Wake Forest will be Georgia Tech’s first road game since the opener versus Colorado when they make the trek up to Winston-Salem in Week 5. It’ll be the last before Tech’s first bye week of the season ending a 5-game stretch. Georgia Tech won the last match up in 2023 30-16 after Wake had started 3-0 for the season, but would finish 4-8.
The Demon Deacons first saw Georgia Tech back in 1917 and have faced the Yellow Jackets a total of 32 times, with Tech leading the series 24-8. Wake’s last victory came in the 2006 ACC Championship Game, but they have dropped the previous four. An interesting note, Georgia Tech and Wake played their first four games from 1917 to 1921 and Georgia Tech shut them out in each. It wouldn’t be until 1980 when Wake Forest would score their first points against the Yellow Jackets.
A few seasons ago Wake Forest played in the 2021 ACC Championship game in a loss against Pittsburgh. Since then, Wake has slowly bled talent to other schools and has suffered in in the win column. Dave Clawson did a remarkable job in his decade with Wake, but citing the new landscape with NILs, decided to step away from coaching and retire.
For just the third time since 2000, Wake Forest will have a new head coach, and they bring over Jake Dickert from Washington State. Dickert is a defensive coach who has made his rounds among smaller programs in the Big Sky region of the country. It’ll be the offense though that will need to be retooled due to departures and moving on from former coach Dave Clawson’s “Slow Mesh” system.
Quarterback has been a struggle for Wake, with the transfer portal plucking their starter in previous seasons. Last year it was both Michael Kern and Hank Bachmeier alternating the job due to injuries and poor performance. Neither return this season and they will rely on two transfer journeymen Robby Ashford from South Carolina and Deshawn Purdie from Charlotte. Purdie started 6 games with Charlotte as a freshman and should push Ashford who is a senior, but hasn’t seen the field consistently in his career.
Receivers and offensive line are going to be a patchwork replacement from the portal with a host of players following Coach Dickert from Washington State. Not a single starter returns among the two position groups, but three offensive linemen from Washington St should slot in and give an anchor point for the offense.
Demond Claiborne broke 1,000 yards rushing last season and returns to a new scheme that he should enjoy, no longer having to wait in the backfield for blocks to develop. Backup Tate Carney returns as well to give some depth to what should be the strength of the offense.
The defense will be going through a portal overhaul of their own. The defense generated 20 sacks last season which was good for 15th in the ACC, but the departing linemen accounted for 15 of those sacks. Linebacker does return two starters and has decent depth so they should be in good shape there. Devaughn Patterson started all 12 games as a freshman and was fourth on the team in tackles so he could make a big jump in his second year.
The secondary was the biggest struggle last season. Wake Forest gave up 40+ points on 5 occasions and they all came against offenses with above average quarterbacks. Quarterbacks as a whole completed 70% of their attempts against the Demon Deacons. They do return their leading tackler at safety with Nick Andersen, but it usually isn’t great when your secondary is the bulk of your tackles.
Wake Forest will have a bye week before Georgia Tech, and will be at home for their first three games. That should bode well for the health of the team, but this another game where turnover and inexperience may not hold up to Georgia Tech’s offensive attack early in the season. There isn’t much until the season starts to show Wake can get into a shoot out. Claiborne can certainly cause damage on the ground, but he does play into Georgia Tech’s strength on defense so there isn’t an area Wake Forest matches up well with Tech.