But who will play Coach Grobe?

Post your casting suggestions here.

Abbate's story coming to Hollywood?
Every Wake Forester, of course, knows the story behind "Brian's Song." Now a Hollywood filmmaker is considering a movie on how the death of the younger brother of junior linebacker Jon Abbate helped inspire Abbate and the Wake Forest football team to unprecedented success this year.

Damn straight, Ned

I'll have my own post on the Orange Bowl sometime today, but in the meantime I wanted to share this take on Deaconball from the Raleigh N&O's Ned Barnett:

Deacons adjust to bright lights

Ned Barnett

(Raleigh) News & Observer

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Golf great Arnold Palmer, left, greets boxing legend Muhammad Ali before the start of the Orange Bowl.

MIAMI - Before the Orange Bowl kickoff, in the heady, crazy countdown moments as the waiting ended and the most important football game in Wake Forest history began, golf carts ferried two American icons to midfield as honorary captains -- Louisville native Muhammad Ali and Wake Forest alumnus Arnold Palmer.

Across the field was a program sprung from the TV -- ESPN regular Louisville, new to the BCS bowl but a veteran of night games and the TV lights.

Mr. Miami, Jimmy Johnson, hung out along the sidelines. Somewhere within the depths of Dolphin Stadium, singer Gladys Knight tuned up for the world's greatest halftime show.

Above it all, a video screen located in one of the end zones was filled with the face of Wake coach Jim Grobe, a regular guy from Huntington, W.Va., who has spent a career away from the limelight at places such as Air Force, Ohio University and Wake.

Grobe is always unflappable, but there was something in the eyes of his magnified image seemed to ask, "Where they heck are we?"

Where Grobe and his Demon Deacons were was inside a dream and a long way from those last two 4-7 seasons back home at 32,000-seat Groves Stadium.

The Cardinals were the opponent, but the real contest was within Wake. Could the team that had staged the biggest turnaround in college football handle it when the lights were all the way up and millions watched on TV?

As Grobe said the day before the game, "It's all mental now."

Wake won that contest but didn't win the game, losing 24-13. It was a great effort, hurt by uncharacteristic Wake fumbles, but the third smallest school in Division I showed the nation the grit and confidence that got it here.

"We are proud of our kids. They played hard," Grobe said, "but we made too many mistakes tonight."

In a sense, Wake never woke from its dream season. There were jitters and two lost fumbles Tuesday, but overall the team played the steady, tough style that carried it to an 11-3 season.

The defense was stout and the offense smart and careful. Wake slowed down the game and left Louisville's high-powered offense seeking traction for more than half the game.

Louisville featured the nation's No. 2 offense coming into the game, averaging 476 yards and 38.9 points. But the Cardinals were held scoreless in the first quarter and needed a trick play -- a halfback pass -- to score its first touchdown late in the second quarter.

By halftime, Louisville had accumulated just 139 yards of total offense and 10 points. Wake's redshirt freshman quarterback Riley Skinner out-passed Louisville bomber Brian Brohm, 124 yards to 79.

Wake, a team that reached the Orange Bowl by beating Georgia Tech 9-6 to win the ACC championship, got the low-scoring contest it wanted because it got the defense it needed.

"I think they did a good job; Wake was kind of controlling the ball there in the first half, keeping the ball out of our hands, keeping us off the filed offensively," said Brohm, who, once he got his hands on the ball, threw for 311 yards.

Wake's defense was brilliant late in the third quarter. Louisville recovered a Rich Belton fumble deep in its own territory and came back with a trademark Louisville play, a 50-yard bomb from Brohm to Harry Douglas. Wake's defense held and then hurried a field goal attempt that sailed wide.

The third quarter ended 10-10 and Grobe, by then well over any early disorientation, was exactly where he wants to be in every game -- heading into the fourth quarter with a chance to win.

The defensive stand lifted Wake's offense. The Deacons ran through a suddenly flat-footed Louisville defense to set up a 36-yard field goal by Sam Swank. That put Wake up 13-10 with 14:46 to go.

With fourth-quarter urgency, Louisville's offense came alive and marched downfield to score and take a 17-13 lead.

Louisville, finally in high gear, combined runs and passing in a late fourth-quarter drive capped by an 18-yard touchdown run by Brock Bolen. That put the Cardinals ahead 24-13 with 4:57 to go. Finally, Louisville had the Deacs where it had wanted them from the start -- playing from behind and in a hurry to catch up.

Skinner, who completed 21 of 33 attempts for 271 yards and one touchdown -- while under great pressure most of the night -- threw a rare errant pass that was intercepted to end Wake's desperate last drive.

But it didn't end the dream.

Wake is still a long way from those losing years. And, the Orange Bowl showing suggested, it's not going back.