It can be argued that the ACC's Atlantic Division race and a spot in the conference championship game will be decided when Wake Forest takes on Clemson.

A victory not only would keep the Demon Deacons (3-1, 1-0 ACC) unbeaten in conference play, it also would pin a second league loss on the Tigers, who were the conference favorites in preseason polling.

That would mean the Deacons would have the advantage in the tiebreaker if the two teams end the season deadlocked in conference play.

But Demon Deacons coach Jim Grobe cautions against that kind of talk at this point of the season, noting his team is only a third of the way through its schedule.

"I think you have to be real careful about saying if, if we do this, if we do that," Grobe said. "The bottom line is we've got a really good football team coming to town, and we need to play great to have a chance to win. We've got to stay focused on that and know there's a lot of season left."

Wake goes into the game coming off a disappointing loss to Navy. The Deacons continued to struggle in their running game, and that could have been a factor in the four interceptions Riley Skinner tossed against the Midshipmen.

"I think we've talked about it forever now, but I think that we would like to be able to run the football better," Grobe said. "I don't know that there is any one area that needs the most improvement. Certainly we've put too much pressure on Riley Skinner. We need to balance out our offense a little bit."

The Deacons are running for less than 85 yards a game, throwing for 244.

After the home game against the Tigers, the Deacons go back on the road for their next two games. They are at Maryland on Oct. 18 and at Miami on Oct. 25. Their next home game is Nov. 1 against Duke.

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