It's Game Day! Our Staff Makes Their Picks
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It's finally here! After months of anticipation, the day has finally arrived! No, it's not Christmas morning, but it might as well be! After 244 days, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons football squad returns to the gridiron.
This is Year Two of the Jake Dickert era in Winston-Salem. After last year's 9-4 season, which culminated in a win over Mississippi State in the Duke's Mayo Bowl, the expectations are high for the Deacs. Can they continue the momentum that Dickert and crew brought to the team last year?
To start the season, they host the Akron Zips at Allegacy Financial Stadium tonight. Kickoff is set for 7 pm ET.
Last year, the Deacs hosted Kennesaw State on opening night and struggled to pull off a 10-9 victory. At the ACC Kickoff in July, Dickert emphasized that this year's team must start strong. According to him, much of what the team will look like later in the season needs to show up tonight.
Our editorial staff is ready for the season to begin. Each week, our crew will make their predictions. Trust us, this will become an intense competition as the season continues. For now, we are just at the starting gate. And we all have picked the Deacs to win, and to win decisively. The one that gets the early lead will be the one who comes closest on the final score.
Not only did we unanimously pick Wake, but we also picked them by a wide margin. Our average predicted margin of victory is 22.6 points. We are also predicting a total of 44.2 points in the game. That works out to an average prediction of Wake Forest winning 33-11.
Sean is our reigning champion. Can he repeat this year? Will one of our new writers who was not on our team last season break through in their rookie season? Or will we all be beholden to JD, who will claim he knows more ball than the rest of us (spoiler alert: he doesn't!).
Staff Predictions - Wake Forest vs. Akron
Alex Gendron - Wake Forest 27-13
Andrew Bauhs - Wake Forest 31-12
Barry Lewis - Wake Forest 34-10
Brandon Oakes - Wake Forest 34-10
JD Andress - Wake Forest 34-13
Justin Kontul - Wake Forest 38-10
Keylor Piers - Wake Forest 38-6
Sean Kennedy - Wake Forest 28-9
Seth Dowdle - Wake Forest 38-10
Will Kunisaki - Wake Forest 37-10
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 7 p.m. ET on September 3. It will be played at Allegacy Financial Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC. You can watch it on The ACC Network.
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Barry is the managing editor/publisher of Wake Forest Demon Deacons On SI sites. He oversees a team of 12+ writers and photographers covering all sports at Wake Forest. 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, ACC Kickoff, and ACC Tipoff. 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.