With Record Success, Wake Forest's Riley Skinner Wants to Go Out on Top

Riley Skinner enjoyed his summer.

Skinner spent six weeks in his hometown of Jacksonville, Fla., training, golfing and visiting the beach. The veteran quarterback returned to Wake Forest energized -- and with a nice tan -- to help extend the Demon Deacons' school record eight-or-more win bowl seasons to a fourth consecutive year.

After years of relying on defense, Skinner wants to make sure the offense pulls its weight this season.

"We were fairly inconsistent last year with the scheme we had and the way we played each Saturday," said Skinner, the winningest quarterback in Wake Forest history with 26 victories as a starter.

"We need to help our defense out since they've been bailing us out of stuff for years, game after game. We have a lot of guys who can do it, who can play. Not to say we have it all worked out -- we still have a lot of kinks to figure out -- but I think it's going to be an offense that's going to be balanced, that's going to be mixed and it's not going to be focused around one receiver or one running back. I think we are fortunate enough to have depth, which we didn't have last year."

Actually, the Demon Deacs had a number of problems on offense last year despite winning eight games.

They were all over the map, emphasizing the pass early and the run late but never settling into a rhythm. The offensive line and receivers underachieved and injuries played havoc with the rotation. The offense needs to evolve after averaging just 21 points and 208 yards a game last year.

Bottom line, Skinner, who enters his senior season as the most efficient passer in school history and has a shot at several career records, needs help.

"Riley's aged over the last five years a lot better than I have," laughed head coach Jim Grobe.

"Yeah, he's special. I hope we can help him. Last year our offense didn't support him very well. The other 10 guys, we stayed banged up on the offensive line, our running backs stayed banged up, our wide receivers were shaky at best. Overall, we just didn't support Riley very well. I am hoping this group will give him more support because he's capable of really doing some great things for us if those other 10 guys come around."

While Skinner doesn't boast Heisman Trophy-like numbers, he's considered an outstanding leader with a contagious work ethic. That shouldn't come as a surprise. Skinner redshirted his freshman season in 2005 and was thrust into the starter's role the following year when the Deacs' top two quarterbacks were injured in a span of two weeks.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Skinner ranks first on the all-time ACC list for completion percentage, just ahead of Virginia's Matt Schaub (67.3 percent to 67.0 percent). When he picks spots and avoids picks, Skinner is difficult to beat. He is 19-3 in games without interceptions, but 7-8 when he tosses an interception. He's also within reach of school career records for pass attempts, pass completions, passing touchdowns, passing yards and total offense yards. Skinner currently ranks fourth in school history with 6,707 career total offense yards

After winning the 2006 ACC championship -- 36 years after their only other conference title -- the Deacs haven't been able to turn the corner. With so many key players needed to be replaced on defense -- linebacker Aaron Curry was selected fourth overall in the NFL draft by Seattle -- and special teams, a winning season and bowl berth would be a sure sign of long-term stability.

But that's not to say Wake Forest doesn't expect to contend for the league title.

The Deacs dropped four games by a touchdown or less last year. They held Florida State to three points, defeated Cotton Bowl champion Ole Miss and beat Navy in the inaugural EagleBank Bowl. Skinner went 11-for-11 to set an NCAA record for completion percentage in a bowl game and threw the go-ahead touchdown pass to lead Wake Forest to a 29-19 comeback victory over the Midshipmen. Three months earlier, Navy took advantage of four Skinner interceptions to beat Wake Forest.



While the Deacs are not mentioned among the marquee teams in the ACC, Skinner is content to let opponents and fans underestimate Wake Forest. Why? Because he has liked what he has seen from teammates since his return from Florida.

"It has been pretty cool to see what has been going on with our team in terms of the intensity of our workouts, the commitment from everybody," said Skinner, who turns 23 in October.

"I think we have a lot of competition in a lot of areas in our team which is huge. I think it is probably one of the best things that we can have for our team. ... It brings out the best in everybody. I haven't seen a lot of our positions work this hard, put in this many extra hours before camp even starts. They want to be that guy. It has been pretty fun to get back up there this summer."