FanHouse RileySkinner

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida State fans are speculating that Bobby Bowden's coaching future at FSU might be tied into the Seminoles' bowl eligibility. This much is known for certain: Bowden's status will be determined at season's end. And FSU's bowl chances will become much clearer on Saturday.

The Seminoles' hopes of a strong finish now rest on the shoulders of redshirt freshman quarterback E.J. Manuel. Manuel will make his first career start at Wake Forest following the season-ending shoulder injury to Christian Ponder.

What's at stake?

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.

The palm trees and Hawaiian shirts will have to wait. And the number of syllables in Navy quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada's last name is undoubtedly higher than the temperature at RFK Stadium.

But football is here.

FanHouse is live at the inaugural EagleBank Bowl in Washington, the opening bowl game of the season. Check back as we update every quarter with analysis from the unfortunately outdoor press box.

Of course, with Navy blasting a cannon for every score, that and the temperature offer up a fairly good illusion of what it might be like to go ice-fishing with Plaxico Burress.

Fourth Quarter

The Midshipmen played a heck of a game. But Riley Skinner was perfect. Kevin Harris wasn't far behind.

Skinner didn't miss a pass in the fourth quarter or the game, finishing 11-of-11 and four-of-four in the final quarter, connecting with Chip Brinkman for a 44-yard pass on the Deacons' game-winning 80-yard drive and Ben Wooster for the game-winning touchdown.

Hellooooooooo Riley Skinner, quarterback of Wake Forest:



If you've ever seen that D'Angelo video where it's like "whoah pelvic cleavage", and I know you have, you have probably come to the realization that this man is not wearing any pants. It's true. He's not. With Leather has a full-body shot with humorous obstruction of the naughty bit.

Why is Riley Skinner naked? Why is the picture of Riley Skinner nekkid on the internet? How many dirtbag camo trucker hats does one naked Wake Forest quarterback need? We may never know the answers to these questions. Except the last one, the answer to which is "six."

Also this week: a running back got kicked off campus for posting that he would "blow up campus" on Facebook. Jim Grobe's head is scheduled to explode Thursday, when a starting linebacker will be arrested for running a clandestine ferret-smuggling operation.