No. 24 Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Editor’s Note: Beginning with No. 25 Fresno State and counting toward the release of the 2008 College Football Annuals, Athlon will release one spot in its Top 25 every weekday for five weeks. The No. 1 team will be revealed June 4. Check AthlonSports.com every day to see who’s next in the countdown as Athlon Sports celebrates its 41st season of publishing. The 2008 versions of Athlon’s College Football Annuals hit newsstands June 3rd.

Wake Forest is enjoying the most successful period of its football history, and all the credit goes to its coach. Jim Grobe has instilled a disciplined, blue-collar approach to the game into his program and it has resulted in 20 wins over the last two years.

Grobe’s field general is Riley Skinner, proud owner of school records for completion percentage in a season (NCAA-high 72.4 percent last fall) and career (69.5 percent in his first two years). Skinner will be looking for some new targets this year, with Kenny Moore and tight end John Tereshinski no longer around. Chip Brinkman, a nine-game starter with 27 catches on the year, and Demir Boldin are situated atop the depth chart. Jordan Williams, the only true freshman to play for Wake last year, posted a team-high 15.7-yard average and caught a 62-yard TD pass from Skinner in the NC State game. He will have a regular spot in the rotation.

Grobe’s offense works best when the running game is clicking, and Josh Adams, who ran for 953 yards and 11 touchdowns last fall, is back at tailback. The offensive line requires some rebuilding, but guard Barrett McMillin and tackles Joe Birdsong and Jeff Griffin are proven performers.

Nine starters are back on defense, including the top five tacklers. Leading tackler Chip Vaughn (105 total stops) is back at strong safety. Cornerback Alphonso Smith tied for first in the nation with eight interceptions and ran three back for scores. Linebacker Aaron Curry also scored three times on interception returns and notched 99 tackles, including 13.5 for a loss.

The Deacs open their 2008 conference slate at Florida State on Sept. 20, following an open date. The Clemson game at Wake on Oct. 9 could have major ACC repercussions.

Getting to be a habit The Demon Deacons have been to bowl games in back-to-back seasons for the first time in school history.

Reliable Riley In only two seasons Skinner has tied a school record with 18 wins by a starting quarterback.

They’ve arrived Wake Forest is one of only 18 teams in the FBS to have won 20 games over the last two seasons.

Wake Forest superlatives:

CB Alphonso Smith is named First-Team All-America and First-Team All-ACC.

RB Josh Adams, K Sam Swank, LB Aaron Curry and S Chip Vaughn are named First-Team All-ACC.

QB Riley Skinner is named Second-Team All-ACC.

OL Jeff Griffin and LB Stanley Arnoux are named Third-Team All-ACC.

You can read the entire Wake Forest preview in the 2008 Athlon Sports College Football magazine, available for purchase now at the Athlon Sports store.

Also coming to AthlonSports.com this summer:
— Top 25 Heisman Hopefuls
— Live chats with Athlon editors
— Conference-preview videocasts
— Launch of the 2009 Athlon Consensus 100
— Athlon's college fantasy football draft kit

Other in-season offerings:
— Previews for every college football game
— Fantasy games
— Sideline Spirit voting
— Scenes From Saturday
— Updated Athlon 119
— Much more

Be sure to return to AthlonSports.com after June 15 when complete team previews for all 119 teams will be available.

You can also get mobile text alerts on the Athlon Sports Preseason Top 25 by texting “Top25“ to “4INFO“.