By BRETT HUSTON
STATS Writer

Wake Forest (4-5) at No. 10 Georgia Tech (8-1), 3:30 p.m. EDT

Georgia Tech is two wins away from clinching a second appearance
in the ACC championship game, and its vaunted rushing attack is
showing no signs of slowing down.

Its defense, however, could certainly use some work.

The 10th-ranked Yellow Jackets have looked shaky on that side of
the ball while their offense continues to pile up points, and
they'll look for a more balanced effort Saturday at home in
their first meeting with Wake Forest since the 2006 ACC title
game.

Under second-year coach Paul Johnson's triple-option offense,
Georgia Tech has run an average of 57.8 times this season,
gaining 304.1 yards per game to rank second nationally behind
Nevada (319.1). The Yellow Jackets (8-1, 5-1) have been
particularly dominant on the ground over the past four games,
averaging 369.0 yards.

Jonathan Dwyer had a career-best 186 of Georgia Tech's
season-high 404 rushing yards Saturday and scored three
touchdowns in a 56-31 win at Vanderbilt.

"We have a lot of weapons on the offense so each and every week
somebody has a breakout game," said Dwyer, who has keyed the
Yellow Jackets' best start since winning a national title in
1990.

Dwyer (904 yards) and quarterback Josh Nesbitt (763) have
combined for 21 rushing touchdowns, carrying an offense which
leads the ACC with 35.2 points per game despite having the
nation's 116th-ranked passing attack.

The concern for the Yellow Jackets, seeking their first
seven-game win streak since 2000, is on the other side of the
ball.

They gave up averages of 391.0 yards and 27.6 points during five
October games. Their 14 sacks are the third-fewest in the ACC
and they're allowing opponents to convert on third down 41.4
percent of the time, second-worst in the league.

Georgia Tech gave up 28 first-half points - seven on a kick
return - before its defense stepped up in the second half last
weekend.

"We did a much better job in the second half of getting them off
the field and we got some turnovers, which helped turn the
game," Johnson said. "I'm disappointed in the way we started. We
missed some tackles that just killed us in the first half on big
plays. They hit a ton of big plays."

Georgia Tech is the only ACC team to have played six games,
meaning it only needs wins over Wake Forest (4-5, 2-3) and Duke
next week to reach the conference title game in Tampa for the
first time since a 9-6 loss to the Demon Deacons in 2006.

While the Yellow Jackets lead the Coastal Division, Wake Forest
is all but out of the race in the Atlantic after falling 28-27
at home to then-No. 18 Miami last Saturday.

It was the Demon Deacons' fourth loss by three points or fewer
and this one was particularly tough to take considering they had
555 yards of total offense - their most in more than four years
- and led 27-14 heading into the fourth quarter. A turnover, two
missed field goals and a concussion suffered by quarterback
Riley Skinner doomed Wake Forest.

"We're capable of winning. That's the thing that we know," coach
Jim Grobe said. "We've got to have things go right and not much
has gone right for this football team. ... But this is just
about the most unlucky football team I've coached."

The Demon Deacons would need to win out - Florida State and Duke
remain after this weekend - and have Clemson and Boston College
lose twice in order to head to Tampa, but the first priority is
trying to qualify for a fourth consecutive bowl game.

Skinner has been cleared to play and is expected to start his
33rd consecutive game as Wake Forest tries to avoid its first
in-season four-game losing streak since a seven-game skid in
2000. The senior didn't practice Monday, but eventually returned
to his regular practice routine this week.

Defensively, the Demon Deacons are 63rd against the run (141.7
yards per game), and can at least say they'll be prepared for
Georgia Tech's triple option. Wake Forest lost 13-10 to
option-heavy Navy on Oct. 24 as Johnson's former program ran for
338 yards and didn't throw a single pass.

"Our players have a pretty good feel for what we are going to
get on Saturday," Grobe said. "Now we need to play better
against Georgia Tech than we did against Navy and that remains
to be seen whether we are able to do that."

The Yellow Jackets have won 17 of 18 at home against unranked
opponents.