No. 14 Wake Forest comes home riding real momentum, and Virginia arrives in a rough spot for this ACC matchup on Saturday afternoon.
The Demon Deacons have stacked together a strong stretch after the expected loss to Miami. They followed that with an upset of Louisville on the road, then kept rolling by covering the spread in three straight blowout wins. That run has Wake Forest looking every bit like a team that has settled in.
Virginia, meanwhile, has dropped two straight. Last week’s home loss to Duke by a slight upset only added to the pressure after the Cavaliers also fell on the road at Florida State and SMU.
A big reason Wake Forest has been so dangerous lately is Gio Lopez. In his first season with the Demon Deacons, the junior quarterback has been sharp and efficient.
He threw for 1,747 yards with UNC last season, and he’s already up to 1,947 passing yards this year, which ranks 18th in the nation. He’s also tied for 13th with 17 passing touchdowns and has thrown just one interception, helping push his QBR to 84.9, seventh-best in college football.
Lopez was especially explosive last week, throwing for 267 yards and four touchdowns. He’ll get another chance to keep that momentum going at home against a Virginia defense that has struggled away from home this season.
Wake Forest has already shown what it can do in front of its own fans, too. The Demon Deacons beat Stamford 57-3 in their last home game a few weeks ago, and after the road wins at NC State and California, the expectation here is that they keep the pressure on and finish with another lopsided result.
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Wake Forest's Playoff Buzz Now Comes With One Huge Catch
Wake Forests rise into the national conversation has been one of the seasons more surprising developments, with the Demon Deacons sitting at 6-1 and ranked No. 14 in the AP poll. At this point, they are not just being talked about as an ACC success story, but as a possible College Football Playoff contender, a position that would have seemed far-fetched before the season.
ESPNs latest bowl projections show just how wide the range still is for this team, with analysts landing on very different postseason paths. Everything now hinges on how Wake Forest handles the stretch run, especially the remaining games and the ACC championship, which will ultimately decide whether this buzz turns into a playoff berth or something much more conventional. [Read more 🡒]
Wake Forest Hits A Stretch Where Theres Little Room To Slip
Wake Forests calendar is getting crowded in a hurry, with the ACC already putting a time and television window on the Deacons Week 10 date against Merrimack. The game is set for Saturday, Nov. 7 at Allegacy Financial Stadium, and it lands right after Wake Forests trip to face Virginia this weekend, leaving little margin for a slip as the schedule tightens.
The matchup will be the first-ever meeting between Wake Forest and Merrimack, adding a fresh wrinkle to a late-season stretch that already has plenty of attention attached to it. Fans who want a look at that one will get it on the ACC Network, but first the Deacons have to get through Virginia and keep the bigger picture moving in the right direction. [Read more 🡒]