FanHouse JimGrobe

WASHINGTON -- Jim Grobe was always certain he could turn Wake Forest, a program that was barely a speed bump on Tobacco Road and little more than road kill on the national scene, into an ACC champion and an elite football program. So, as the coach sat next to the monument-sized trophy for winning the inaugural EagleBank Bowl in Washington, a grin began to form underneath his baseball cap as he admitted something he thought even he'd never thought he'd see.

"I never thought an eight-win season would be a disappointment at Wake Forest," Grobe said.

Congratulations coach, that's the price of building a program. And of being as good as the Demon Deacons were over the final three quarters in the come-from-behind 29-19 win over Navy.

If you needed a sign of just how far Wake Forest football has come under Grobe, who wrapped up his eighth season in Winston-Salem with his third consecutive bowl appearance and second straight bowl win, Saturday's win was the kind of blinking, neon announcement that might've fit in on the Las Vegas Strip.

Despite temperatures that seemed to rival the number of letters in Navy quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada's last name and an early 13-0 deficit, the Deacons won their eighth game for a third straight season, exactly three times as many eight-win seasons as the school had in the pre-Jim Grobe era.

And they did it in what is unmistakeably the Wake Forest way under Grobe.

FanHouse gathers around the TV to bring you insights from Bowl Season '08.

Wake Forest headed into the 2008 Eagle Bank Bowl -- the first and obviously most prestigious of all postseason college events -- heavily disappointed with their season. A late loss to N.C. State sealed their fate as a lower tier bowl team, but it was an earlier home loss to Navy that had really derailed their season.

Well, that and the fact that offensive coordinator Steed Lobotzke convinced Jim Grobe that running the ball 55 times against Miami would guarantee Wake a win. Fortunately, the EBB gave the Demon Deacons redemption on both counts as Wake downed the Midshipmen 29-19 in the first game of the bowl season.

Oddly enough, the score doesn't indicate two things very well: 1) Riley Skinner was perfect passing, going 11-11 for 166 yards passing and 2) the Deacs had to come back. Navy scored the first 13 points of the game and Wake looked horrible on both sides of the ball and, well, it looked like a repeat of earlier this year.

Skinner and Wake woke up at the end of the second half and with the help of Josh Adams' pair of short yardage touchdowns, came away with a fairly decisive victory.

Most coaches are busy cramming every bit of preparation they can into their charges heads during the brief window the NCAA allows for spring practices. When they're not doing that they're darkly implying that anyone who shows up in the fall with even a little bit of extra weight is going to sent to the special Margaret Cho room they keep in the dungeon below the weight room and forced to watch "I'm The One That I Want" until they pass out from the pain. At the very least they're, you know, at practice. But not Jim Grobe!

Practices start at varying times, if at all. For the second straight season the Deacons didn't use all their 15 days allotted by the NCAA.

Some players are overweight. The coaches say they won't worry about the extra baggage until preseason practices begin in August.

Coach Jim Grobe is rarely on hand when practices do begin. He'll emerge from his office at some point, shake hands and exchange pleasantries with those fans who have dropped by and entertain any questions the media might have.

Sweet fancy Moses. I'm already slightly fearful of Grobe -- anyone who can win the ACC at Wake Forest with a backup quarterback can probably kill me with the power of his mind -- and now I have to process this information. Practice? Whatever! Let's, like, run some crazy trick plays and stuff. Maybe I'll check it out if I wake up in time, but I'll definitely be rocking my PJs and carrying Agent Butterstone, Ninja Bear Secret Agent. I'm Jim Grobe, MFers!