Associated Press
WINSTON-SALEM ó Wake Forest’s rise to prominence this decade is tied to its penchant for collecting fumbles and interceptions.
Mired at .500 this season with a surprisingly woeful turnover margin, the Demon Deacons hope to regain that takeaway tendency when North Carolina State visits Winston-Salem today.
Good luck, with Russell Wilson under center for the Wolfpack.
“You see a guy that hasn’t thrown an interception since Moby Dick was a minnow,” Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe said.
Wilson’s streak of passes without a pick is now at a NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision record 364. It’s been more than a calendar year and 13 game since he’s thrown it to the wrong team, and he’s fresh off engineering a two-touchdown comeback last week in the Wolfpack’s thrilling 38-31 win over Pittsburgh.
“This is certainly his best effort, and that was judged because we were playing a BCS conference team that’s a good football team,” coach Tom O’Brien said.
It was the third consecutive victory for N.C. State (3-1) and the third straight game with at least 38 points since its ugly 7-3 loss to South Carolina in the opener. But O’Brien wasn’t pleased, declaring they still aren’t a good football team ahead of the ACC opener and first road game of the season.
“When you want to be a good team, you have to do even the smallest little details right,” defensive tackle Leroy Burgess said. “That’s what coach O’Brien preaches, and that’s what we have to do to be at the top of the ACC or one of the better teams in the nation.”
Grobe was similarly displeased after the Demon Deacons (2-2, 0-1 ACC) made numerous mental errors in last week’s overtime loss to Boston College, including a broken play in overtime that ended with quarterback Riley Skinner losing a fumble near the goal line when a touchdown would have won the game.