Going into last season, the ACC felt wide open after Clemson slipped.

There was Clemson, maybe Florida State, maybe Miami, maybe SMU, and then a whole bunch of teams trying to jump into the conversation.

One of the teams that actually did it was Wake Forest.

And not enough people talked about it.

The Demon Deacons went 9-4, finished 4-4 in ACC play, and put together only the fourth nine-win season in program history.

That is a big deal at Wake Forest.

This is not a program that just rolls out nine-win seasons every other year. In fact, Wake has never had back-to-back nine-win seasons.

So now the question is pretty simple.

Can Jake Dickert keep this thing moving, or was last year the high point?

HEAD COACH:

• Jake Dickert, entering year two at Wake Forest
• Dickert is 32-24 in five years as a head coach.
• Wake Forest went 9-4 last season.

I thought Wake Forest was one of the better under-the-radar stories in the ACC last season.

They were not perfect. They were not dominant. But they were tough, organized and good enough defensively to hang around with a lot of teams.

They beat SMU by one in a crazy game.

They beat Virginia, which played for the ACC title.

They lost to Duke by three, and Duke won the ACC.

So this was not some fake nine-win team that just beat up on bad opponents.

Wake was competitive in a league that had a lot of weirdness and a lot of parity.

Now Dickert has to show he can stack seasons.

That is always the hard part at Wake Forest.

One good year is great.

Two in a row would mean something more.

QUARTERBACK:

This is where the season gets interesting.

Robbie Ashford is gone, and Wake Forest likely turns to Gio Lopez, the transfer from North Carolina.

And Lopez is a really interesting story.

He was the guy Bill Belichick wanted at North Carolina. He came in, led the Tar Heels right down the field for a touchdown against TCU, and for about three minutes it felt like the Belichick era in Chapel Hill was going to be something.

Then TCU scored about 50 straight points, and North Carolina’s offense never looked that good again.

Now Lopez is at Wake Forest, and maybe this is the fresh start he needs.

Last year, Lopez threw for 1,747 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions. The numbers are not amazing, but the UNC offense was a disaster.

The bigger question is what kind of passer Wake is getting.

When Lopez was kept clean, he completed around 74% of his passes. That is very good. Under pressure, that number dropped closer to 50%.

That is not shocking. Almost every quarterback is worse under pressure.

But it tells you Wake has to protect him.

The deep ball is another question. Lopez completed only 25% of his deep passes last season, going 10-of-40 on throws of 20-plus air yards.

That matters because Dickert has talked about wanting more of a vertical passing game.

If Wake wants to push the ball down the field more, Lopez has to be better there.

The encouraging part is that he was much better in the intermediate range. On throws from 10 to 19 yards, Lopez completed around 62.7% of his passes.

That is where an offense can live.

I love the deep-ball numbers, and I always look at them, but the real meat and potatoes of a passing game often comes in that intermediate area. If Lopez can keep hitting those throws and add a little more downfield success, Wake may have something.

He does not need to be a superstar.

But he does need to be a better passer than Ashford.

THE REST OF THE OFFENSE

Wake Forest has to replace the centerpiece of its offense.

Demond Claiborne is gone, and that is a big loss.

Claiborne was the guy everything ran through last season. He was one of the most underrated backs in the ACC, and Wake leaned on him heavily because the passing game was not always good enough to carry the offense.

Now the Demon Deacons have to find a new answer.

KD Daniels comes in from Florida, where he just never got enough carries to become the guy. Florida had a good running back room, and Daniels did not really get the chance to be the featured back.

Maybe he gets that chance now.

Wake also has returning backs like Ty Clark and Jamar Searcy, so there are options. But replacing Claiborne is not easy.

The receiver room is also a question.

Carlos Hernandez is back, and that matters because Wake lost Chris Barnes and Sterling Burkhalter to the portal. The Demon Deacons also lost both offensive tackles, Melvin Siani and Mateen Ibirogba.

That is a lot of change around a new quarterback.

So while Lopez gives Wake a more natural passing option, the support system has to come together quickly.

The overall offensive numbers last year were fine, but not great.

Wake averaged 26.9 points per game, which ranked around the middle of the country. The Demon Deacons averaged 381.5 yards per game, also pretty average nationally.

That is the area that has to jump.

The defense was good enough last year.

The offense needs to be better if Wake wants to take another step.

