ACC play starts Thursday night when North Carolina State travels down the road to Wake Forest. NC State has already proven its merit to some degree. But for Wake Forest, the Demon Deacons have a lot to prove still, and the Wolfpack will be the first test.
How They Got Here
Both teams are 2-0, but they are a very different 2-0. NC State beat a down-turning East Carolina team in week one. But then they beat a seemingly improved Virginia Cavaliers team 35-31 last week.
Wake’s two wins include a hugely overwhelming 10-9 win over Kennesaw State and then a blowout win against a winless FCS Western Carolina. So if the Jake Dickert era at Wake is a real change in football fortunes, Thursday is the first time to prove it.
NC State head coach Dave Doeren comes into the game with a renewed level of confidence in his team, much of it stemming from last year’s losses. “When you win six games and lose five one-possession, you’re pretty close to having a helluva season,” he told the media earlier this week. He said there was a lot of film study and greater attention to detail during the off-season to get over the hump in those close games.
That attention to detail got him an offense that committed zero penalties on offense and had zero turnovers in the win over Virginia. And the offensive line gave up no sacks, giving plenty of protection to quarterback CJ Bailey. “He’s playing at a high level,” Doeren said of Bailey. “He’s in command of the guys around him. He challenges people. He challenges himself.”
Bailey is throwing at a 70% completion clip so far this season with 518 passing yards, two touchdown passes, and one interception.
NC State’s Quarterback A Challenge for Wake
But he is the first mobile quarterback Wake will have faced this season. The Deacs’ defensive line has been strong, getting a lot of pressure on the opposing quarterback. But Dickert says that it is going to be harder against the NC State quarterback. “Bailey has taken a big step forward,” Dickert said at his weekly press conference. “He is playing quarterback now. Last year, they were very cautious with him. He is playing quarterback. He has the keys to the car, and he is driving it. It’s the old deal of let’s get pressure on him and let’s keep him in the pocket. Those are two things that are really hard to do and say in the same sentence.”
Dickert said that with Bailey presenting a unique challenge, some of the early film study and game prep for week three of the season started during the Summer. You need not look much further than last season’s 34-30 Wake Forest win over NC State. Bailey threw for 272 with two touchdowns.
Doeren has spent much of his time putting away what he knew about the old Wake Forest slow mesh offense and watching the films on Dickert’s power spread offense. “It’s nothing like what it was,” Doeren said of the 2025 version of the Wake Forest offense. “It’s a more traditional college football offense.” He added that the thing that stands out is in the style of play at quarterback. “What’s the biggest difference besides that, [the change in offensive style] is that they’ve got a really, really fast, athletic quarterback.”
Wake’s Answer
Robby Ashford has a rushing touchdown in each of Wake’s first two games. That makes him an added threat, according to Doeren. “You’ve got to be really disciplined in everything we do to make sure you’ve got him hemmed up in the pocket.”
Dickert knows that even at 2-0, his Deacs have a lot of work ahead to get where he wants them to be. The scoring and big-play offense were fun for the fans last Saturday, with a plethora of scoring drives that were under one minute. “It’s good, but I don’t want them to rely on it,” Dickert said of the Wake Forest offense. “When you watch the tape, there is so much more out there,” he said. “I want to make sure our guys know, we’re going to have to grind some things out.”
The explosiveness in the Wake Forest offense was due in large part to running back Demond Claiborne. Having him back and healthy enough to play after an apparent rib injury in week one was a game-changer. He had 193 yards and three touchdowns on 10 carries.
Doeren is familiar enough with Claiborne. Last season in Wake’s win over NC State, Claiborne ran for 136 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries. The new offense strives to get him the ball more in the open field.
It is one of the headlines for Thursday night’s game, as both coaches agree. “He’s got speed. He’s got vision. He can break tackles. He can make you miss,” Doeren said of the ACC Running Back of the Week. “When you’re defending a great running back, it takes everybody. It’s gap accountability. And it’s beating blocks. It’s leveraging the football. And then it’s gang tackling.”
Availability Report
All major conferences are now imposing an availability report from each team two days before kickoff, similar in concept to the NFL injury reports that come out on Thursdays. There is then an updated report the night before the game. And then there is a game day report two hours before the game.
The rules for the ACC apply only to conference games, so this is the first time either team, or any team in the conference, has had to do it.
Wake Forest lists 13 players as being out for the game, but they are no one who would have been on the two-deep chart. Defensive back Rushaun Tongue is listed as questionable after leaving the WCU game with what was described as a minor injury. Defensive back Ashaad Williams and defensive linemen B.J. Williams and Mateen Ibirogba are all slightly banged up but listed as probable.
NC State lists 11 players as out of the game, but like Wake, no one who would have been on the two-deep roster this week.
Main Image: Grace Sorrells (Shot with Grace)
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