Now that the curtain has closed on the season, the biggest question for Jim Grobe looking ahead to 2010 is who will draw the huge task of replacing Riley Skinner, statistically the greatest passer in Wake history.

Skinner will graduate later this month. He finished his career with the most yards passing (9,762, fourth best ever in the ACC), most attempts (1,349) most completions (903) and most touchdown passes (60) in Deacon history. With a completion percentage of 66.9, he fell just short of the Atlantic Coast Conference mark for completion efficiency of 67 percent set by Virginia’s Matt Schaub.

Skinner served as Wake’s principal quarterback since he was thrust into the lineup in the first game of his freshman year when Ben Mauk was injured and lost for the season.

For 2010, Grobe goes back to relying on a largely untested quarterback. That will not necessarily be a recipe for disaster. Backed by a stout defense, Skinner guided the Deacons to the ACC championship and an Orange Bowl berth his freshman year.

For Saturday’s game at Duke, Wake listed four players other than Skinner at quarterback. The main backup among those, Ryan McManus, is also a senior.

That leaves three who will be sophomores next season – Ted Stachitas, Brendan Cross and Turner Faulk. Skyler Jones, who switched from quarterback to receiver this fall, also returns.

Skinner believes the battle for the No. 1 position in spring practice will boil down to 6-1, 205-pound redshirt Stachitas from Ponte Verda Beach, Fla.; and 6-2, 200-pound Cross from Alpharetta, Ga. Of those two, Stachitas saw the only action, in mop up duty in the rout of Elon.

“Ted has been playing well the past couple of weeks and getting more reps in practice,” Skinner said. “Brendan is real talented. I’ll be curious to see how that pans out in the spring, because they bring a different dimension. Ted’s got that speed where he can get outside the pocket and make some big plays with his feet. ... Brendan is smooth in the pocket. He floats around and buys an extra second or two without panicking. It’s going to be a fun little quarterback battle in the spring. Hopefully I can get back here some during the spring and watch it.”

OTHER POSITIONS

The new Wake quarterback will not have an experienced offensive line to provide protection.

Wake loses three starters across the offensive front – High Point’s Chris DeGeare, Barrett McMillian and Jeff Griffin.

The Deacons return plenty of depth at receiver with Devon Brown, Chris Givens, Marshall Williams and Jordan Williams; at tailback with Josh Adams and Brandon Pendergrass, and at tight end with Andrew Parker and Cameron Ford.

On the defensive line, the Deacs return ends Tristan Dorty, Kyle Wilber and Gelo Orange while losing nose guard Boo Robinson and end John Russell.

Elsewhere on defense, Grobe won’t be rebuilding his linebacking and secondary corps as he did this season. Joey Ehrmann, Matt Woodlief, Hunter Haynes and Scott Beros return at linebacker, while Dominique Midgett runs out of eligibility.

Starting cornerback Brandon Gee is the biggest loss in the secondary, where Kenny Okoro, Dominique Tate, Cyhl Quarles, Josh Bush and John Stamper return.

NO POP

Even though Wake will have a mostly experienced group on defense next season, the downside of that is the Deacons never developed into a group of high-impact players on that side of the ball.

Wake forced just 19 turnovers, a drop of 14 from 2008. The Deacon defense didn’t score a touchdown until Alex Frye came up with a pick-six Saturday that turned out to be Wake’s final score of the season.

“We just didn’t develop a big play guy like Alphonso Smith or Aaron Curry or Chip Vaughn,” Grobe said. “Some of our guys were just worried about getting in their drops or getting in the right lane to pass rush. Those guys we had before played so many snaps that they just went out and really were looking more forward to making plays than getting lined up.”

NFL DREAMS

John Russell, who played some defensive tackle for Wake despite weighing just 280 pounds, is getting some attention from NFL scouts.

Russell knows he is too light to play defensive tackle if he latches on with a pro team.

“I had a scout tell me that,” Russell said. “A guy for the Cowboys pulled me over and asked if I had played any linebacker or anything like that. I told him I did in high school. He said, ‘That’s good because I like you on film but you are about 40 pounds too light to play defensive tackle in our scheme.’ I told him ‘I’m really 20 pounds too light to play it in our scheme. So I know what you mean.’

“I think I’ll have a shot at another position like linebacker. If they want me to be a water boy, I’ll do that if I can make a team. I’ll work hard and listen to players and coaches and learn and do what they tell me to do. If I can make something happen, it will be a dream come true.”

And if the dream doesn’t come true?

“Plan B is coaching,” Russell said. “Maybe be a graduate assistant here or somewhere else, whoever will take me. I’m not sure that coach Grobe would want to see my face around here anymore since I’ve been here so long.”