And it starts with Lopez being more than just the guy who transferred from North Carolina.

He has to become Wake’s guy.

DEFENSE

This is the reason Wake Forest has a chance to stay relevant.

The defense was good last year.

Really good, actually.

Wake held opponents to 23.1 points per game, which ranked 44th nationally. The Demon Deacons gave up 336 yards per game, which ranked 26th.

That is strong.

That is good enough to win in the ACC.

And Wake brings back a lot on that side of the ball.

The defensive line has pieces with Dallas Afalava, Gabe Kirschke and Zach Lohavichn. Aiden Hall is back at linebacker. Langston Hardy and Braylen Johnson give them experience in the secondary.

Hardy and Devaughn Patterson were honorable mention All-ACC players, and Patterson is another key piece in the defensive backfield.

Wake also added Deuce Blades, who made 36 starts at FIU.

That is the kind of transfer addition that can help right away.

The defense was not perfect. The Florida State game was a disaster. Wake lost 42-7 in Tallahassee to a bad Seminoles team, and that game made no sense compared to a lot of the rest of the season.

But outside of that, Wake was usually competitive.

The Demon Deacons were good enough defensively to beat Virginia, beat SMU and nearly beat Duke.

If the defense stays at that level, Wake has a chance in a lot of games.

But if the defense slips even a little and the offense does not improve, last year’s nine wins will be hard to repeat.

SCHEDULE

I do not love this schedule for Wake Forest.

The Demon Deacons open with Akron on a Thursday, then get nine days before going to Purdue.

That Purdue game is tricky. If you are picking a Power Four non-conference road game you feel like you can win, Purdue is probably one of the more manageable options.

But it is still a road game in the Big Ten.

Then comes the real test.

Wake hosts Miami six days later.

Miami is probably the ACC favorite and maybe one of the best teams in the country. Getting the Hurricanes at home helps, but playing them on short rest after a road trip to Purdue is not ideal.

Then Wake goes to Louisville.

So three of the first four games are not easy: at Purdue, Miami, at Louisville.

That is a rough early stretch for a team trying to replace its quarterback and best running back.

After that, Stanford comes to Wake Forest, then the Demon Deacons hit back-to-back road games at NC State and Cal.

That Cal trip matters.

Wake is one of only two ACC teams that plays at Cal or Stanford and also at SMU. Those are two of the longest travel spots an East Coast ACC team can draw.

And Wake gets both.

After the Cal trip, Wake has a bye before hosting Virginia on Halloween, then gets Merrimack.

Then come more back-to-back road games: at SMU and at Georgia Tech.

I hate that stretch.

Road trip to Dallas. Road trip to Atlanta. Back-to-back.

Then Wake finishes at home against Duke, the defending ACC champion.

The good news is that some of Wake’s toughest games are at home. Miami, Virginia and Duke all come to Winston-Salem.

The bad news is the travel is rough, and the road pairings are not friendly.

Wake has enough talent to make this schedule interesting.

But it is not a schedule that gives much away.

OUTLOOK

The Demon Deacons were better than people realized last year, and the defense gives them a real foundation. This was not some soft nine-win season. Wake beat good teams and was right there with the ACC champion.

But repeating nine wins is hard.

Especially at Wake Forest.

Especially with this schedule.

Especially when you are replacing Robbie Ashford, Demond Claiborne, multiple receivers and both offensive tackles.

The optimistic case is easy enough to see.

Gio Lopez gives Wake a better passing option. KD Daniels finally gets a real chance at running back. Carlos Hernandez becomes the clear top receiver. The defense stays strong. The home games against Miami, Virginia and Duke give Wake a chance to steal something big.

If that happens, Wake can absolutely be a tough out again.

The concern is that the offense may take time, the run game may miss Claiborne badly, the pass protection may be shaky without the tackles, and the schedule may punish any slow start.

The best-case scenario is that Lopez gives Wake a real passing game, Daniels and the backs replace enough of Claiborne’s production, and the defense remains one of the better units in the ACC.

If that happens, Wake could push for another strong season.

The worst-case scenario is that the offense is still too limited, the defense takes a step back, and the travel-heavy schedule turns close games into losses.

Last year was a breakthrough.

This year is about proving it was not the ceiling.

Full disclosure: I use AI tools to format my research into an article encompassing all of the information.