2020 Wake Forest Football Opponent Preview: Campbell Fighting Camels

The previews of the 2020 Wake Forest football opponents winds down with the 1 non conference game of the year, the Campbell Fighting Camels. The Deacs were set to play Old Dominion as their non-conference opponent, but the Monarchs cancelled all fall sports on August 10th. Recently, Wake Forest was able to pick up Campbell to fill out their 2020 schedule.

Game Date: October 9th, 2020 (Friday)

Opponent: Campbell Fighting Camels

Conference: Big South Conference

Head Coach: Mike Minter (36-42, 21-29)

2019 Stats

Record: 6-5, 3-3 (FCS)

Highest Ranking: N/A

Post-Season: N/A

Wins: Shaw, Davidson, Mercer, Presbyterian, Hampton, Gardner-Webb

Losses: Troy, North Alabama, Kennesaw State, Monmouth, Charleston Southern

Yards per Game: 373.6 (70th in FCS)

Yards Allowed per Game: 418.5 (87th)

Points per Game: 29.5 (46th)

Points Allowed per Game: 31.0 (85th)

Key Departures:

• Jonathan Hawkins, RB (125 carries, 547 yards, 6 TDs)
• Kam Prewitt, DB (33 total tackles, 9 PD, 2 Int)

Notable Returns:

• Hajj-Malik Williams, QB (147-260, 2,042 yards, 17 TD, 9 Int, 664 rush yards, 9 rush TD)
• Caleb Snead, WR (29 rec, 554 yards 6 TD)
• Justice Galloway-Velazquez, LB (111 total tackles, 7.5 TFL, 3 sacks, 1 Int)
• Brevin Allen, DL (54 total tackles, 11.5 TFL, 5.5 sacks)

Outside of being coached by former Panthers legend Mike Minter, there isn’t much that stands out about the Fighting Camels. They are a middle of the pack Big South team and I fully expect that Wake Forest will beat them very easily. That being said, they did finish 6-5 last season with a pretty young core. Starting QB Hajj-Malik Williams led the team in passing and rushing as a true freshman. His top 3 receiving targets were a redshirt sophomore in Caleb Snead, a true freshman in Jalen Kelsey, and a true sophomore in Davarius Bargnare. The defense was led by true sophomore Justice Galloway-Velazquez and sophomore Allen Brevin. All of those players are returning and will likely continue to improve with more experience. Still, I don’t anticipate the Deacs having any trouble picking up the win in this one.

As this is the first game for the Deacs in the month of October, there is a chance that it will the first game Wake Forest plays this season in front of a home crowd. Even though it is a Friday game (can we stop doing this please?) against an FCS opponent, I suspect that Truist Field would be at capacity to watch this one, although it’s hard to say exactly how many fans that would be.