Wake Forest will lean on red-hot quarterback Gio Lopez in a Tobacco Road rivalry game against host North Carolina State on Saturday afternoon in Raleigh, N.C.
Lopez threw for 265 yards and two scores and added 88 rushing yards and three touchdowns in last Saturday’s 57-3 rout of Stanford, the Demon Deacons’ largest-ever conference win.
The redshirt junior has been the catalyst for Wake Forest (4-1, 2-1 ACC) as the Demon Deacons continue to make their mark in conference play. Lopez has 1,377 passing yards and 15 total touchdowns while throwing just one interception in his first five appearances.
“On offense, Gio was explosive in every sense, from his feet to his passing to his running,” Wake Forest coach Jake Dickert said Monday.
A win could vault the Demon Deacons into the AP Top 25 next week after they narrowly missed out last week.
The in-state trip won’t be easy, as NC State quarterback CJ Bailey has thrown for a combined 626 yards and four touchdowns in wins against Louisville and Appalachian State. Despite a slow start, including losses to Virginia and Vanderbilt, the Wolfpack (3-2, 1-1) are a dangerous team that can consistently put points on the board.
However, the Wolfpack will need to iron out their defense. They have struggled with tackling and have allowed 359.2 total yards per game. To limit Lopez through the air, N.C. State will need to improve their inconsistent secondary.
“Obviously, (we) missed way too many tackles,” Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren said. “Those led to a lot of explosive plays that let Louisville into the game. A lot of that’s fundamentals.”
A close game seems likely between the two longtime rivals.
“We’ve had a lot of tight games with Wake in my tenure here,” Doeren said. “Thirteen of the 14 (games) were one-possession games, and this might be the best Wake team we’ve played when you look at how they play together and the experience they have.”
