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As his radio show hits its final segment Thursday night, Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe may allow his mind to drift. And not just because the calls are about to end.

The main source of the distraction will be on the television at the Loop Pizza Grill in Winston-Salem. The game between No. 2 Boston College and eighth-ranked Virginia Tech, the ACC's most consequential matchup in 2007, will kick off around 7:45 p.m., and the Demon Deacons have earned the right to care about it.

The Deacs (5-2, 3-1 ACC) will be pulling hard for the Hokies, who, as members of the Coastal Division, pose no threat to Wake's hopes of a second straight conference title. But Tech can help the Deacons win the Atlantic Division. Tech is the first ranked team to face the Atlantic-leading Eagles, whose 7-0 record includes a season-opening victory over the Deacons.

Wake Forest's chances still must be considered slim in the Atlantic. The Deacons will almost certainly need to win their four remaining league games while Boston College falls twice, and a BC loss Thursday at Blacksburg might be a prerequisite.

This appears to be the biggest ACC game since No. 3 Florida State won at fifth-ranked North Carolina on Nov. 8, 1997, which is the last time two ACC teams in the top eight met so late in any season. It will be the sixth game between two top-10 ACC teams in league history.

Although last Saturday's 44-24 victory at Navy wasn't a conference game, it was Wake's best performance of the season. When you commit three penalties for 28 yards, give away no turnovers and punt once, your chances of victory are pretty good.

ALSO NOTEWORTHY: Riley Skinner's 22-for-28 passing day, in which 15 of his completions went to Kenny Moore, elevated his season's completion percentage to 72.0, which puts him in elite company. N.C. State's Philip Rivers (72.1 in 2003) is the only man in ACC history to eclipse the 70-percent mark. Skinner stands fourth among all active Division I-A quarterbacks in career accuracy.

l Moore is seventh nationally in receptions per game with eight. If Wake gets to a bowl game and he maintains his current pace, he'll top 100 for the season. No ACC player has done that. Only six men from colleges east of the Mississippi River and none east of Toledo have pulled it off.

Even more bizarre is this nugget: At this moment, there have been 29 single-season performances of 100 or more catches. But because of schedule expansion to 12 regular-season games and the NCAA's decision earlier this decade to count bowl games in statistics, a dozen guys might hit 100 in 2007 alone.

l Junior Sam Swank, who has scored 238 points, will shatter Wake's career scoring record. He's two behind Chris Barclay, the 2005 ACC player of the year.

l The Deacs have won five straight games for the second straight season but only the fifth time in school history. The Deacs won seven straight in 1944, six in a row in 1992 and five in 1987.

l Wake's defense and special teams have scored as many touchdowns (seven) as the Notre Dame offense.

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