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2026 Wake Forest

6–⁠1 (4–⁠1 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Jake Dickert. The season’s Wikipedia article records 5–⁠1, over six games to the seven on file here.

Schedule and results

Wake Forest in 2026, game by game: won vs. Akron 38–16; won at Purdue 38–36; lost vs. No. 5 Miami 20–33; won at No. 16 Louisville 30–27; won vs. Stanford 57–3; won at NC State 38–14; won at California 41–7+54−13Won 38–16 vs. Akron+22AkronWon 38–36 at Purdue+2PurdueLost 20–33 vs. No. 5 Miami-13No. 5 MiamiWon 30–27 at No. 16 Louisville+3No. 16 LouisvilleWon 57–3 vs. Stanford+54StanfordWon 38–14 at NC State+24NC StateWon 41–7 at California+34California
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vsAkronW 38–⁠1672%
Sep 12atPurdueW 38–⁠3662%
Sep 18vs5MiamiL 20–⁠3335%
Sep 26at16LouisvilleW 30–⁠2729%
Oct 3vsStanfordW 57–⁠371%
Oct 10atNC StateW 38–⁠1443%
Oct 17atCaliforniaW 41–⁠765%
Oct 31vsVirginiaPreview71%
Nov 7vsMerrimackPreview94%
Nov 14atSMUPreview39%
Nov 21atGeorgia TechPreview62%
Nov 28vsDukePreview63%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 7: 21
Record
6–⁠1
Conference
4–⁠1 2nd in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP now
No. 21 in the week 7 poll; peak No. 21
Points
262–⁠136
Coach
Jake Dickert
Elo
1638 +111 this season
SP+ rating
10.5 No. 34 of 138; offense No. 34, defense No. 43, special teams No. 9
SRS
12.6 No. 23 of 138 in FBS
Returning
14% of last season’s EPA, No. 111 of 136
Recruiting class
No. 39 roster talent No. 63 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Rob Ezell
Defensive coordinator
Scottie Hazelton
Offense
Spread
Defense
4–⁠2–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense2nd of 138
  • Defense40th of 138
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted19th of 138
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted39th of 138
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.3448%1.322nd of 138
Defense0.0442%1.0440th of 138
Opponent-adjusted0.20 off
0.06 def		45% off
42% def		—19th off
39th def

Passing and running

Pass successDepth of targetDeep throwsLine yardsStuffed
Offense52%8.3 yds14%3.2015%
Defense48%5.1 yds4%2.7023%
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played. Passing and running: depth of target is how far downfield passes traveled in the air; deep throws are the share thrown deep, of the passes whose depth and direction the play-by-play describes (about half); line yards are the running yards per carry credited to the blockers; stuffed is the share of carries stopped at or behind the line. The defense’s line is what its opponents did. From CollegeFootballData.com, 2025 on.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense4.8own 2910% allowed
Defense3.0own 2516% caused

CORE rating 13.0, 23rd of 138 (offense 6.2, defense -6.8).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsGiovanni Lopez QB1,947 yds
Passing touchdownsGiovanni Lopez QB17 TD
Rushing yardsTy Clark III RB328 yds
Rushing touchdownsGiovanni Lopez QB6 TD
Receiving yardsCarlos Hernandez WR720 yds
Receiving touchdownsCarlos Hernandez WR4 TD
TacklesVincent Firenze LB49 tkl
SacksLangston Hardy DL5.5 sacks
InterceptionsDallas Afalava DL1 INT

Top recruits in the 2026 class

Grant Lawless QB★★★★No. 240
Kyndall McCaleb RB★★★★No. 323
Micheal Ahoua ATH★★★★No. 421
Sefa Sackey DE★★★No. 487
Monroe Partin LB★★★No. 527

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2026 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks23.50.889
Running backs23.50.891
Receivers63.00.857
Offensive line53.00.865
Defensive line63.00.868
Linebackers23.00.871
Defensive backs53.00.869
Athletes and specialists33.30.883
Whole class313.10.870

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Roster 116

The 2026 roster

116 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2026 line; 67 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 24

The 2026 portal
Landon Morris TE★★★from California
Wondame Davis Jr. WR★★★from UTEP
Antonio Meeks WR★★★from Louisville
Brian Blades ll CB★★★from Florida International
Chase Tyler WR★★★from Duke
Giovanni Lopez QB★★★from North Carolina
K.D. Daniels RB★★★from Florida
Ryan Berger OT★★★from Oregon State
Vincent Firenze S★★★from Dayton
Buom Jock LB★★★from California
D.J. Johnson DE★★★from New Hampshire
Drayden Dickmann WR★★★from Rice

And 12 more, lower-rated or unrated.

Transfers out 23

Mateen Ibirogba DL★★★★to Texas Tech
Melvin Siani OT★★★★to Texas
Sterling Berkhalter WR★★★★to Texas
Chris Barnes WR★★★★to Oklahoma State
Micah Mays Jr. WR★★★to Florida
Jeremiah Melvin WR★★★to East Carolina
Elijiah Oehlke QB★★★to Bryant
Harry Lodge TE★★★to UCLA
Nathan Pahanich OT★★★to UConn
Ben Grice WR★★★to Rice
Cole Funderburk DE★★★to Marshall
Deshawn Purdie QB★★★to Liberty

And 11 more, lower-rated or unrated.

2026 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Miami4–⁠06–⁠0
Wake Forest4–⁠16–⁠1
SMU3–⁠15–⁠1
North Carolina2–⁠14–⁠2
Clemson2–⁠14–⁠2
Louisville3–⁠24–⁠3
Virginia Tech2–⁠25–⁠2
Pittsburgh2–⁠25–⁠2
Virginia2–⁠24–⁠3
California2–⁠23–⁠4
Duke1–⁠24–⁠2
NC State1–⁠23–⁠3
Boston College1–⁠23–⁠3
Georgia Tech1–⁠22–⁠4
Florida State1–⁠33–⁠4
Stanford1–⁠33–⁠4
Syracuse0–⁠42–⁠4

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.