1. What do you expect Wake Forest’s final record to be, and why?
Before the season, I sat at 7-5. The schedule looked daunting with how Louisville, SMU and NC State looked and both on the road. Going out to Cal was always going to be a tough game with the travel. UVA was a fight last year and Duke is a well-coached team. Better team with a worse record. Right now, Wake might be favorites in the five games after their bye. Being a bit conservative 9-3 is where I sit, especially having to go on the road to Dallas while expecting to sweep Duke, at Georgia Tech, and Virginia is a tall ask. But with the way Gio Lopez is playing and the defensive line is waking up, the sky is the limit right now.
2. What is your prediction for Wake Forest @ Cal? In the same breath, how could the Demon Deacons win or lose this matchup?
Going into this one, I have Wake Forest winning 31-17. The run defense, especially against mobile quarterbacks, is something that I think Wake is going to try and take advantage of to stay ahead of the sticks and keep the linebackers off balance to open up the middle of the field. Wake has to run the ball effectively on offense and cannot live in third-and-longs; that's going to make a long night even longer. On the other side of the ball, I expect Wake's defensive line to continue to give the Cal running game fits and keep the Golden Bears one-dimensional. That being said, if JKS is back, they can't let what happened against Miami and the first half of the NC State game happen again. You can't allow someone of that caliber to get into rhythm completing their first dozen passes with ease. If he gets comfortable early, the corners are going to be fighting for their lives.
3. Offensively, where have you seen Wake Forest grow the most, and what players and/or approaches are most intriguing/threatening?
The growth is easily in the wide receiver room, the one that had the most worry coming out of fall camp. Carlos Hernandez went from a receiver that we thought would be a middle-of-the-pack one in the league to a top-five wideout in the country right now. Which feels like hyperbole but then you look, he's leading the country with 49 catches and is fifth nationally with 120 yards per game. Jack Foley joins him with the growth as we saw him flash one day in camp and then struggle the next. He's finally stacked games together and has given Wake as good of a 1-2 punch as you'll find in the ACC. That's still leaving out Antonio Meeks who has been sure-handed when targeted and Kam Shanks when they're looking to stretch the defense even more. They're multiple in what they can do out there.
4. Defensively, where have you seen Wake Forest grow the most, and what players and/or approaches are most intriguing/threatening?
Easy answer again: corner. They lost Karon Prunty to the NFL draft and Lardarius Webb ended up on a practice squad. That meant they needed to go replace two starters while also trying to develop at the same time. They plucked Deuce Blades from the portal and once he got settled in his tackling has been great and he's been more than a competent corner. The surprise of the year has been Freshman Somad Eaddy. He announced his arrival with some stellar play down the stretch against Miami and has continued to grown each game
5. What are your overall impressions of Cal in 2026, from a Wake Forest perspective?
Somewhat disappointed but also hopeful. I was an early JKS truther last year, well as early as you can be on a top-100 guy who was given the keys to the kingdom early. I liked what they did in the portal on both sides of the ball and was willing to vote for him as my preseason POY but he wasn't on the ballot. The start hasn't been what anyone thought it'd be. But part of the reason I liked Cal was the schedule. Regardless of the result on Saturday, SMU is a very beatable opponent. I just watched NC State quit when the going got tough in the second half. Virginia's defense (and offense to an extent) isn't exactly otherworldly. Davis Warren is a good QB but that team as a whole is a clear second worst in the ACC to me. Pitt losing their quarterback has been rough and who knows what the mindset is at the end of the year. If Cal can just hang on for a little bit, if I turned around and saw they won four of their last five games, I wouldn't be shocked at all. Think there's a lot of good with this team, they just need some breaks to go their way.
