his Demon Deacons into Carter-Finley Stadium as obvious underdogs.
* After 40 games, Grobe's record is 21-19. His predecessor, Jim Caldwell, was 8-32 after 40 games.
* Wake has back-to-back upsets of well-coached Boston College. The Deacs went to Chestnut Hill, Mass., in 2003 for their season opener and beat the Golden Eagles 32-28 and beat them again Saturday at Winston-Salem 17-14. This is the same BC program that owns four consecutive bowl wins.
* History buffs will love this one. During Saturday's game, Wake defensive coordinator Dean Hood obviously got a little historical in motivating his troops to stop the Eagles. According to a story in the Winston-Salem Journal, Wake Forest linebacker Brad White is quoted as saying: "[Coach Hood] said someone asked Stonewall Jackson what made him so courageous and he said, 'I'm immortal until the person across from me accomplishes his job.' Play like immortals until they beat you."
Whatever works, right? Wake allowed 451 total yards, but the Deacons still won and will take a 3-1 record to Raleigh.
* If you believe in the overdue factor and are a Wake fan, consider this one. Grobe is winless in his fifth game in three years, but check out the close scores. The Deacons lost at home to N.C. State 17-14 in their fifth game in 2001, lost at home to Virginia 38-34 in 2002 and last season lost at UVa 27-24.
* Who really does more with less than Jim Grobe? His 5-7 team a year ago had only 10 starters back, lost to Purdue by just six points, beat Clemson by 28 points and had its best scoring average at 27.9 points per game. In all five victories, Grobe's opponent had more first downs, but so what -- statistics are for losers.
* Last year's Wake-N.C. State game was shocking. Wake beat the Wolfpack 38-24 in a game that Chuck Amato would rather have played after visiting Ohio State instead of the week before. Still, Wake knew how to upset the Wolfpack, took advantage of amazing field position -- the Deacs averaged starting at their 33-yard line -- and held N.C. State's offense, behind quarterback Philip Rivers, to just 10 points after three quarters. Oh, by the way, the game was played the week after the Deacs beat Boston College.
* Grobe's previous three Wake teams were penalized fewer times than any ACC team. Amato might like aggressive players who sometimes can draw the shirlls of an official's whistle, but in the world of different strokes for different folks, if it's working, why fix it? Wake was penalized 222 times for 1,867 yards from 2001-03 -- N.C. State 280 times for 2,424 yards.
* Wake's 38-17 win over Oregon in the Seattle Bowl to cap a 7-6 finish to the 2002 season might be Grobe's finest hour, but his teams never have endured losing streaks of more than three games. That has happened twice -- his first season in 2001 and the end of last season when the Deacs were 5-4 before losing at UNC, then at home to Connecticut and Maryland.
* N.C. State's defense registered 10 sacks in Saturday's 17-16 win at Virginia Tech. Impressive, right? Wake Forest's offensive line allowed 16 sacks all of last season and just 12 in 2002. Impressive, right?
* Check out Grobe's record vs. in-state opponents, 12-3. He is 2-1 vs. UNC; 3-0 vs. Duke; 1-2 vs. N.C. State; 4-0 vs. East Carolina; 1-0 vs. Appalachian State and 1-0 vs. N.C. A&T.
