MIAMI
They didn't find it at Maryland. They didn't find it at Miami.
Now Wake Forest will return home for Saturday's game against Duke still searching for what has eluded it the first seven games of the season.
"I don't think we've really found our identity on offense," quarterback Riley Skinner said. "We've been changing a lot and doing a bunch of different things. And unfortunately none of them have really stuck.
"So we're going to have to get back to the drawing board again and figure out ways to put more points on the board."
A spread-formation team through the first six games, the Deacons overhauled their offense last week in favor of the Power-I. The move worked, until Miami figured the Deacons out, which took about a quarter.
In the meantime they managed to score their second touchdown in four ACC games. But from the time that Shane Popham lined a field goal just above the crossbar for a 10-3 lead early in the second quarter, the Deacons scored no more.
They finished with 252 yards, their second lowest total of the season. The lowest was last week's 219 yards against Maryland, in a 26-0 shutout.
And whatever they gained from their best rushing effort of the season (195 yards on 52 carries) was lost in the air. Riley Skinner completed three of eight passes for 57 yards, his fewest since the fourth game of the 2006 season at Mississippi.
Coach Jim Grobe said he'll go through the same soul-searching he always does after a loss.
"I think any time you're not successful and you've lost a football game, you try to figure out how you can get better and what your strengths are," Grobe said. "Really coming in today I thought the plan was pretty good. I wasn't sure we were going to be able to protect as well as we needed to against these guys if we were in a (Shotgun) throwing the ball all the time. We wanted to limit turnovers.
"I feel pretty good about the plan. I just think some of the opportunities we had we let slip through our fingers. We had our chances late and didn't get it done."
Miami adjusted to Wake Forest's ground attack by shifting more defenders toward the line, which theoretically, at least, should have opened up passing lanes. But the passing lanes were never there.
Skinner completed one pass to a wide receiver, when his short out pattern to D.J. Boldin resulted in a 45-yard gain.
"We felt like with the defense Miami played, under-center stuff was what we needed to do to move the ball," Skinner said. "We had some chances for some play-action and some boots that just never got called. I guess it was the wrong time in the game or something.
"We've got to find our identity on offense and put some points on the board."
A big part of Wake Forest's identity the past three seasons has been the booming foot of kicker Sam Swank, who has missed the past three games with a pulled quadriceps. The Deacons survived Swank's absence against Clemson, but clearly missed him in the back-to-back losses to Maryland and Miami.
His replacement, Popham, has made one of four field-goal attempts in the last two games, his 24-yarder early in the second quarter against Miami. He has missed from two attempts of 40 yards, and one from 47.
Grobe said that Swank appears to have improved in recent days, but he wasn't cleared in time for Saturday's game. He was asked if Swank's availability for the Duke game will be another game-time decision.
"He's been a game-time decision for a while now," Grobe said. "He's going to continue to be a game-time decision.
"He feels better. He's just not ready to kick without the trainers feeling like he may hurt himself again. I think he's starting to feel like it's getting closer, but again I can't tell you when that's going to happen."
■ Dan Collins can be reached at 727-7323 or at dcollins@wsjournal.com.
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