For the Contest in Corvallis, Our Staff Makes Their Predictions
In this story:
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons (3-2, 1-2 ACC) travel to the Pacific Northwest for the first time in program history to take on the Oregon State Beavers (0-6) on Saturday, October 11. It will also mark the first time the two programs have played on the gridiron.
Wake Forest enters the matchup with some momentum after getting their first ACC conference win last week in Blacksburg.
Last week, most of our staff picked Wake, but a few chose the Hokies. As such, we had movement on our leaderboard. Sean, Carson, and Barry all came within three points with their guesses. The actual score was 30-23. Sean predicted 31-21; Carson and Barry were both at 28-24. And with his win, Sean took over our season leaderboard.
But what does our staff think about the game this week? Our picks are nearly unanimous, with only Andrew choosing Oregon State. We do think it will be a one-possession game, as our average margin of predicted victory is seven points. Our average total points scored is 51.2 points.
Sean and JD are the only two on our staff who are a perfect 5-0 with their picks for the season. Seven are in the 4-1 group, with Carson having the edge there.
Current odds have the Deacs winning, but by a much smaller margin - three points. Saturday afternoon will be a determining day for how our leaderboard looks going into the Week Eight Bye Week.
Staff Leaderboard after Week Five
Place | Name | Wins | Losses | Closest | Cumulative Differential |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sean | 5 | 0 | 1 | 89 |
2 | JD | 5 | 0 | 0 | 93 |
3 | Carson | 4 | 1 | 2 | 78 |
4 | Brett | 4 | 1 | 2 | 80 |
5 | Blake | 4 | 1 | 1 | 72 |
6 | Barry | 4 | 1 | 1 | 97 |
7 | Andrew | 4 | 1 | 0 | 98 |
8 | Ryder | 4 | 1 | 0 | 100 |
9 | Keylor | 4 | 1 | 0 | 123 |
10 | Justin* | 2 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
11 | Evan* | 2 | 1 | 0 | 65 |
12 | Ian* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* Writers who joined the staff after Week One
Staff Predictions - Wake Forest at Oregon State
Andrew Bauhs (4-1) - Oregon State 24-19
Barry Lewis (4-1; one closest prediction) - Wake Forest 31-24
Blake Robison (4-1; one closest prediction) - Wake Forest 31-16
Brett Gibbons (4-1; two closest predictions) - Wake Forest 30-17
Carson Wersal (4-1; two closest predictions) - Wake Forest 28-24
Evan Harris* (2-1) - Wake Forest 28-14
Ian Napetian* (0-0), Wake Forest 38-31
JD Andress (5-0) - Wake Forest 31-21
Justin Kontul* (2-0) - Wake Forest 34-21
Keylor Piers (4-1) - Wake Forest 28-20
Ryder Solberg (4-1) - Wake Forest 31-23
Sean Kennedy (5-0; one closest prediction) -Wake Forest 34-17
*Evan. Ian, and Justin joined our team after the season began.
Do you agree with our picks? Let us know what you think the final score will be.
What's Next?
The game will kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, October 11. It will be played at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon, and can be seen on the CW.
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Barry is the managing editor/publisher of both the TCU Horned Frogs On SI and Wake Forest Demon Deacons On SI sites. He oversees a team of 15+ writers, photographers, and podcasters covering all sports at both schools. He writes on football, basketball (men’s and women’s), baseball, men’s tennis, and other sports as needed. His weekly articles include ACC Power Rankings and Poll Watching during the football, basketball, and baseball seasons. Barry is a member of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). He has covered the 2022 Fiesta Bowl, the 2023 College Football National Championship, the 2023 College World Series, the 2024 NCAA Men’s Tennis National Championship, Big 12 Football Media Days, and Big 12 Basketball Media Days. He is an avid sports fan and traveler, and he loves any opportunity to see a sporting event in person. He has been to 18 of the 30 MLB ballparks, experienced game day at 25 college football stadiums, seen 21 NFL stadiums, and been to 16 bowl games.