Let the defense set the pace

The most reassuring part of Wake Forest’s opener should be the least novel one. The defense allowed 22.08 points and 328.5 yards per game last season, and it now gets the first chance to carry the program’s 2025 standard into a much less settled season.

That is what to watch Thursday when Akron visits Allegacy Stadium at 7 p.m. Eastern on ACC Network. The Fan Watch model gives Wake Forest a 93% chance to win, so this is not a night for much anxiety or scoreboard hunting. There is no outside result worth adopting; the useful drama is all inside Wake’s own lineup.

Give the new offense room to be new

Langston Hardy returns after finishing tied for third in the ACC with 17 tackles for loss, while Davaughn Patterson is back after recording 80 tackles and nine pass breakups. Those are credible anchors for a defense that does not need the offense to answer every question immediately.

That patience matters because Gio Lopez is making his Wake Forest debut after starting 11 games for North Carolina in 2025. The larger concern is in front of him. Wake allowed only 17 sacks last season after allowing 42 in 2024, but experienced tackles departed and tackle depth remained a primary fall-camp question.

So calibrate the hope accordingly. Wake should win. Beyond that, watch whether the tackles let Lopez operate without the offense becoming hurried or cramped. A few uneven series would not erase the larger advantage; repeated pressure off the edges would be the signal worth carrying forward.

The communication test extends beyond those tackles. Wake welcomed a program-record 42 midyear enrollees, including 22 transfers. Against Akron, the encouraging signs are ordinary ones. Those include correct alignments, clean exchanges and an offense that does not make the defense keep rescuing it.

That is enough for opening night. Wake is coming off a 9-4 season, yet ACC media voters picked it 13th in the 17-team conference. Akron cannot settle that disagreement. It can show whether the returning defense is sturdy enough to give Lopez and the rebuilt edges time to grow into the answer.

Probabilities come from the Fan Watch methodology.