Alex Manuel
NC State's football team prepares to enter the field before the game against Virginia in Carter-Finley Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. The Wolfpack beat the Cavaliers 35-31.
After a 2-0 start, NC State football is set to officially begin ACC play with a trip to Winston-Salem to take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
The two programs are founding members of the ACC and have played every year since 1910. The rivalry stands as the second-longest consecutive series in the FBS, only behind the Minnesota-Wisconsin series. NC State leads the all-time series 69-43-6. This game has no official rivalry name, but Wake Forest is NC State’s oldest rival.
The most recent matchup between these two came in 2024, where Wake Forest staged a fourth-quarter comeback down 30-20 to score two touchdowns and steal the game 34-30. NC State head coach Dave Doeren is 6-6 against the Deacs since being hired in 2013, but he is only 2-4 in Winston-Salem and both of those wins came in years where the Deacs had a losing record.
Wake Forest is led by first-year head coach Jake Dickert, who was previously the head coach at Washington State. Dickert finished with three winning records and bowl appearances while having the Cougars ranked inside of the top-20 at some point in each of the last two seasons. Despite the fact that Wake Forest is 2-0, it has been far from a pretty start.
In the season opener, the Demon Deacons scored just 10 points against Kennesaw State. While it was a win, scoring 10 points against a mid-major school raised a lot of early question marks for this team, as Wake totaled 348 yards of total offense, yet scored a mere 10 points. The bright side, however, was the defense allowing just nine points.
Wake’s second game went a lot better for them against Western Carolina. They got off to a fast 21-0 start in the first quarter and won the game 42-10.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Deacs follow senior quarterback Robby Ashford under center. So far, Ashford has thrown for 445 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He also has a presence on the ground, rushing for a total of 108 yards and two touchdowns.
Wake’s top rusher is senior running back Demond Claiborne, who has 212 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. Claiborne gave the Pack nightmares in the 2024 game, totaling 136 yards and two touchdowns and will be the biggest priority of its defensive line. The top two receivers for the Demon Deacons are freshman wide receiver Chris Barnes with 172 yards and senior wide receiver Sterling Berkhalter with 106 yards and a touchdown.
Senior defensive back Nick Andersen leads the team with 12 tackles, a rarity in the secondary. Freshman linebacker Frank Cusano and sophomore defensive back Davaughn Patterson are tied for second with 11 tackles apiece.
NC State will hop on I-40 to take on Wake Forest on Thursday, Sept. 11. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.