Can 40 Carries a Game Fuel a Wake Forest Revival?

With a new coach in town and one year left with Demond Claiborne, there is reason to believe Wake Forest may focus on feeding their standout back, maybe even 40 times per game.

Oct 26, 2024; Stanford, California, USA; Wake Forest Demon Deacons running back Demond Claiborne (1) breaks a tackle by Stanford Cardinal linebacker Tristan Sinclair (8) during the second quarter fr a first down at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images | Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images

Through the tumultuous waters and chatter that have consumed and surrounded Wake Forest football, there has remained one positive constant: Demond Claiborne.

The true senior from Aylett, Virginia, was rumored to be a bygone immediately following the resignation of Wake Forest's beloved and vested (11 seasons) head coach, Dave Clawson. Before the decision to bring in Washington State's head coach Jake Dickert to lead the helm, many fans and analysts speculated—and many teams tried to facilitate—the transfer of the former four-star recruit. Amid all the chaos, Claiborne showcased a rare quality in today's college football landscape: loyalty to Deac Town.

Now entering his final season repping the old gold and black, Demond Claiborne is poised to be the focal point of Wake Forest's offense. Some, whether joking or not, have floated the idea of him receiving upwards of 40 carries per game. For what it's worth, the newly-released NCAA College Football 26 video game lists Claiborne as a 91-overall, tied for eighth-best among running backs. However, the question still remains: how much will Jake Dickert and the 2025 Demon Deacons feed No. 1? Is 40 carries per game out of the question?

Quick History Lesson

Currently, Claiborne's 1,692 career rushing yards rank him 20th on the all-time career rushing leaderboards in Wake Forest history. With just another 1,000-yard season, the 2024 All-ACC Third Team stud would jump to No. 4 on the charts. Last year, Claiborne marched for 1,049 yards—the seventh-most in single-season school history.

40 Carries Per Game?

Only three Demon Deacons have ever cracked the 40-carry mark in a single game, and the last time it happened was in 1993, when John Leach carried the ball 46 times against Maryland. Under Coach Clawson, Claiborne averaged a respectable 19 carries per game last season. His career high came in 2023, when he ran the rock 26 times for 165 yards against Vanderbilt. Wake Forest's history makes the mountain of 40 carries per game seem quite insurmountable, so what is a more realistic peak to summit?

Boise State's Ashton Jeanty averaged 26 carries per game last season, leading to a historic 2,601 yards. While it's fun to imagine feeding Wake's bell cow back 40 times a game, a more likely strategy is to mirror that of Boise's with Jeanty. The Broncos went from 8-6 in 2023, giving a then relatively unknown Ashton Jeanty 220 carries, to a 12-2 finish in 2024 while using Jeanty 374 times on the ground.

Reality

Claiborne recorded 228 carries in his junior campaign, yet the Demon Deacons only mustered four wins in a frustrating collapse of a season. While there is allure to the Jeanty comparison, hopefuls must remain grounded. Even if Claiborne were to receive a Jeanty-esque workload, he’d need to significantly boost his yards-per-carry average to sniff 2,000 yards, let alone 2,600. Plus, as explosive as a single player may be, football is not a one-man sport. In addition to keeping Demond Claiborne healthy, the rest of the Demon Deacons need to be A+ supporting cast members in order to replicate any kind of success that made Ashton Jeanty the No. 8 overall pick in the NFL Draft.

Perhaps Jake Dickert and his staff will try to catch lightning in a bottle—like the boys in Boise did—and ride Claiborne to a much-needed rebound in 2025. But whether or not Wake Forest creates that kind of spectacle at Allegacy Stadium this fall, one thing seems certain: Demond Claiborne is primed to climb the record books and leave a lasting legacy as a Demon Deacon.

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