Wake Forest is back in the rankings, back on the road and, for the moment, back in control of its ACC story.
The No. 21 Demon Deacons head to Berkeley, Calif., on Saturday night to meet California, carrying a three-game winning streak and the kind of momentum that comes from winning away from home.
That stretch includes road victories over then-No. 16 Louisville and North Carolina State, and last week’s 38-14 blowout at NC State pushed Wake Forest into second place in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Wake Forest is 5-1 overall and 3-1 in league play, with its only loss coming at home against then-No. 5 Miami, 33-20, on Sept. 18.
"Our players continue to show a high passion in getting better and learning," Wake Forest coach Jake Dickert said. "You've got to stay hunters. You've got to stay aggressive."
"It is a process, and we've created success," Dickert said. "I think we've got a lot of mature players that want to do something really special this year. They see the opportunity."
Cal comes in at 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the ACC after a 25-20 win over Virginia Tech last week. The Bears had to turn to backup quarterback Jackson Brousseau after Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was injured, and Brousseau delivered: 29 completions on 43 attempts for 321 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions.
Cal also got a lift from backup running back Ashten Emory, who scored twice and finished with 76 total yards rushing and receiving. Running back Adam Mohammed has missed the past two games because of an injury.
"Trying to carry that momentum and keep building off that," Bears coach Tosh Lupoi said Tuesday. "I want to get better every day. I want to get better every week."
"It's all about moving forward," Lupoi said. "Preparing for yet another big-time challenge."
That sort of progression sounds familiar to Wake Forest, which Dickert compared to his own team from a year ago.
"(The Bears) remind me of our team from last year," Dickert said. "They've lately found their identity. This is the best defensive team, by far, that we've played since Miami."
Wake Forest quarterback Gio Lopez has been the engine. Against NC State, he threw three touchdown passes and added a rushing score. Over the last two games, Lopez has been responsible for nine touchdowns - five passing and four rushing - the most by any player on a power conference team over that span.
Lupoi had a blunt assessment of the challenge Lopez presents.
"I don't sleep a lot," Lupoi said of Lopez, "and now it's less."
He also described Lopez as one of the nation’s best scrambling quarterbacks, which means Cal’s defense will have to be sharp from the start. The Bears have leaned on an aggressive approach, but Wake Forest’s quarterback keeps defenses honest in more ways than one.
Wake Forest receiver Jack Foley, a second-year freshman, also broke out last week with eight catches for 156 yards and a touchdown, the most productive game of his career.
Defensively, the Demon Deacons have shut teams out in the second half for two straight games against Stanford and NC State.
And there’s one more wrinkle: the late kickoff. Dickert said the team has gotten detailed guidance on how to adjust its biological clocks for the 7:30 p.m. PT start.
"It will be a unique challenge," Dickert said. "There's no excuses when you go out there and play the game. This is what college football is now."
In Other News...
Cal Defense Faces A Brutal Test Against Wake Forest's QB
Cals defense is bracing for one of its toughest assignments yet with Wake Forest quarterback Gio Lopez coming into view this week. Tosh Lupoi and his staff have spent the buildup stressing the same point: Lopez can beat a defense in more than one way, with the kind of passing accuracy that keeps drives alive and the rushing ability that punishes any lapse in contain. For a Cal group that has had trouble handling the run this season, that makes the prep as much about discipline as it is about scheme.
Lupoi and the Bears have talked about mixing looks and staying sound across the board, because Lopez is the sort of quarterback who can turn a single breakdown into a long night. Cal knows it cannot afford to get pulled out of position chasing one part of Wake Forests offense while the other part keeps moving the chains, and the challenge now is translating that recognition into a defense that holds up for four quarters. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Defense Faces Its Toughest Test Yet Against Wake Forest
Wake Forests staff is already treating Cals defense like the standard it will have to measure itself against this week, with head coach Jake Dickert praising the Bears before the matchup and framing the unit as the toughest one the Demon Deacons have seen since Miami. That kind of respect fits the way Cal has played on that side of the ball, where Tosh Lupois group has shown real bite in pass coverage and a knack for attacking the football while making opposing quarterbacks uncomfortable.
The challenge now is less about recognition and more about matchups, because Wake Forest brings a mobile quarterback in Gio Lopez who can change the geometry of a play when the pocket breaks down. Lupoi has acknowledged that the Bears have been strong against dropback passers, but the moving parts that come with scrambling quarterbacks create a different test, and one Cal will have to handle better if it wants its defense to keep the same edge it has shown so far. [Read more 🡒]
Cal's QB Debate Just Got More Complicated Before Wake Forest
Jackson Brousseau gave Cal another reason to feel better about its quarterback room Saturday, earning Manning Star of the Week honors after a sharp showing in the win over Virginia Tech. The Bears now have two quarterbacks this season recognized by the award, with Brousseau following Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, whose early-season play helped set the tone before his recent concussion put the position back under a microscope.
The timing only makes the situation more interesting heading into Wake Forest. Sagapoluteles status remains unsettled, and Cal is still waiting to see whether he can return in time for Saturday night, while the Demon Deacons bring their own buzz with Gio Lopez also coming off a Manning Star of the Week performance in a win over North Carolina State. For a Bears team trying to steady itself, the matchup may hinge as much on who lines up under center as anything else. [Read more 🡒]