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Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Game Information

Week: 2

Date: Saturday, September 12, 2026

Location: Ross-Ade Stadium – West Lafayette, Indiana

Time:  12 PM EDT

TV: FS1

Head Coach – Jake Dickert

Seasons at School (as head coach): 1

Coaching Record at School: 9-4

Other Head Coaching Jobs: 2021-2024 – Washington State (23-20)

Overall Coaching Record: 32-24

2025 Results

Overall Record: 9-4

Kennesaw State: W – 10-9

Western Carolina: W – 42-10

NC State: L – 24-34

#16 Georgia Tech: L – 29-30 (OT)

Virginia Tech: W – 30-23

Oregon State: W – 39-14

SMU: W – 13-12

Florida State: L – 7-42

#14 Virginia: W – 16-9

North Carolina: W – 28-12

Delaware: W – 52-14

Duke: L – 32-29

Mississippi State: W – 43-29

2025 Stat Leaders

Offense

Passing Yards: Robby Ashford (graduated) – 2472

Touchdown Passes: Robby Ashford – 12

Rushing Yards: Demond Claiborne (graduated) – 907

Rushing Touchdowns: Demond Claiborne (graduated) – 10

Receiving Yards: Carlos Hernandez (returns) – 611

Receiving Touchdowns: Carlos Hernandez & Chris Barnes (transferred to Oklahoma St.) – 3

Total Touchdowns: Demond Claiborne – 10

Defense

Tackles: Nick Andersen (graduated) – 106

Sacks: Langston Hardy (returns) – 7

Tackles for Loss: Langston Hardy (returns) – 17

Interceptions: 4 players tied with 1

2026 Key Players

Offense

Note: Italicized Players are 1st year transfers

Quarterback:Gio Lopez (UNC)

Offensive line:Ethan Calloway (LSU)

Running back: Ty Clark

Wide Receiver / Tight End: Carlos Hernandez

Defense

Defensive Line: Langston Hardy

Linebacker: Aiden Hall

Secondary:Deuce Blades II (FIU)

2026 Media Predictions

13th in the ACC out of 17 teams

My Thoughts

I’ve got this game circled as a must-win for the Boilermakers.

Wake is coming off a historically good (for their standards) 9-win season in Coach Jake Dickert’s 1st year at the helm. In previous versions of college football, Wake would be looking to build on that success, but in the current version, they’re rebuilding after losing most of their core to graduation or the transfer portal. It must be difficult to be a Wake Forest fan, or any fan of a team that doesn’t have weapons-grade level money. If someone on the roster breaks out, it’s almost assured that they will be moving on down the college football road at the conclusion of the season.

Wake got hit especially hard this offseason. They lost the following players in the portal:

Sterling Berkhalter – WR – Texas

Melvin Siani – OT – Texas

Chris Barnes – WR – Oklahoma State

Micah Mays – WR – Florida

Mateen Ibirogba – DL – Texas Tech

Siani and Ibirogba were particularly tough losses to stomach. They both play premium positions, and both were rated as 4* transfers. Ibirogba was considered the top portal defensive lineman, and Siani was considered the 4th-best portal offensive tackle. Needless to say, Wake wasn’t able to replace either with similarly rated players.

Their loss is Purdue’s gain. If Wake managed to carry over their 2025 roster into 2026, the Boilermakers would be significant underdogs, and the Demon Deacons would be one of the favorites to win the ACC. Instead, Purdue and Wake are pretty much in the same situation, except Purdue is reloading their roster because it only won 2 games in 2025, and Wake is reloading their roster because it won 9 games last season. Obviously, I’d rather be coming off 9 wins than 2 wins, and there is something to be said for momentum, but on paper, the rosters are similar.

Gio Lopez comes over after a horror season at UNC, where he threw for 10 touchdowns and 5 interceptions for a Bill Belichick offense that averaged 19 points a game. Interestingly enough, Lopez and Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne were both involved in UNC’s spring quarterback battle before Browne wisely pulled the plug and returned to West Lafayette. Purdue may not be good at football, but I watched a few UNC games last season, and Gio looked like he would rather be any place in the world other than UNC. There are bad football teams (see Purdue), and then there are bad football teams coached by NFL legend Bill Belichick and his 20-something-year-old girlfriend. I guess I’d rather lose out of the spotlight at Purdue than in the middle of the media frenzy in Chapel Hill, but I digress. Lopez was a solid quarterback for South Alabama in 2024, and that’s the quarterback Wake Forest hopes they have to replace Robby Ashford, who, in theory, finished up his 6-season college football career in 2025.

Coach Dickert was able to hold on to a few more of his defensive talents this offseason, and that looks to be the strength of this team. He managed to hold onto stud edge rusher Langston Hardy, who put up 7 sacks and 17 tackles for loss in 2025. Hardy will be the focal point of the Wake defense and will be at the top of Purdue’s scouting report. If they can’t figure out how to block the 6’4”, 250-pound senior edge rusher, it’ll be a long day for Ryan Browne and company.

Wake also returns senior linebacker Aiden Hall, who started all 13 games last season and is coming off a 7-tackle, 1.5-tackle-for-loss performance against Mississippi State in Wake’s win over Mississippi State in their bowl game. He’s a downhill run defender in their 4-2-5 scheme and is another player Purdue has to find a way to block if they want to run the ball, which may be difficult against this Wake front.

One of the reasons I have this game circled is Purdue’s run game. If they can run the ball against Wake’s solid front 7, I’ll feel much better about the offense moving forward. If they try, and fail, to run the ball against Wake…well, I’d rather not discuss that at this point. I’m trying to stay on the positive side of things for as long as possible.

Fortunately for the Boilermakers, the secondary looks a little less stout, with 2025 leading tackler, safety Nick Andersen, out of eligibility, as well as both starting corners. Wake brought in a couple of portal cornerbacks, but if Purdue can block Langston Hardy, they could potentially find some things in the passing game…maybe.

Wake opens the season on Thursday, September 3rd, against Akron, giving them some extra time to prepare for their trip to West Lafayette on September 12th. I’ll have my eyes glued to the Akron game (THURSDAY COLLEGE FOOTBALL BABY!) and will report back with my findings. Until then, I’ve got Purdue as a slight favorite in this one, but it could go either way…but Purdue and Barry Odom, really, really, really need it to go their way.

If you’re planning to make a game in person this season, see if you can make this one. Purdue can use all the support it can muster.

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