Wake Forest's rise meets Virginia's slide

Wake Forest's margin, Virginia's discipline

Against Power 4 opponents, Wake Forest is +104 in point margin, fifth nationally and second in the ACC. The Demon Deacons are 5-1 in those games, and the loss came to Miami. Virginia is -26 in the same games, 52nd nationally and 11th in the ACC.

Against Power 4 teams, the turnover numbers are close to even. Virginia is +1, 30th nationally, and Wake Forest is at 0, 35th.

Against Power 4 opponents, Virginia is the cleaner team, penalized 48 yards a game, 27th nationally and fourth in the ACC. Wake Forest gives away 79 yards a game, 83rd nationally and 16th in the ACC.

Where it's decided

When Wake Forest has the ball, it brings the fourth-best scoring offense in the nation against Power 4 opponents, 37.3 points a game. It gains 427 yards a game, 17th nationally, and throws for 279, 11th. Virginia's pass defense is the unit built to answer, allowing 206 yards a game, 22nd nationally, with 372 total yards allowed, 32nd.

Against Power 4 opponents, Wake Forest scores on 59.0% of its drives, third nationally and first in the ACC, and on 96.4% of red zone trips, eighth. Virginia's opponents score on 94.1% of their red zone trips, 74th nationally. Wake Forest also converts 49.3% on third down, seventh nationally, and it has scored a touchdown on its opening drive in 6 of 7 games this season.

Against Power 4 teams, Wake Forest runs for 148 yards a game, 30th nationally, and Virginia allows 166, 53rd. Ty Clark III leads Wake Forest in rushing yards with 328 and 4 touchdowns, and Deuce Lawrence is second with 307. Cornerback Jacobie Henderson leads Virginia in tackles with 40 and has 5 pass breakups.

When Virginia has the ball, it faces the best total defense in the ACC against Power 4 opponents, 326 yards allowed a game and 15th nationally. Wake Forest allows 20.0 points a game, 17th nationally, and 83 rushing yards, sixth.

Against Power 4 teams, Virginia runs for 156 yards a game, 25th nationally, and throws for the same 156, 78th. Middlebrook leads Virginia in rushing yards with 513 and 4 touchdowns, and Xay Davis is second with 235.

Against Power 4 opponents, Virginia scores 20.8 points a game, 55th nationally, converts 28.2% on third down, 73rd, and scores on 73.7% of red zone trips, 68th. Da'Shawn Martin leads the Cavaliers in receiving yards with 253 and has 5 touchdowns. Wake Forest defensive lineman Langston Hardy leads the team in sacks with 5.5 and is tied for the ACC lead with at least 10 tackles for loss. Linebacker Vincent Firenze leads Wake Forest in tackles with 51.

Gio Lopez nears 7,000 yards and 50 touchdowns

Wake Forest quarterback Gio Lopez needs 274 passing yards to reach 7,000 for his career and 1 touchdown pass to reach 50. He leads the Demon Deacons in passing yards with 1,947, with 17 touchdowns, 1 interception, a 67.6 completion percentage and 254 rushing yards. His 17 touchdown passes are tied for third in the ACC, and his 23 total touchdowns are tied for second.

Hernandez had no stats, Foley kept scoring

Wake Forest receiver Carlos Hernandez leads the team in receiving yards with 720 and in catches with 49, and his yardage ranks third in the ACC. He had no stats in last week's 41-7 win at California. He needs 6 catches to reach 150 for his career.

Wake Forest's Jack Foley is second on the team with 373 receiving yards and has a receiving touchdown in 5 straight games. Wake Forest's Dominick Barry caught his first career touchdown pass in the win at California.

Virginia's offense on the road

Virginia has scored 20 points in its two road games this season, against 35.8 a game at home. Saturday is its third road game.

Portal quarterbacks and a homecoming

Virginia quarterback Beau Pribula came from Missouri as a 4-star transfer. He leads the Cavaliers in passing yards with 1,375, with 13 touchdowns, 2 interceptions and 188 rushing yards. Virginia returned 8 of its 3,348 passing yards from 2025.

Wake Forest returned none of its 3,090 passing yards from 2025, and Lopez brought 1,747 with him as a transfer. The Demon Deacons score 37.4 points a game in all games, up from 28.1 last season.

Defensive end Matthew Fobbs-White transferred to Virginia from Baylor and leads the Cavaliers in sacks with 4, along with 7 tackles for loss.

Virginia defensive back Donavon Platt plays Saturday about 20 miles from his hometown of Jamestown, NC.

Wake Forest had 2 players drafted, a cornerback and a running back, neither in the first two rounds. Cornerback Karon Prunty went to New England in the fifth round, 171st overall, and running back Demond Claiborne went to Minnesota in the sixth, 198th overall.

Virginia's safeties are day-to-day

Update, Sat, Oct 31, 12:45 PM CT: Since Friday's report, Wake Forest upgraded Carlos Hernandez (probable to available), Tyler Walton (probable to available) and Jack Hines (probable to available). Since Friday's report, Virginia upgraded Dylan Cope (questionable to available); downgraded Brandyn Hillman (questionable to out), Ethan Minter (doubtful to out), Kameron Courtney (doubtful to out), Keke Adams (questionable to out) and 2 others. On the latest report, Wake Forest lists Devin Cook, Dalton DeBoer and Elijah Otieno as out or doubtful. Virginia lists Jekail Middlebrook, Brandyn Hillman, Ethan Minter and 21 others as out or doubtful.

Virginia coach Tony Elliott said Oct. 27 that safeties Brandyn Hillman and Corey Costner are day-to-day ahead of the Wake Forest game, according to Yahoo Sports (Virginia Cavaliers On SI). Both were listed Out on the ACC availability report for Virginia's last 2 games. Hillman transferred to Virginia from Michigan.

Receiver Kameron Courtney, who leads Virginia with 18 catches and is second on the team with 204 receiving yards, was listed Out on the ACC report for the last 2 games, as was running back Peyton Lewis. Receiver Dillon Newton-Short was listed Out for the last 5 games, defensive end Devon Baxter and defensive tackle Jason Hammond for the last 4, and cornerback Omillio Agard for the last 3.

Virginia leads, but the road team has the recent run

Virginia leads the series 34-18 since 1911 in the games we hold. Seven of the last 10 meetings were decided by one score.

The road team has won the last 3 meetings, dating to 2021, a season Wake Forest went 11-3 and Virginia went 6-6. Wake Forest won the last meeting 16-9 at Virginia in 2025, the year Virginia went 11-3 and the Demon Deacons went 9-4.

Wake Forest is 7-17 at home against Virginia in the games we hold. Virginia last won in Winston-Salem in 2024, a season it finished 5-7 while Wake Forest went 4-8.

Three things to watch

Virginia's path: against Power 4 opponents, the Cavaliers hold the ball 32:00 a game, 13th nationally, and their defense allows 35.9% on third down, 22nd.

Wake Forest's ball security: the Demon Deacons have run 212 straight offensive plays without a turnover, since a lost fumble against Louisville.

Kick returns: against Power 4 opponents, Wake Forest averages 22.1 yards on 8 kick returns, 15th nationally, and Virginia allows 21.1 yards on 7 returns, 34th.