Wake Forest Opponent Recap: Week 2

The Deacs moved to 2-0 this weekend after taking care of Vanderbilt in Nashville by a comfortable margin. Let’s check in on the rest of the Wake schedule and see which teams are still undefeated.

Opponent Combined Record in Week 1: 7-3

Opponent Combined Overall Record: 18-6

Future Opponents

Liberty 21—UAB 14 (2-0)

The Flames moved to 2-0 after taking down UAB, but it wasn’t exactly pretty. Liberty finished with just 390 total yards and was 3-12 on 3rd down. New starting QB Kaidon Salter completed just 52% of his passes for 200 yards, but he did rush for a touchdown. The Flames are yet to score 30 points or more this season. Still a nice win at home for a Liberty team that went into the game as a 6-point underdog.

Clemson 35—Furman 12 (2-0)

The Clemson offense is still not great. Despite winning easily, the Tigers were actually outgained by Furman 384 yards to 376 yards. Will Shipley finished the game with 6.8 yards per carry and 2 touchdowns in his few rushing attempts and continues to be the biggest weapon on the field for the Tigers. DJ Uiagalelei looked a little better against the Paladins (which he should) and completed 78% of his passes for 230 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception.

FSU—BYE

Army 38—UTSA 41 (OT) (0-2)

Somehow Army has become a passing team. They are still running the triple option, of course, but it just hasn’t been that effective this season. Against the Road Runners, Army ran the ball 54 times for just 179 yards and completed 13 passes for 304 yards. In 2 games this season, Army has 446 yards through the air and only 381 yards on the ground. They are currently 46th in the nation in rushing yards per game at just under 200—they’ve been in the top 10 in that stat every year since 2015, where they were 12th. It’s only week 2, but just something to keep an eye on.

Boston College 10—Virginia Tech 27 (0-2)

Another poor performance from BC in their conference opener—the Eagles only had 155 total yards in this game. Somehow Boston College managed to run the ball 26 times for a grand total of 4 yards. That seems almost impossible. Phil Jurkovec had another subpar performance completing 54% of his passes for just 135 yards and a QBR of 19.1. BC has not looked very good so far this season.

Louisville 20—UCF 14 (1-1)

After a poor performance in their opening game, Louisville comes back with a nice win over an out of conference opponent on the road. This was a pretty sloppy game with not much scoring where each time racked up double digit penalties for 100+ yards. The Cards’ passing game was not great again, but Cunningham’s 17 rushes for 121 yards and 1 touchdown was enough to give Louisville the win.

NC State 55—Charleston Southern 3 (2-0)

Not much to take away from this one, Devin Leary accounted for 6 total touchdowns (4 in the air, 2 on the ground) and the Wolfpack dismantled their FCS opponent.

North Carolina 35—Georgia State 28 (3-0)

The Heels become the first team in the nation to get to 3-0, but it hasn’t been easy. For the second week in a row, UNC found themselves in trouble against a Sun Belt team but did just enough to come away with the win. Omarion Hampton led the way for the Tar Heel offense with 110 rushing yards and 2 TD. That App win might look more impressive for the Heels now, though.

Syracuse 48—UConn 14 (2-0)

The Orange destroy the Huskies, who are not exactly the toughest opponent in FBS. Garret Shrader is coming into his own as a passer, completing 20 of his 23 attempts for 287 yards and 3 touchdowns. Sean Tucker continues to impress with another 100-yard game. Syracuse is starting to look like they could be real threat this season.

Duke 31—Northwestern 23 (2-0)

Duke...might not be that bad. The Blue Devils went on the road to Northwestern and came out with a solid out of conference win. While Riley Leonard didn’t look great (13-24, 240 yards, 1 TD, 1 Int), Duke ran the ball for 220 yards and 3 touchdowns to get the win. Elko’s defense also forced 3 turnovers, and the Devils are now 2-0 against FBS opponents. Whether or not Northwestern is actually any good is yet to be determined, since their win over Nebraska doesn’t really tell us much anymore.

Liberty is up next. Go Deacs!