Wake Forest used to be the perfect tonic for what ails you. Football team on a losing streak? Play Wake Forest. One win short of bowl eligibility? Play Wake Forest. Feel like getting your second-team offense some work? Play Wake Forest.

With 10 winning seasons in 50 years and five bowl appearances all-time, Wake Forest has been among the least successful football programs, certainly among those in a major conference, ever.

Reynolds Keeps Cougars Running

Kinesiology is the study of the movement of muscles, and it is also the college major of Houston running back Joffrey Reynolds. This is a fine coincidence, because nobody in Conference USA is getting more movement out of his muscles than Reynolds, who leads the league in rushing at 119.9 yards per game. Nowhere in Reynolds' textbooks does it explain how such a compact guy (5-foot-10, 218 pounds) without exceptional foot speed can get the ball 22 times a game, running into a defense that knows he is coming, and still average 5.3 yards per carry. Houston coach Dana Dimel doesn't need some pencil-neck geek somewhere to tell him why Reynolds is the most productive back in the league, and No. 14 nationally. Dimel already knows. "Joffrey Reynolds is as good a running back as I've ever been around," Dimel says. "He's fast and strong. He's chiseled from stone." Look for Reynolds to carve some yardage out of a Memphis defense that has been as soft against the rush as melting cheddar. The Tigers are last in the league, allowing 206.4 rushing yards per game, including a league-worst 356 yards allow to Derrick Nix and the Southern Miss Eagles. "We better score a lot of points, I'll say that," says Memphis coach Tommy West. "They're running the ball really good, putting a lot of points on the board. We've certainly got our hands full this week." Scouting Houston isn't brain surgery. Coaching the Cougars shouldn't be, either. It has been pretty simple -- the Cougars are at their best when they are able to give Reynolds the ball. In his four busiest games, Reynolds averaged 28 carries and 168 yards, and the Cougars went 2-2. In the other three games, Reynolds averaged 15 carries for 65 yards, and the Cougars went 1-2. -- Gregg Doyel

And look what we have here. Florida State is ailing. The Seminoles have lost three of their past four games, they need two more wins to qualify for the postseason, and the rest of their schedule is difficult.

Florida State (5-3) is playing at Wake Forest (5-4) on Saturday, but FSU coach Bobby Bowden doesn't sound like he's about to partake in some of that good ol' tonic.

He sounds like he might choke on it.

"Nobody wants to play Wake Forest," Bowden says. "They'll beat you."

Ask Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets were good enough to snap Virginia's six-game winning streak this past Saturday -- but not good enough to beat Wake Forest at home. The Deacons won that Oct. 5 game 24-21.

Ask Purdue. The Boilermakers were good enough to beat No. 19 Minnesota on Sept. 28 -- but not good enough to beat Wake Forest at home. The Deacons won that Sept. 21 game, again by a 24-21 score.

"Our defensive front had to endure too many long possessions," Boilermakers coach Joe Tiller said, boiling down not only Purdue's loss to Wake Forest, but the kind of trip to the dentist office that awaits any team about to play Jim Grobe and the Deacons.

The Deacons lead the ACC in rushing at 249.3 yards per game, and they do it with smoke, mirrors and an undersized offensive line that will do anything within the college football rule book to knock down the defenders in front of them. That's not a knock on Wake Forest, either. That's a tribute. Grobe has talent -- this isn't exactly The Little College Football Team That Could -- but he doesn't have excessive talent. He doesn't have the kind of talent that should make the coach at Florida State say, "Nobody wants to play Wake Forest -- they'll beat you."

Grobe gets by with a bizarre offense that really isn't run by anyone else. His coaching roots are at Air Force, where he studied under triple-option guru Fisher DeBerry, but this isn't the Air Force offense. The Deacons pass more, for one thing, and unlike Air Force they don't simply line up and blast away with the fullback and quarterback.

Receivers go in motion and take handoffs around the end. Running backs cross buck -- does anyone say cross buck any more? -- to give linebackers a choice of which back to pursue. Guess wrong, and one of the team's myriad rushers is into the secondary for a nine-yard gain. Six Wake Forest backs are in the ACC's top 20, including receiver Fabian Davis, who has rushed just 37 times in nine games -- but gained 344 yards, a 9.3 average.

"That is a dynamite offense," says UNC coach John Bunting, whose team lost 31-0 Saturday to the Deacons. "Why don't more teams run it? I don't know. It's a great college offense, and nobody does it like Wake Forest."

The Deacons are on pace to post back-to-back winning seasons for only the third time in a half-century, led by a senior quarterback (James McPherson) who makes few mistakes and a senior running back (Tarence Williams) who has healed from a broken foot and is making a run at another 1,000-yard season.

Grobe is a lunch-pail kind of coach, which is why he's not wasting a lot of time going over bowl scenarios with his team.

"We've had some good wins. We've played well against good people, and I think we'll play hard," he says. "Certainly, if we had an opportunity to beat Florida State, people would be interested in us. For us, it really doesn't dominate the conversation. We know what's out there, and our guys are smart guys. They go to Wake Forest and can figure things out. We've got a lot of dreams, but dreaming doesn't help. We've got to block and tackle, and I think our guys are aware of that."

