No time for Demon Deacons to savor division title

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest kept winning and coming up with more reasons to celebrate: A school-record 10 wins, an improbable conference division title, Tobacco Road supremacy.<br> <br> But the 16th-ranked Demon Deacons don&#39;t have time to party yet. With their first league championship since 1970 and a spot in the Orange Bowl on the line in Saturday&#39;s Atlantic Coast Conference title game against No. 23 Georgia Tech, the stakes remain huge.<br> <br> ``It&#39;s something that probably will happen once in a lifetime, so you definitely have to live up the moment,&#39;&#39; running back Kenneth Moore said Tuesday. ``But you definitely have to get ready for next week and not get on too high a pedestal.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Wake Forest (10-2, 6-2) allowed itself a few days to drink in the division championship it clinched with a 38-24 victory against Maryland. Some players whooped it up in the locker room, others watched a 3 a.m. replay of the game on television and still more spent Sunday reflecting on their surprising accomplishment.<br> <br> ``It really didn&#39;t soak in until like Sunday ... Man, we just won the division,&#39;&#39; Moore said. ``One step away from doing what we said we were going to do in the beginning of the year.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Then, on Monday, it was back to work.<br> <br> ``You can&#39;t just sit on that and be satisfied because Georgia Tech is a really good team,&#39;&#39; offensive tackle Steve Vallos said. ``And if we want to be where we were planning on being at the end of the season, you can&#39;t dwell on that win and (not) focus on our next opponent.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> That Wake Forest has maintained focus throughout its run is remarkable. The Demon Deacons have performed at a consistently high level for most of the season, with their only blips coming in the fourth quarter of the Clemson loss and in their loss to Virginia Tech.<br> <br> Of course, Wake Forest won&#39;t play a bigger game than this one unless the Demon Deacons win and advance to the Orange Bowl.<br> <br> ``You think one game is huge, and you want to sit down and soak it all in,&#39;&#39; quarterback Riley Skinner said. ``But you realize you&#39;ve got an even bigger one next week, so there&#39;s no time to sit around and let it sink in.<br> <br> ``You&#39;ve got to keep going through every week, planning for the next game. After the season&#39;s over, it&#39;ll be time to let it all sink in.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> One thing the Demon Deacons say isn&#39;t a concern is the just-happy-to-be-there mind-set. They insist they aren&#39;t content just to win the division.<br> <br> ``We&#39;re happy to be in the position that we&#39;re at, but I don&#39;t think we&#39;re satisfied,&#39;&#39; Vallos said.

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