Bird’s Eye View: This was perhaps the nation’s most snake bitten team in 2004, with the Demon Deacons losing six of their seven conference games by a touchdown or less, including two in overtime. Jim Grobe has infused the Deacs with a mental and physical toughness and is looking to fix things over the long haul by redshirting almost all of his incoming freshmen. The situation at Wake reminds me a lot of VT in the early 1990’s, but unfortunately for Grobe, he’s trying to build the program in a conference that is much tougher than the Big East was in 1993, and he has three other in-state conference foes making recruiting even tougher.

Areas of Strength (offense): Tailback Chris Barclay is underrated nationally. Despite only being 5’10”, 173, he has run for nearly 3,000 yards already in his career (2,905) and is a returning first team all ACC player. Barclay’s size is deceiving, as he is capable of running inside before bouncing plays wide. Barclay will be suspended for the season opener against Vanderbilt for an undisclosed violation of team rules. Although many would consider sophomore quarterback Ben Mauk a question mark going into the fall, I like him a lot and think he has the potential to be a very good ACC quarterback. Mauk is a good athlete with some escapability and leadership skills, and enough of an arm to be a former record setting high school passer in Ohio. This should be his coming out party. Fullback Richard Belton has earned a lot of praise from Grobe, and has good enough hands that he could be involved in the passing game if the receivers struggle. Wake’s offensive line returns four starters, but the one who isn't returning, center Blake Lingruen, will be missed. The line as a whole is physical, and Steve Vallos, a legitimate first team all ACC candidate at right tackle, is the ringleader.

Areas of Concern (offense): The leading returning receiver, Nate Morton, only had 26 catches. He needs to be more involved. The best breakaway threat is Willie Idlette, but he followed up a 32 catch freshman campaign with a six catch sophomore season. He needs to be on the plus side of 30 in terms of catches, given his elusiveness and big play potential. Chris Davis is the wildcard in the receiving corps; loads of talent, but little production. Overall, this should be a good offense that could be very good if the receivers play well. Wake needs to pass the ball to take the pressure off Barclay.

Areas of Strength (defense): Three starters return on the defensive line led by redshirt sophomore Matt Robinson, who tallied 11 tackles for a loss. He is way undersized at 226 lbs., but he will fight until the whistle blows and can redirect plays behind the line of scrimmage. Bookend Jeremy Thompson has a higher upside and a great frame (6’5”, 220), and his experience last year as a true freshman will be invaluable. Robinson and Thompson will form a nice tandem over the next three years. Linebacker Jonathan Abbate finished fourth in the league in tackles as a freshman, and just has a natural instinctiveness possessed by great middle linebackers. When he hits people, they go backward. Both safeties return and are solid players. Strong safety Patrick Ghee should step up his play.

Areas of Concern (defense): The interior defensive line is okay with Goryal Scales and Zach Stukes as the starters, but the depth is questionable. Incoming freshmen may have to play and that’s never a good situation. Wake lost both corners, top notch Eric King and Marcus McGruder, and the replacements have question marks attached. Junior corner Riley Swanson is the only player with significant experience, and like Barclay he is suspended for the first game. The most intriguing corner prospect is redshirt freshman Alphonso Smith. Smith is a super athlete that spent last year impersonating the other team’s top weapon on the scout team. Grobe may not trust him enough to start initially, but he’s got the athletic ability to make plays on defense and special teams. Teams will attack Wake in the passing game.

Key Game: Versus Maryland. This game was a tough loss for Wake last year (13-7), and it again could be a low scoring, grind it out affair. Wake needs to hold serve at home against teams like the Terps if they hope to make a run at bowl eligibility.

Fearless Predictions: Wake is going to struggle through another tough year in the win-loss column, finishing with two or three conference wins. Teams better get the Deacs now though, because they will return somewhere in the neighborhood of 18 starters next year and will lose fewer than ten contributing seniors. This team will be solidly in the middle of the pack in the Atlantic in 2006. Grobe has also improved things on the recruiting trail, and last year he won two battles over the Hokies for North Carolina kids (CB Brandon Ghee, Patrick’s younger brother, and OL Chris DeGeare, a spring enrollee). Both of those recruits will play this year and contribute.