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WINSTON-SALEM -- Cold and wet and perhaps wondering what they barely missed, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons wrapped themselves in the moderately warm blanket of probable bowl participation late Saturday night.

Sound vague enough for you? It is. This is ACC football, version 2008. That's as definitive as it gets.

With a 23-10 win over Vanderbilt on Saturday, Wake (7-5) secured a third straight season of seven or more wins. That's a first in the program's long and often tortured history. And at least that's certain.

"Can't say the weather was fun," Deacs quarterback Riley Skinner said, "but everything else was."

Postseason play appears likely if you believe the spirit of NCAA rule 30.9.2.1(a), which suggests that, at 7-5, Wake is ahead of 6-6 N.C. State in the ACC's bowl pecking order. The league has 10 qualifiers for nine spots and is seeking to fill a spot that will go unoccupied by the Big 12 in one of two other postseason affairs.

Like nearly everybody else, the Deacs were one play away from representing the Atlantic Division in the league title game. They were eliminated by last week's home loss to Boston College, and they'll have to accept something less.

"Coulda. Woulda. Shoulda. Whatever," senior kicker Sam Swank said. "I don't want to speculate about what could have been. Right now, the Deacons are in a bowl game. That's exciting, and it's on my mind now."

It's hard to imagine a scenario that keeps Wake out of a bowl. By ACC policy in this insanely balanced year, the Deacs (4-4 ACC) are eligible for every non-BCS game with which the league is contracted, but the Emerald (San Francisco), Humanitarian (Boise, Idaho) and Eagle Bank (Washington, D.C.) are more likely than other destinations.

If they had lost to the Commodores, who at 6-6 are going bowling for the first time in a quarter-century, the Deacs would have been especially vulnerable to exclusion. And in theory, there were plenty of reasons for them to come out disinterested on Saturday. For starters: 41-degree, rainy weather, a nonconference game and a subdued and numerically depressed crowd announced at 25,902.

"We knew that collectively, we had to be the flame today," defensive back Chip Vaughn said.

Kevin Harris and Richard Belton, given a chance when Josh Adams and Brandon Pendergrass aggravated injuries, scored on second-half runs to elevate the Deacs. As usual, it wasn't particularly easy.

Wake led 17-10 in the fourth quarter when Larry Smith, the Commodores' third-string quarterback, threw a perfect deep ball for Sean Walker, who had gotten a step on the Deacs' Alphonso Smith. He might have had a game-tying, 91-yard touchdown if he had caught it. He didn't.

"I held my breath for five seconds on that one," Vaughn said.

A couple of plays later, Alphonso Smith tied the ACC record with the 20th interception of his career, and Belton, a backup fullback, wrapped up the win by scoring from the 4 with 3:12 left.

"My concern was that we would come tonight and be flat tonight," coach Jim Grobe said. "I can't tell you how hard those two (N.C. State and BC) losses were for our football team. It's easy for a team to kind of fold when you're discouraged, and I'm proud of the way we played tonight."

Wake held an opponent under 12 points for the third time this season, and it won the turnover department for the ninth time in 12 games. A group with seven fifth-year seniors and one sixth-year guy, end Matt "Grandpa" Robinson, kept Wake in every game but one, a 26-0 loss at psychotic Maryland.

Now it appears they'll have somewhere to continue their season.

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

Vanderbilt 3 0 0 7 -- 10

Wake Forest 3 7 7 6 -- 23

Van--FG Hahnfeldt 33

Wake--FG Swank 42

Wake--Pendergrass 6 run (Swank kick)

Wake--K.Harris 8 run (Swank kick)

Van--Barden 5 pass from L.Smith (Hahnfeldt kick)

Wake--Belton 4 run (kick failed)

A--25,902.

Van Wake

First downs 16 16

Rushes-yards 34-116 42-158

Passing 133 173

Comp-Att-Int 14-35-2 13-21-0

Return Yards 2 31

Punts-Avg. 7-34.6 5-43.4

Fumbles-Lost 2-1 3-2

Penalties-Yards 6-29 3-45

Time of Possession 28:17 31:43

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Vanderbilt, Reeves 6-33, Graham 7-33, Nickson 7-23, Moore 2-20, L.Smith 7-15, Walker 1-2, Jennings 3-2, Adams 1-(minus 12). Wake Forest, Pendergrass 10-45, K.Harris 7-36, Belton 5-28, Boldin 4-23, Adams 9-21, Skinner 4-9, Team 3-(minus 4).

PASSING--Vanderbilt, L.Smith 9-17-1-46, Adams 3-10-1-71, Nickson 2-8-0-16. Wake Forest, Skinner 13-20-0-173, Pendergrass 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING--Vanderbilt, Walker 4-34, Moore 2-60, Graham 2-20, Barden 2-7, Wheeler 2-7, G.Smith 1-4, Reeves 1-1. Wake Forest, Boldin 8-73, Adams 2-34, Mars.Williams 1-27, Pendergrass 1-22, K.Harris 1-17.