Halloween weekend brings a chance for Virginia to play spoiler at No. 14 Wake Forest, even if the oddsmakers and the recent collapse against Duke point the other way.
The Cavaliers are not supposed to win Saturday afternoon, but they do have one clear memory to lean on: Wake Forest stunned No. 12 Virginia at Scott Stadium last year.
That history is part of what makes this matchup interesting again. Ahead of the game, Virginia On SI spoke with Justin Kontul, a beat writer for Wake Forest On SI, for a closer look at the Demon Deacons and what Virginia is up against.
The biggest headache for the Cavaliers starts with Wake Forest’s passing game and the connection between its quarterback and top playmakers. Kontul described them as a tough pair to contain, pointing to how much they have been in sync all season and how that has helped produce one of the ACC’s most efficient offenses.
He said the cleanest path for Virginia is to pressure Lopez and cut off his running ability. Hernandez, he noted, brings speed and big-play juice, while Lopez can still spread the ball around, something Wake showed in the Cal game when Hernandez was dealing with injury and played only a couple of snaps.
Lopez’s legs matter too. Kontul said the quarterback will leave the pocket when plays break down and use his mobility to extend drives.
He has more than 250 rushing yards this season, and that element has been a major reason the offense has clicked. For Virginia, the assignment is straightforward: keep him trapped in the pocket, force discomfort, and take away the escape routes that turn broken plays into explosives.
Wake’s offense looks different from last year’s version, and that has changed the feel of the entire team. Kontul said the biggest shift is the jump on that side of the ball to go with an already dependable defense.
Last year’s meeting between these teams was more of a grind, and Wake won plenty of games by leaning on defense. This season, the passing attack has moved into another tier and currently ranks fourth in passing yards per game in the ACC.
A big part of that rise has been the partnership between offensive coordinator Rob Ezell and Lopez. Kontul said Ezell finally has the quarterback he knew from his South Alabama days, and the two have clicked from the start. He also pointed out that plenty of people doubted Lopez after his disappointing season at North Carolina, but familiarity with Ezell’s system has helped both the quarterback and the offense blossom.
There is also a larger program message behind Wake’s approach. Kontul said coach Dickert’s central slogan since arriving has been “Built in the Dark,” a way of saying the team is developed away from the spotlight and the noise.
That message has carried extra weight this season with the national attention Wake has been getting. Dickert has pushed his team to “stay in the dark” and stick to its process instead of getting caught up in outside praise.
On the field, Wake wants to own the trenches. Kontul said the Deacons are at their best when they can pressure the quarterback and run the ball effectively to support the passing game. Even when the ground attack has stalled at times, the offense has still found production, but the staff would like to establish the line of scrimmage and get the run game going Saturday.
That puts the pressure squarely on Virginia’s offense, which has not done enough in recent weeks. The Cavaliers have scored 16 and 13 points in their last two games, a stretch that won’t keep pace if Wake starts piling up points.
Kontul said Virginia will need its offense to do much more than it has recently if it wants to hang around and threaten a Top-15 upset. Even if the defense holds up in stretches, he expects Lopez and Wake to find scoring chances.
The Cavaliers have to answer with production of their own and come out ready from the opening whistle.
These teams have already shown they can push each other into tight, emotional games. Kontul noted that the underdog has won the last two meetings.
Virginia took the 2024 game in a late shootout when Wake was favored and Tony Elliott was still working to establish himself. Then Wake returned the favor last season, going into Scott Stadium for a road win that clinched bowl eligibility while Virginia was ranked inside the top 20.
Kontul expects a higher-scoring game than last year’s, but he also believes special teams could matter in a big way. He added that the opening stretch may tell the story: whether Wake comes out sharp after a bye week, whether Virginia’s defense can generate early stops, and whether the Cavaliers can get the Wake offense on its heels from the start.
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