Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl? Who knew?

By Darrell Laurant  |   Tuesday, January 02, 2007  |  Comments( 0 )

College Football
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Louisville should have been the Orange Bowl's Cinderella story. Instead, the Cardinals find themselves cast as the ugly stepsister.

This is the first BCS bowl for Louisville, which has come a long way in a short time under Bobby Petrino. But the Cards were supposed to be good, even after star RB Michael Bush broke his leg in the season opener.

Wake Forest, on the other hand, is never good. Remember that Steely Dan song, "Deacon Blues"?

The Deacons were 4-7 in 2005, and 2006 looked like more of the same when starting quarterback Ben Mauk was lost for the season during an uninspiring 20-10 victory over a Syracuse team currently at low ebb.

Two games later, star tailback Micah Andrews went down with torn knee ligaments. Somehow, Wake kept winning, albeit barely. Jim Grobe's team only beat winless Duke by a point and struggled past Division I-AA Liberty. But with an impromptu concoction of stout defense, trick plays, the long-range missiles of placekicker Sam Swank and a surprising performance from light-recruited freshman quarterback Riley Skinner, Wake remained afloat. The signature game was probably on Nov. 11, when the Deacons stunned Florida State, 30-0.

Grobe is a story in himself. His first eight years as a high school coach and college assistant produced a 16-56 record. A lesser person would have opted for selling cars or insurance at that point.

Instead, Grobe learned how to win as an Air Force assistant, turned a woeful Ohio University program around and came to Wake six years ago.

It was like a football version of "Seabiscuit" -- losing coach joins losing football team and both become winners. Not even a late-season spanking from Virginia Tech and the ugliness of the 9-6 victory over Georgia Tech in the ACC title game could tamp down the giddiness in Winston-Salem.

Louisville, meanwhile, lost only to Rutgers and wound up with the Big East title. Grobe calls Cardinal QB Brian Brohm "the best quarterback we've faced, and one of the best in the country", and Petrino came up with a committee of running backs to almost replace the production Bush would have provided. The Cardinals also have two of the best receivers in the conference, if not the country, in Mario Urrutia and Harry Douglas.

Wake Forest has .... uh ... Riley Skinner? Kevin Harris? Grobe credits the Deacons' 11-2 record to depth and senior leadership, not any individual stars.

If nothing else, the game will showcase two of the nation's top kickers in Swank and Louisville's Art Carmody.
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