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WINSTON-SALEM -- If you're about to face the Terrapins, you might as well play a shell game.

Such is the state of flux in Wake Forest's offensive backfield entering Saturday's home football game against Maryland.

With an abundance of tailbacks and a lack of fullbacks, the Demon Deacons have moved pieces around in the name of creating depth, getting playing time for more guys and diversifying formations.

"It kind of clears the picture up for us," coach Jim Grobe said Tuesday.

The biggest move is the shifting of Kevin Harris from tailback to fullback, a switch necessitated by two factors. The first was fullback Rich Belton's season-ending knee injury against Nebraska two weeks ago, which left the Deacs especially vulnerable. Senior De'Angelo Bryant, who was going to be lost behind tailbacks Micah Andrews, Harris and Josh Adams, gravitated to fullback but was the only experienced guy at the spot. Anthony Williams, a redshirt freshman, is making strides but isn't ready to play, Grobe said.

Harris, a runner with a linebacker's mentality, was the obvious candidate. He likes contact and can handle the blocking duties.

"We felt he needed some more help," running backs coach Billy Mitchell said of Bryant. "Kevin was the next logical guy to go there. He wants to play, and that's a better way for him to get on the field. He's a team guy, so he'll do whatever he can to help the team."

The other issue was the situation at tailback, which was crowded even after redshirt freshman Lucas Caparelli suffered a shoulder injury against Army that will keep him out of the lineup for a month. Adams, another redshirt freshman, was so impressive in the 21-10 victory over the Black Knights that Grobe, Mitchell and offensive coordinator Steed Lobotzke felt compelled to expand his role.

Adams, clearly the fastest of the backs, is averaging 5.6 yards on 17 attempts, and his development seemed destined to squeeze Harris out of the mix. Harris has carried 21 times for 55 yards.

"We're going to have to find more work for (Adams)," Grobe said. "He has earned the opportunity to get more snaps."

The players now are divided so Wake has two guys at each position -- Andrews and Adams at tailback and Bryant and Harris at fullback -- and that gives Lobotzke the freedom to use two-back sets more often than he has in the first three games. This is about the point in the season when teams want to expand their options and throw more looks at opponents anyway, and it has worked out well for Wake.

As they did with Adams a year ago, the coaches will prepare true freshman Brandon Pendergrass for use in the event of total calamity, but the preference is to redshirt the promising rookie from Royal Palm Beach, Fla.

As far as Grobe is concerned, the best element to the backfield shake-up might be the chance to reward Bryant, a fifth-year senior whose playing time dwindled last year after some early fumbles. Bryant could have graduated in the spring and moved on with his life.

"Before spring practice, I told him, 'If you come back for your senior year, you have to come back because you love the game. Because I can't promise you anything,'" Grobe said. "We felt we had too many guys. He hadn't gotten a lot of reps, but he stayed positive the whole time."

On the defensive side, coaches hope end Matt Robinson, who missed all of last season with a broken kneecap and suffered a high ankle sprain on the first play this year, can return to competition Saturday.

Contact Rob Daniels at 373-7028 or rdaniels @news-record.com