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Baylor hosts No. 23 Wake Forest in Thursday night game

Aug 25, 2008 - 3:38 PM No. 23 Wake Forest at Baylor, 8:00 pm EDT

WACO, Texas (Ticker) -- Historically viewed as a college football also-ran, Wake Forest is in the midst of arguably the most successful run in its program's history. The energized Demon Deacons will begin what they hope is another stellar campaign in prime time.

The 23rd-ranked Demon Deacons open their season Thursday night when they visit Big 12 Conference doormat Baylor.

Better known for its exploits is basketball, Wake Forest has gone 20-7 over the past two seasons under head coach Jim Grobe. The 20 victories constitute the highest two-season win total in school history.

Following an 11-win regular season and an Orange Bowl appearance in 2006, the Demon Deacons went 9-4 last season, capped by a convincing victory over Connecticut in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

It marked the first time that Wake Forest made bowl appearances in consecutive seasons. The Demon Deacons have not enjoyed three straight winning campaigns since 1950-52, when they went 17-9-3.

However, Wake Forest appears primed for another winning season in 2008, as Grobe returns 15 starters - including nine on defense - from a team that went 5-3 in Atlantic Coast Conference play last year.

The Demon Deacons should have an easy time with the Bears, who went just 3-9 last season and did not win a conference game.

After going 3-1 in their first four contests, the Bears ended the 2007 season on an eight-game skid - its longest since 2001. Baylor's average margin of defeat over that drought was 30.5 points, and its closest loss during that span was a 20-point home drubbing at the hands of Colorado.

But Baylor enters the season with optimistic expectations under first-year coach Art Briles, a former assistant at Houston.

These teams have not played since the 1961 season opener, when Baylor won here. The Bears are 4-0 in their all-time series with the Demon Deacons.