Deacons' win puts them atop Atlantic Division

Wake Forest's 42-32 victory over Maryland Saturday night did more than allow quarterback Riley Skinner to become the school's all-time passing yardage leader.

It made the Deacons a serious factor in the Atlantic Division race.

At 4-2, 2-1, the Deacons now lead the Atlantic Division but, as Skinner said, "It's early. There's a lot of football to be played."

Still, the Deacons are an overtime fumble at Boston College away from being 3-0 and they're playing with obvious confidence.

Skinner has been outstanding since a tough start against Baylor. The defense is improving though it struggled to close out the game against Maryland with a big lead. There are no glaring weaknesses.

Now the Deacons face a trip to Clemson, where the Tigers will have had two weeks to prepare for the game. Clemson has been underwhelming this season but Skinner immediately recalled the 44-10 loss the Deacons suffered in their last visit to Death Valley.

If the Deacons beat Clemson, there's a non-conference game at Navy followed by Miami at home, at Georgia Tech, home to Florida State and at Duke.

It's about to get very interesting.

-- Ron Green Jr.