Wake Forest Opens 2026 Season in Victorious Fashion Over Akron

Thursday, September 3

Winston-Salem, N.C.

7 p.m.

Wake Forest University

1-0 , 0-0

Akron

0-1 , 0-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Akron	0	3	0	13	16
Wake Forest	10	18	3	7	38

Wake Forest Opens 2026 Season in Victorious Fashion Over Akron

9/3/2026 11:25:00 PM | Football

Box Score

Redshirt junior Gio Lopez threw for 350 yards and three touchdowns against the Zips.

WINSTON–SALEM, N.C. – Powered by a stellar performance from quarterback Gio Lopez and a strong defensive display, Wake Forest football (1-0) opened its 2026 season with a dominant 38-16 win over Akron (0-1) on Thursday night at Allegacy Financial Stadium.

Lopez ended the night going 21-for-32 for 350 yards and three touchdowns while also adding 39 yards on the ground against the Zips. Notably, this marked the Madison, Ala., native's first three-touchdown performance since Nov. 23, 2024, while his 350 yards were the most since throwing for a career-high 432 yards against North Texas on Aug. 31, 2024.

Running back Ty Clark III also recorded his first career 100-yard performance, finishing the game with 105 yards – 57 of which came on a personal-best run – on seven attempts.

Wide receiver Carlos Hernandez continued to be a big-play threat for the Demon Deacons, as he hauled in a 78-yard touchdown as part of a five-catch, 165-yard performance. The Alhambra, Calif., native also recorded a career-high 148 yards after the catch.

Meanwhile, wide receiver Antonio Meeks logged three catches for 93 yards and a touchdown, and fellow wideout Kam Shanks hauled in five receptions for 55 yards and a score in their Wake Forest debuts.

Overall, the Deacs tallied 559 yards of total offense and had more than 300 passing yards for the fourth-straight game – the longest active streak in the nation dating back to last season. Additionally, the 559 yards of total offense were the second-most in the Jake Dickert era, trailing only the 577-yard performance against Delaware last season.

Meanwhile, Wake Forest, which ranked fourth in the ACC in total defense last season, allowed only 305 total yards against the Zips, including just 156 passing yards.

Defensive back Braylon Johnson recorded one of his best games with the Demon Deacons, as he matched his career-high with seven tackles, including four solo efforts and his first career sack.

Linebackers Frank Cusano and Vincent Firenze each logged nine tackles to lead the Deacs, with Firenze totaling six solo efforts, a tackle-for-loss and a forced fumble.

HOW IT HAPPENED

After receiving the opening kickoff, the Demon Deacons struck first as quarterback Gio Lopez found Kam Shanks on a crossing route over the middle for a 27-yard touchdown.
- Lopez went 5-for-6 for 72 yards, including a 34-yard pass to senior wide receiver Carlos Hernandez.
The Deacs extended their lead to 10-0 on the next drive following a 25-yard field goal by redshirt sophomore Connor Calvert.
Wake Forest tacked on another touchdown on its opening drive of the second quarter, as Lopez found wide receiver Antonio Meeks on a 72-yard strike at the 11:39 mark.
- The touchdown reception marked the second-longest reception of Meeks' career.
The Demon Deacons forced the first turnover of the game as defensive back Travon West hit-sticked an Akron receiver to force a fumble that was recovered by defensive back Rushuan Tongue.
- Wake Forest pushed the lead to 20-0 after a 29-yard field goal by Calvert on the ensuing possession.
After forcing a three-and-out, the Deacs struck on the first play of their next drive as Lopez found Hernandez for a 78-yard catch and run.
- Wake Forest added a two-point conversion to make it 28-0 with 4:57 left in the first half.
- The 78-yard touchdown pass marked the furthest of Lopez's career.
The Zips got on the board with a field goal late in the second quarter.
Wake Forest led Akron by a score of 28-3 heading into halftime.
The Demon Deacons pushed their lead back to 28 points coming out of the locker room as Calvert connected on a 26-yard field goal.
Wake Forest extended its lead to 38-3 on a four-yard touchdown run by freshman running back Deuce Lawrence at the 11:49 mark in the fourth quarter.
The Zips found the end zone to make it a 28-point game with 7:06 remaining in the game.
- Akron tacked on another touchdown with 29 seconds left to play, but missed the extra point.
Wake Forest secured the opening night win over Akron, 38-16.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Quarterback Gio Lopez made his Demon Deacon debut on Thursday, going 21-for-32 for 350 yards and three touchdowns, as well as 39 yards on the ground.
- This marked his first three-touchdown performance since Nov. 23, 2024 when he recorded three passing scores against Southern Miss in a 35-14 victory at South Alabama.
- Additionally, his 350 yards is the most since he threw for a career-high 432 yards against North Texas on Aug. 31, 2024.
  - In the second quarter, his 78-yard touchdown connection with wide receiver Carlos Hernandez was the longest pass of his collegiate career.
- Including his two seasons at South Alabama and the 2025 campaign at North Carolina, Lopez has been efficient against non-conference opponents as he's thrown for 1,835 yards with 17 touchdowns to just three interceptions. He has also added three rushing scores in those games.
- Lopez became the first Wake Forest quarterback to throw for 350 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions since Sam Hartman did so in 2021 in back-to-back weeks against Army (Oct. 23) and Duke (Oct. 30).
  - Additionally, he is just the fifth Demon Deacon to accomplish this feat since 1996, joining Hartman (three times), John Wolford (three times), Riley Skinner (twice) and Jamie Newman (once).

STAGGERING STATISTIC

With the victory, second-year head coach Jake Dickert matched the program record for the fastest head coach to 10 victories, doing so in just 14 games following a 9-4 season in 2025.
Dickert joins Hank Garrity to win 10 games in his first 14 games as Wake Forest head coach.

Rank	Wake Forest Head Coach	Games To Reach 10 Victories
*T1.*	*Jake Dickert*	14
T1.	Hank Garrity	14
3.	Bill Dooley	16
4.	Pat Miller	17
5.	Jim Grobe	18

FROM COACH DICKERT
"Absolutely thankful for the people that came out tonight. It was a great environment and far surpassed my expectations and I can't wait to see the environment that they're going to create here in a couple of weeks. A huge shoutout to our student body. I thought it was an awesome way to start the season. I told the team that success can be an illusion. This time last year, we were sweating out a one-point win, but what that adversity does is show your scars — it shows you where you didn't quite succeed. I thought we were sloppy in a lot of phases of this game. Our offensive execution didn't run the ball to the caliber I believe we can, or with the physicality we can play with. And defensively, we just didn't finish the game. That was their twos at the end going right down the field on our twos. So there's so much to clean up from this tape. I told them we'll show them the good, we'll be excited about where we go from here, but we've got to be a better football team in nine days."

UP NEXT
Wake Forest will hit the road for the first of six away contests next weekend when the Demon Deacons face Purdue at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind. Kick-off for the game is scheduled for 12 noon and the contest will be televised nationally on FS1.