INSIDE SLANT

The Demon Deacons close the season with a road game against Duke, which is probably due to defeat Wake Forest.

The Demon Deacons have won the last nine games in the series, though they were in position to lose two of the last three games when Duke’s winning field-goal attempts went awry.

But in a season that has turned into a lost cause for Wake Forest (4-7), it will want to prevent Duke from piling on. The Demon Deacons are coming off an open date on the schedule, so either they’ll be rested and refocused or they could show signs of having packed it in.

This would be a good game for the Demon Deacons to wash the slate clean of some of the bugaboos that have haunted them this year so at least they won’t take that baggage into 2010.

“We worked awful hard to make things happen the last four years,” fifth-year senior running back Kevin Harris said.

While there won’t be a bowl game for Wake Forest, the seniors need a fifth victory this season to become the most successful class in school history.

It already shapes up as a long offseason for the Demon Deacons, so at the very least they’ll want to prevent carrying a six-game losing streak into the coming months.

Wake Forest has never played a 12-game season and finished with fewer than five victories, but that would be the case unless it wins at Duke.

NOTES, QUOTES

• Wake Forest is 2-7 in noon kickoffs since the start of the 2007 season. And that’s the scheduled starting time for the season finale Saturday at Duke. Wake Forest is 0-5 on the road in noon games during the three-season stretch.

• The Demon Deacons have lost five in a row, the program’s longest losing streak within the same season since a seven-game skid to begin the 2000 season.

• Wake Forest is 60-60 in this decade (since the start of the 2000 season), so winning at Duke will be necessary in order to finish above .500 for the decade. The next-highest victory total for a decade in school history is 57 wins in the 1940s. That was the program’s last winning decade, as the Demon Deacons went 57-36 (.613 winning percentage).

Series History:   Duke leads 53-34-2. (Last meeting, 2008, Wake Forest won 33-30 in OT). Wake Forest has won the last nine meetings. Duke was in position to win two of the last three games with field goals at the end of regulation but failed to convert.

Scouting The Offense:   The Demon Deacons have shown more emphasis on establishing a rushing presence in recent games, and that’s likely to be a priority in the future. But for the regular-season finale, it’s also possible that the Demon Deacons will showcase QB Riley Skinner in his final game. Don’t expect Wake Forest to withhold any of the offensive gadgets that might be in the playbook and geared toward Skinner.

There’s also a veteran offensive line, and the coaching staff has rotated in several substitutes the past few weeks. That should continue in the finale.

Scouting The Defense:   The Demon Deacons have tried lots of players on this side of the ball, and injuries have dented the secondary. The team comes off an idle week on the schedule, so some of those players might be ready to go at full tilt.

Wake Forest has yielded some rather sizeable chunks of rushing yards during the past month, and that shouldn’t happen against a Duke team that’s not equipped to move the ball on the ground. That should allow the Demon Deacons to pump up some other areas, so expect blitz packages to be in the game plan.

There are numerous linebackers vying for more playing time in 2010, and the Duke game should be a good opportunity for one or two of them to get a head-start on securing spots on the depth chart for next season.

Quote To Note:   “The good news is we’re not done. We have one more chance to win a football game. Our guys have always enjoyed playing football, and I would hope they would look forward to one more game and not end on this note.”—Coach Jim Grobe, whose team will sit out the bowl season for the first time since 2005.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

This Week  ‘S GAME: Wake Forest (4-7, 2-5) at Duke (5-6, 3-4), Nov. 28—Neither team will qualify for the postseason, but one of them will carry a losing streak into the offseason. Wake Forest has lost five games in a row, and Duke carries a three-game losing streak. These programs often have been compared, and this is a chance for Wake Forest to show that it’s still a notch ahead if the Demon Deacons can win for the 10th consecutive time in the series.

Keys To The Game:   Wake Forest is coming off its first open week in the schedule, so there’s ample opportunity for the Demon Deacons to throw a few more wrinkles into their playbook for this game. Pass defenses for both teams will be tested, and it could come down to which secondary can make plays and which one allows more big gainers.

Players To Watch:  

DT John Russell—He winds down his career as the one of the most consistent players on the defense this year. He has been good as a pass rusher, and he should have ample opportunities to pursue the quarterback against Duke.

QB Riley Skinner—He’s making his final collegiate start against the team he faced in his first start in 2006. Back then, it was a conservative game plan when the Demon Deacons simply didn’t want him to mess up. How things have changed because now the Demon Deacons build their strategy around the things Skinner is capable of doing.

WR Marshall Williams—He’s from Durham, where Duke is located. About 17 months ago, he was home working out on the Duke campus when he was asked to leave the practice fields because he wasn’t part of the Duke program. He’d like to have a big game in his hometown.

Roster Report:  

• RB Kevin Harris has scored a rushing touchdown in each of the past two games after missing six games because of a groin injury. This will be his final game in a career constantly derailed by injuries. But he had a breakout performance in the last game of the 2008 season (vs. Navy in the EagleBank Bowl) and he’ll be aiming to cap another season with a memorable outing.

• QB Riley Skinner’s first and final career starts as a college player will come against Duke. The first one came in 2006 at home, one game after Skinner replaced injured Ben Mauk in the second half of a victory against Syracuse. Since then, Skinner has started all except two games (sitting those out with a shoulder injury in 2007). He hasn’t decided on a specific postseason workout plan in regard to preparing for a potential professional career.

• CB Kenny Okoro has been one of the few healthy defensive backs in recent weeks for Wake Forest. He’s also tested regularly by opposing offenses eager to see if he’s up to the task in pass coverage. He said the team was emotionally down after the Nov. 14 loss to Florida State, when the Demon Deacons were eliminated from bowl contention, so it will be worthwhile monitoring how underclassmen such as Okoro respond for the finale.