Florida State Football: Why Wake Forest will be good matchup in 2021

Despite Florida State football having played the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest for what is basically 30 straight years (because of divisional ties), their yearly battle is just about always overshadowed due to the traditional lack of competitiveness between the two.

While Florida State focuses more on Miami, Florida, and Clemson, Wake makes a priority out of Duke, North Carolina State, and those same Tigers. However, this upcoming season could have one of this matchup’s most entertaining games to date.

The Seminoles may be on the rise heading into the fall, but most of their hype lands on hope, and they are still miles away from perfect in regards to what the country has seen them do on the gridiron.

Looking over at the Deacs, they are not exactly turning heads, either. But what they have been doing is playing some of the most consistently formidable football that they have ever played in their program’s long and storied history.

Surely the race for the ACC Atlantic crown has already been won, considering that the aforementioned Clemson Tigers, who have made (and been victorious in) seven consecutive conference championship games are a part of it.

But beyond that, the second-place slot is still about as wide open as it’s going to be. If Florida State and Wake Forest both play as well as they have proven that they can, could their meetings be one of the best that the ACC has to offer?

Possibly, but that is solely in the hands of said powers. Both of them saw some great wins in 2020, along with some shameful losses. To put it simply, the two schools are playing some “consistently inconsistent” football right now. Some examples would include there being some blown leads, turnover issues, and an overall lack of identity on each end.

Upon cleaning up those flaws, FSU and Wake can help the ACC look more like what a true Power Five conference is supposed to look like. And in the process, their rivalry can give the league an entirely new layer of excitement, which is what college football is all about, to begin with.