Head coach Jim Grobe achieved the rarity of posting back-to-back winning seasons in his first to years at Wake Forest , a school with one of college football’s biggest losing traditions. The pinnacle was reached in the 2002 Seattle Bowl as Wake Forest crushed Oregon 38-17. Since then, however, the Demon Deacons have returned to form as losers in the ACC with records of 5-7 in 2003 and 4-7 in 2004.
2004 ended in complete collapse
The 2004 season was particularly troubling in the way it ended, as Wake Forest Demon Deacons lost six of their final seven games straight up, (with five of those games losing against the spread), as 2004 ended in complete collapse. On the upside, six of those 7 losses were by a touchdown or less, which was an indicator that the Deacons were, perhaps, close and that Grobe’s teams fought hard for sixty minutes and didn’t quit.
The tough opening loss deflated the Deacs
Wake Forest began their season with a Thursday Night home game against Vanderbilt, a program that is similar to Wake with their high academic standards and smaller budget. The Deacs were an inflated 8.5-point chalk and lost the game outright 20-24.
The tough opening loss deflated the Deacs for their next game at Nebraska . Wake was a 6.5-point dog and touted as a possible upset team that week but was never in the game as the Huskers scored a 31-3 win.
A slight improvement
Wake Forest returned home to face upstart East Carolina , who was playing inspired ball under new coach Skip Holtz. The Deacs were ridiculous 14-point chalks, as proven by their 44-34 win. Wake Forest continued to be over-valued in their next game against a Maryland team that, while struggling, was still not all that bad. The Deacs were 1.5-home chalks and lost 12-22.
Erratic Clemson was next and the Deacs were finally a decent value as 6.5-home dogs. With four consecutive failures against the number to start the year Wake Forest was a nice sleeper dog and defeated the Tigers 31-27 to show a slight improvement and stand at 2-3 straight up and 1-4 against the spread.
Deacs value improved as they lost
Two tough road games were next at Florida State and Boston College . The Deacs were back into a role that they were more accustomed to as 21-point dogs against the Seminoles. The Deacs got the cash 24-41 for their second straight cover. Next, as 13.5-point pups against BC, the Deacs again paid off in a 30-35 loss as the Deacs value improved as they lost.
Wake climbed off the mat
Up next was a home game against struggling but talented North Carolina State , who was installed as a 3-point chalk. Wake climbed off the mat with a 27-19 upset win.
Next at Duke, the Deacs were whopping 13-point chalks, rare for a road team standing at 3-5 straight up. But Wake Forest entered the game with four consecutive wins against the spread and the streak continued as they defeated the Blue Devils 44-6. The win improved Wake Forest to 4-5 straight up and at least game them a mathematical shot at a winning season and bowl berth.
They did not enough to climb out of the early hole
Wake Forest next traveled to Georgia Tech to play the erratic Ramblin Wreck, who was installed as a 7.5-point chalk. Wake was a tempting team to take here due to their five-game winning streak against the sportsbooks and the fact that Georgia Tech was a very inconsistent team but, as it turned out, those factors took away much of the Deacs’ value as they lost 17-30. The season finale was against Miami as Wake Forest was a 16-point home dog on Senior Day, losing 17-47 as the proved that they did not have enough to climb out of the early hole they dug for themselves in September. The Streaky Deacs began the season with four straight losses, then five straight wins, followed by 2 straight losses against the spread.