Things Get Real for Wake Forest Friday Night
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Things get real for Wake Forest in week three of the schedule. That is not to belittle Akron or Purdue. But the Miami Hurricanes and their Heisman candidate quarterback roll into Winston-Salem for Friday night’s game.
Wake Forest head coach Jake Dickert had barely finished digesting the heart-stopping double overtime win at Purdue on Saturday when it was time to start staring down the task in front of his team.
Things Get Real for Wake Forest Friday Night
The Miami Resume
Miami is 2-0, having beaten Stanford 45-6 and Florida A&M 77-7. Quarterback Darian Mensah has not attempted a pass in the second half this season. That’s because he has spent most of that time on the bench in the midst of blowout victories.
Dickert and his Demon Deacons already know Mensah well. As Duke’s quarterback last year, he led the Blue Devils to a 49-32 win over Wake Forest, going 24-35 passing for 268 yards and two touchdowns.
Dickert said on Monday that it has been harder to scout the 2026 version of Mensah because in his estimation, he has only had to play three competitive quarters. But he knows enough. “He’s got tons of playmakers around him,” Dickert said, taking particular note of Mensah’s efficiency. He pointed out that throughout his entire career from high school to the present day, he has been a winner. “At that position, that’s the ultimate thing you’re looking for.”
Miami is second in the country in passing offense at 427 yards per game. And the Hurricanes are 20th in the country in average yards per pass completion at 14.98. But the asterisk that goes with those stats is that Miami had the two blowouts over lesser opponents, and not all of those stats belong to Mensah.
The Coaches’ History
Dickert also has firsthand knowledge of Miami head coach Mario Cristobal from their days across state lines in the old Pac-12 Conference. Cristobal was the head coach at Oregon from 2018-202. Dickert was the defensive coordinator at Washington State in 2020 and 2021, becoming interim head coach during the 2021 season.
Dickert said he knows that Cristobal’s teams reflect their head coach. “Intense. Physical,” he said. “They’re ultra aggressive on defense. They were like that at Oregon. And you can see him playing that style now.” Dickert also suggested that people don’t get distracted by the amount of talent on the team being the only reason for Miami’s recent success, including the trip to last season’s national championship game. “The schematics are great. They offensively are ultra-creative. Really sharp.” He called Cristobal a “Very serious, tough-minded coach,” and said that is the way his teams play.
Improving on the Past
Part of the transition into Miami prep is moving on from the elation of the double overtime win at Purdue last weekend, while also learning from the list of mistakes that were ever present.
“Belief has to be acted out,” Dickert said on Monday. “And our guys proved that all of our hard work and putting them in those tough situations, it matters.”
There is still work to be done. “We still identified a million things that we’ve got to do better to advance our program and be better.” Dickert said there has to be more productivity in finishing the drives that are in the Red Zone. Field goal kicker Connor Calvert is six of seven on field goals for the season. But Dickert wants to see more of the drives end in the end zone instead of between the uprights.
There was also an issue of tackling late in the game last Saturday with players in the secondary having difficulty wrapping up Purdue receivers and running backs. “It’s going to be challenging in a short week,” he said. Dickert said the coaches noticed technique flaws that reared their head against Purdue, with some players lunging to make the tackles and others playing back on their heels. “We’ve got to be tactical and aggressive,” he said.
Cristobal’s View
For whatever flaws Dickert may have seen that need correcting, Cristobal was nothing but typically effusive in his weekly press conference. “Great team, great player, great coaches,” he said on Monday. “They’re playing at a very high level and have been since last season.”
Cristobal said of Wake, “The best way to describe them is they are fast. They’re physical. They play with a high motor, and they play with an edge.”
He was particularly impressed with running back Ty Clark III. “He has great contact balance. Very physical. Gets downhill. Good out of the backfield catching the ball.”
Cristobal also remembered, perhaps not so fondly, Wake defensive back Davaughn Patterson, who caused a fumble in the game at Miami two years ago. “Very physical downhill. Can cover. Can come on pressures in the backfield. Forces all kinds of issues.”
For what it’s worth, Dickert is 0-2 against Cristobal. Oregon beat Washington State 43-29 in 2020 and 38-24 in 2021. It’s a different world in 2026 with both coaches having more talent at their disposal for Friday night’s game.
Main Image: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images
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