What A Difference a Year Makes for Wake Forest; Deacs Sprint Past Akron
· Yahoo Sports
What a difference a year makes for Wake Forest football. In week one last year, the Demon Deacons barely survived Kennesaw State with a 10-9 win. As year two of the Jake Dickert era opened Thursday night at home, the Deacs took command early and blew out the Akron Zips 38-16.
What A Difference a Year Makes for Wake Forest
On its first drive of the game, Wake went 82 yards in eight plays for a touchdown. On third and eight from the Akron 27-yard line, Wake quarterback Gio Lopez ripped a pass over the middle to receiver Kam Shanks, who ran it in from the last seven yards for the score and the 7-0 lead.
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Akron QB Question Answered
The mystery surrounding Akron’s quarterback was quickly answered. Reese Poffenbarger did not get his NCAA waiver yet for a sixth year. Brayden Raggow, the presumed backup, also did not start. Instead, it was redshirt freshman Cibastian Broughton, making his first college plays. It didn’t go well. Akron had only 134 total yards of offense the entire first half. On Akron’s first drive, he was sacked on third and seven by Matt Herron and Dallas Afalava.
The three-and-out gave Wake another scoring opportunity, and the Deacs converted with a 25-yard Connor Calvert field goal.
Big Play Offense
Akron had to punt on its next two possessions as well. That put Wake in a prime spot to take over control of the game early, and for good. On third and 11 from his own 11, Lopez connected with receiver Antonio Meeks in the middle of the field for a 17-yard gain to the Wake 28-yard line. On the next play, it was Lopez and Meeks again. The quarterback found his target at the Wake 47. From there, Meeks outran the Akron defense for a 72-yard touchdown and a 17-0 Demon Deacon lead.
Photo courtesy Will Trent/Willy T MediaAfter Travon West caused an Akron fumble at the Zips’ 43-yard line, Wake got a 29-yard Calvert field goal for the 20-0 lead.
Akron responded with another three-and-out and punt. Wake’s response was a 78-yard touchdown pass. Lopez threw it to Carlos Hernandez for four yards. But Hernandez sprinted along the left side, tight-roping the sideline for a 74-yard touchdown. Add in a two-point conversion and Wake had a 28-0 lead.
Putting It Away Early
Akron managed a 28-yard field goal, and Calvert missed a 38-yarder at the end of the half. Wake was up 28-3, and there was no sense the game would ever be close again. How certain was the vibe? Even in the opening game, the student section was nowhere to be found when the second half started.
Lopez was 17 of 25 passing for 313 yards and three touchdowns. It was better than any complete game he had at North Carolina all of last season. Different school, different coaching staff, different offense, different quarterback. He had more passing yards in the first half than Akron had total yards for the entire game ( 305 ). Wake Forest racked up 559 yards of total offense.
The second half was a slower version of the same. Calvert kicked a 26-yard field goal for the 31-3 third-quarter lead. The Deacs added a four-yard touchdown run up the middle from Deuce Lawrence for a 38-3 lead in the fourth quarter.
Akron scored one touchdown in what was long into garbage time. Roggow had come in at quarterback and threw a two-yard touchdown pass to tight end Elijah Alexander. Its second touchdown was inside 30 seconds left in the game.
The Numbers
Lopez finished the game 21 of 32 passing for 350 yards and three touchdowns and no turnovers. Steele Pizzella came in at quarterback for mop-up duty in the in the fourth quarter.
Clark led all runners with seven carries for 105 yards.
Dickert Sort of Happy; But Not Satisfied
Still, there were parts of the game that were far from clean. Wake still has self-inflicted wounds with penalties. The Deacs had five for 35 yards in the first quarter and finished the game with 10 for 100 yards. And Wake head coach Jake Dickert was none too pleased about Akron’s second-team offense scoring late against Wake’s second-team defense.
“Success can be an illusion,” Dickert said after the game. “I thought we were sloppy in a lot of phases of this game. Our offensive execution. I thought we didn’t run the ball to the caliber in which I believe we can. Defensively, we just didn’t finish the game.” He said he will show the team the good and the bad from the game but said he believes there is a lot to clean up.
The Last Word
With the game being on a Thursday night, there is a little extra film review and practice time built into the schedule. The Deacs will travel next Friday to West Lafayette, Indiana for Saturday’s 12 noon game at Purdue. The Boilermakers open their 2026 season at home this Friday night against Indiana State.
Last Word on College Football will have more postgame coverage from the win over Akron on Friday afternoon.
Main Image: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images