Wake Forest and Akron are eager to take another step forward Thursday night when they open the 2026 season in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Even before the first snap, there have been notable strides for Wake Forest compared to the start of the 2025 season.
“Last year there was a confidence thing. There was a nervousness people felt,” second-year Wake Forest coach Jake Dickert said. “This year, it’s an excitement.”
Wake Forest’s one-point victory against Kennesaw State in Dickert’s debut created some concerns, but the Demon Deacons went on to a 9-4 season.
Now, the bar is elevated for Wake Forest.
“We can beat anybody if we don’t beat ourselves,” Dickert said. “We’ve got to earn that. … The pressure is a privilege, and our guys are ready to perform.”
Wake Forest has Gio Lopez, who transferred in after one season with North Carolina, as its new starting quarterback.
Coach Joe Moorhead’s Akron team went 5-7 a year ago. T
The Zips are bound to count on running back Jordan Gant, the program’s first 1,000-yard rusher since 2008 with 1,032 last season.
“Hoping to see him take another positive step forward,” Moorhead said of Gant.
Gant is joined on the All-Mid-American Conference preseason first team by receiver Marcel Williams.
Reese Poffenbarger, who was with North Texas last year after spending 2024 with Miami, had been groomed to be Akron’s starter at quarterback, though eligibility questions exist after recent court rulings.
“Reese is the guy who has demonstrated the most ability to lead us to wins,” Morehead said earlier in the summer.
Dickert said the Demon Deacons are aware of Poffenbarger’s situation but won’t dwell on it.
“We tried to get him at Washington State,” Dickert said, noting recruiting with his previous job. “We recruited him, what a competitor. … We’ll see how it all plays out. At the end of the day, it’s about us.”
This will be the first meeting between the Zips and Demon Deacons. This is the first of Akron’s two trips to face a power-conference team this month. The Zips are also at Minnesota on Sept. 19.
