Riley and Seniors Begin Their Long Goodbye
All season I’ve been collecting material for a blow-out profile on Riley Skinner, TGQTEPFWF.* I’m not sure exactly what angle I’ll take but I know I want to analyze and expound upon what Skinner has meant to Wake Forest, not just on the field as a four-year starter who has led the Deacons to unprecedented success but as a leader and personality and spokesman for the football program and the school. I originally planned it as part of our bowl package, but when the possibility arose that the Deacons wouldn’t make a bowl we decided to move it up to his final regular-season game against Duke on Nov. 28. That will give me the week the Deacons have off to pull it together while I’m covering basketball.
In some ways I wish I had the piece together for Saturday’s game against Florida State, when the seniors play their final home game. The tug was even greater after we talked with Riley at today’s media conference when he discussed, over fried chicken and mashed potatoes, how much a victory would mean and how much the Deacons need the home crowd to help them get it.
The quote that follows was prompted by the question if there was something extra special about the upcoming game.
“You want to say no,’’ Skinner said. “You want to say it’s just another week of football. But it’s a home game at BB&T. It’s so much fun playing here. I owe a lot of thanks to people around Wake Forest and in the community that have supported us. And playing Florida State in our last home game, with the chance to go four years in a row beating them, a chance to become the winningest class, a chance to be one step closer to a bowl game. There’s a lot going on this week that’s really motivating. It really drives you to want to prepare that much harder and be that much more focused.
“I think our team knows that and I think our team has that mentality right now. And we’re going to do everything in our will to get ready to beat Florida State Saturday. With a lot of family and friends, it’s going to be an emotional game for our seniors. We’ve had a pretty big senior class that has stuck together for the most part. It’s going to be pretty neat to take the field with them Saturday for the last time at home.
“I really looking forward to it and I just really hope our fans don’t give up on us yet because there’s still hope for this season. We’re going to need our crowd Saturday to help us beat Florida State, because the last time we beat them at home it was on a Thursday night and we had an unbelievable crowd. And in all honesty, that was a huge part of the way we were able to beat them, and hopefully it will be that way Saturday.’‘
*The Greatest Quarterback to Ever Play for Wake Forest.