Over my years at Saturday Blitz, I’ve never tried to hide my love for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, so I certainly won’t today, as I now have a reason to brag on them.
By finishing 9-4 with wins over SMU and Virginia, the Deacs did more than enough to stand out in a chaotic ACC, which feels all the more triumphant when knowing it was done under a new face at quarterback, as well as a first-year coaching staff.
One problem though—the first question one asks whenever a team comes into some random relevance is whether they’ll be able to keep it, and in my mission to remain a journalist first and fan second, I must concede that I don’t see Wake Forest doing so.
My concerns don’t fall too heavily on the latest roster changes (though they are jarring), as Wake often has to do more with less to produce an objectively sound season. And again, the Demon Deacons JUST underwent a heavy shift in personnel on both the field and sideline, but that didn’t stop them from landing nine dubs. Instead, it is the schedule that’s giving me chills.
Do me a favor and just take in these conference games: Miami, at Louisville, Stanford, at NC State, at California, Virginia, at SMU, at Georgia Tech, and Duke. Who’s the weakest? Obviously the home game against Stanford, but the second-weakest? The cross-country meeting with the Golden Bears, who are coming off of a winning season that saw defining victories over Louisville and SMU.
Really? At Cal is one of the weakest ACC games we could get? That makes for a gauntlet that even many SEC/Big Ten teams would trip on! Oh well, at least our non-conference lineup leaves no worries…unless, of course, you’d consider an early road game against a Big Ten team with an underrated home environment right before our toughest opponent of the year to be remotely unsettling.
You did us proud last fall Wake, and I’m all for being wrong again after doubting you in the prior preseason, but the schedule is simply so much more overbearing this go around. So, my outlook will stand as it did this time in 2025: I’d just be happy to make a bowl.
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