The Deacs keep rolling! Wake Forest picked up their 7th win of the season tonight, taking down rival UNC by a score of 28-12. At 4-3 in the ACC, the Deacs have won 4 conference games for the first time
since going 7-1 in 2021.
This game went pretty much as expected—a low scoring, defensive battle between two teams with offenses that rank towards the bottom of the ACC. Wake got on the board first on a total fluke, with Carlos Hernandez picking up a Robby Ashford fumble and taking it 50 yards to the endzone.
Hernandez wasn’t done, as the Washington State transfer also had the biggest play of the night for either team. Off of a flea flicker, Hernandez scored a 70-yard touchdown on a catch and run to put Wake ahead 21-9 in the 3rd quarter.
Hernandez finished the game with 6 catches for 100 yards and those 2 touchdowns. After a pretty rough performance against SMU, Hernandez has really bounced back and become the biggest playmaker on the team for the Deacs.
While the offense did put up 28 points, the story of the game was the Wake Forest defense and special teams. The defense, which has been great all season, kept the Tar Heels out of the end zone for the entire game, making it 2 games since Wake has allowed a touchdown. Two whole games! Aiden Hall had one of his best games as a Deac with 9 tackles, while Langston Hardy and Nuer Gatkuoth each had 1 sack. As a whole, the defense held the Heels to 12 points, 257 total yards and 4-14 on 3rd down. Every week, this defense continues to prove that they are one of the best in the nation.
Special teams were also big tonight. While the defense kept the Heels out of the endzone, the special teams kept them off of the scoreboard. With a 7-3 lead, Nick Andersen leaped over the long snapper and blocked the UNC field goal attempt early in the 2nd quarter.
Andersen is having an incredible final season, and he will definitely be deserving of some All-ACC accolades at the end of the year.
Not to be outdone, Mateen Ibirogba also got himself a blocked field goal on the final play of the 3rd quarter.
I don’t know when the last time Wake blocked 2 field goals in 1 game was, but that is not something that happens often. Special teams have been a game changer for Wake in the past couple of games.
It is always great to beat UNC, and even better when Wake can do it in wire-to-wire fashion and relatively stress free. If you had told me after Wake barely beat Kennesaw State by 1 point in their season opener that the Deacs would have a chance to win 8 or 9 games this season, I certainly would have thought you were crazy—but here we are. Wake has 2 games remaining against Delaware and Duke to get to 9 wins for just the 4th time in school history—even just getting to 8 wins would make Dickert’s first season as the Wake Forest head coach one of the best 10 seasons in program history. It cannot be said enough what a fantastic job he has done in his first year at the helm for the Deacs. He’s getting to the level where Wake may have to ward off potential suitors in next few months, but that’s something we can worry about at the end of the season.
Winning is fun, especially against the Tar Heels!
Go Deacs!