Around the ACC

Clemson
Clemson has won 21 of the last 25 meetings with Duke, including the last three by a 169-60 margin. ... Duke linebacker Jim Scharrer, 25, committed to Clemson in the mid-1990s but signed a professional baseball contract instead.

Duke
The Blue Devils have lost 15 of 46 all-time games with Clemson, but they have nearly broken even at home, going 11-12 against the Tigers at Wallace Wade Stadium. ... Alex Wade, who has run 13 times for 26 yards in the past two games after averaging nearly 100 yards in the previous seven, isn't hurt or tired, coach Carl Franks said. The Blue Devils fell behind early in both games, losses to NC State and Maryland, limiting Wade's touches. Additionally, last season's leading rusher, Chris Douglas, is back from an ankle injury.

Florida State
The Seminoles have won their last 10 meetings with Wake Forest and lead the all-time series 17-2-1. ... FSU is second (to Wake Forest) in the ACC with 213.5 rushing yards per game, but the Deacons have held five of their nine opponents to less than 100 yards rushing.

Georgia Tech
Kicker Luke Manget needs four points Saturday against NC State to become the Jackets' all-time scoring leader. Scott Sisson has the record with 299 points. ... The Wolfpack will want to keep an eye on Jackets running back Gordon Clinkscale early in the game. His first carry against Maryland went for 51 yards, and his first against Virginia gained 37.

Maryland
NT C.J. Feldheim (knee) is out for the season, while the Terps might not have TB Bruce Perry (shoulder) or OT Matt Crawford (knee) Saturday at North Carolina. ... The offensive line is especially precarious, with center Todd Wike (toe) questionable and reserve Kyle Schmitt (shoulder) doubtful. ... The Terps, who visit North Carolina, like the road, having won five of their last seven games after losing 15 of their previous 17.

North Carolina
Fullback Madison Hedgecock has been moved to defensive end because one starter, Will Chapman (broken wrist), is out for the season, and the other starter, Issac Mooring (hand), will be limited the rest of the way. ... True freshman Mahlon Carey, who has given the Tar Heels a spark since pulling out of his redshirt season two games ago, could move to safety next season thanks to the team's depth at tailback. Transfers Rikki Cook (Rutgers) and Chad Scott (Kentucky) become eligible in 2003.

NC State
Kickers Austin Herbert and Adam Kiker will compete in practice this week for the starting job Saturday against Georgia Tech, and unless one of them is overwhelmingly good against the Jackets, their competition could continue next week, and perhaps the rest of the season. ... The Wolfpack has lost six of its last seven games with the Jackets.

Virginia
Freshman Wali Lundy is on pace for 62 catches, which would break former Maryland tight end Frank Wycheck's ACC freshman record of 58 in 1990. ... The Cavs are off this week, giving them extra time to prepare for Penn State on Nov. 9.

Wake Forest
The Deacons threw two touchdown passes Saturday against North Carolina - doubling their season total of airborne scores. ... Although the Deacons lead the ACC in rushing, Tarence Williams (101 yards) became their first player to gain 100 yards in a game in that win against the Tar Heels. ... The Deacons' last victory against FSU came in 1973.

Around Conference USA
Army remains winless, but only by eight seconds. That's how much time was left when UAB connected on a touchdown pass to beat the Cadets 29-26 on Saturday.. ... Cadets WR Aris Comeaux had a heck of a game, catching a touchdown pass to extend his scoring streak to four games, and adding an 88-yard touchdown on the second-longest punt return in school history. ... Cincinnati's 48-10 victory against Memphis on Saturday was its second-biggest margin of victory under Rick Minter. ... Bearcats DB Blue Adams' 80-yard interception return for a touchdown was his 10th career pickoff, third in the school record book. ... East Carolina TB Art Brown has scored at least one touchdown in every game this season, and has 12 overall. ... Pirates K Kevin Miller has made his last 23 field goals of 41 yards or less, and he needs five points to become the school's career record-holder. ... Houston, which was off last week, snapped a 14-game conference losing streak the previous week against Army. ... The last time the Cougars played at Memphis, they won 33-30 in three overtimes. ... Louisville DE DeWayne White set the C-USA career sack record last week, pushing his total to 35.5 to break UAB's Bryan Thomas' mark of 35. ... The Cardinals' 556 yards of offense against ECU was the No. 9 total in school history. ... The last time he faced Houston, Memphis RB Dante Brown ran for 148 yards and a school-record four touchdowns in a 52-33 win last season. ... That triple-overtime game in 2000 was the first overtime game in Memphis history. ... Southern Miss junior Rod Davis is one of 11 semifinalists for the Butkus Award, given to the country's top linebacker. ... The Eagles (3-0 in the league) will try to keep their lead in C-USA on Wednesday night against TCU, one of three teams at 3-1 in conference play. ... The last time two meetings between TCU and Southern Miss have been decided in the final 33 seconds. ... With six victories, Tulane has doubled its win total of last season -- and become bowl-eligible for the fourth time in six years. ... Green Wave QB J.P. Losman set a career high with his five touchdown passes Saturday against Navy. ... In four starters, UAB QB Darrell Hackney has thrown for 935 yards and 10 touchdowns, and the Blazers have won three. ... UAB is 15-9 all-time in league play.

Gregg Doyel covers college football for The Charlotte Observer and can be reached at gdoyel@charlotteobserver.com.