Former UNC starting quarterback Gio Lopez is off to a hot start in Winston-Salem.
Two weeks into the 2026 season, Lopez has the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 2-0, and albeit against weaker opponents, Lopez looks like a different quarterback in black and gold.
Taking the Leap in 2026
Let’s compare Lopez over the first two weeks of the season compared to last year by digging into this passer efficiency rating (it sounds dull, but stay with me).
Passer Efficiency Rating:
2025: 130.2
2026: 166.9
For context, Drake Maye had a passer
efficiency rating of 154.1 over his Carolina career, and Billy Edwards Jr. currently has a passer efficiency rating of 161.6 in the 2026 season. 130.2 is very poor. 166.9 leans towards excellence.
The formula for passer efficiency rating is a bit complex when you first glance at it:
All you need to understand is the five factors that impact passer efficiency rating:
1. Yards thrown for
2. Number of passing touchdowns
3. Number of completions
4. Number of interceptions (negative)
5. All divided by number of passing attempts
This formula does not include any rushing statistics (important for a mobile QB like Lopez).
So then, what explains the 36.7-point increase in passer efficiency rating?
In the young season, Lopez:
– 0 INTs (5 last season)
– 6.8% TD percentage (3.8% last season)
– 9.7 passing yards per attempt (6.7 passing yards per attempt last season)
Drop that in your blender and shake it (along with a small drop in completion percentage), and you end up with a guy who, on paper, is playing a whole lot more like the 2024 starting QB at South Alabama than the 2025 starting QB at North Carolina.
Oh, and he’s averaging 48.5 rushing yards per game (12.1 last season) and already has 2 rushing TDs (3 last season).
And his offensive line is protecting him a lot better – only 2 sacks taken in 2 games (20 sacks in 11 games last season).
And he passes the eye test too!
Look at his two overtime touchdowns in the Week 2 win against Purdue:
Back to Reality, Ope, There Goes Gravity
Here’s the catch.
Lopez and the Demon Deacons started the season against Akron and Purdue, the latter of whom deserve to be in the contest for worst Power Four football program in the 2020’s.
A hungry and ice-cold wake-up call awaits Lopez when the #5-ranked Miami Hurricanes roll into Winston-Salem for Friday night’s showdown. Gravity has a way of humbling those climbing to lofty heights.
I have no idea if Lopez will continue to shine for the Demon Deacons as he moves on from the Midwest Pee-Wee League to far nastier defenses like Miami, Louisville, SMU, etc.
But can I tell you a secret as a former Alabama local who thinks Gio Lopez stepped into a pile of caustic dog waste the minute he rolled into Bill Belichick’s Year 1 in Chapel Hill?
I really hope he proves gravity and the haters wrong.
