Wake Forest Kickoff Time and Schedule Announced Against Virginia

The Demon Deacons return home on Halloween to face the Cavaliers

Oct 17, 2026; Berkeley, California, USA; Wake Forest Demon Deacons tight end Dominick Barry (84) celebrates his touchdown reception with teammate Elliot Demaine (67) during the third quarter against the California Golden Bears at California Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The ACC has announced Week 9 kickoff times. Wake Forest has a bye this week, but next week, it faces the Virginia Cavaliers on Saturday, October 31. Kickoff is set for 3:45 pm ET at Allegacy Financial Stadium. The game will be televised on either ESPN or ESPN2.

The Cavaliers and Demon Deacons will face off for the 54th time in their programs' history. Although Virginia leads the all-time series 35-18, Wake Forest won the most recent game. In 2025, Wake beat the No. 19-ranked Cavaliers in Charlottesville with a final score of 16-9 thanks to a punt return touchdown from Carlos Hernandez. The Cavaliers will be hungry to upset the Deacons on their home turf.

Virginia's Ups and Downs

Virginia started off the season strong, dominating NC State 34-8 on their home turf and throttling Norfolk State the following week. Coming off a season where the Cavaliers made it to the ACC Championship, this was a promising start that fans hoped would mean success for the future. However, they lost to West Virginia the following week and got punished by Florida State a couple of weeks later, losing 38-7 in Tallahassee.

After another tough loss this past week to No. 23-ranked SMU, Virginia now sits in the middle of the pack in the ACC, ranked No. 6 in our most recent weekly ACC Power Rankings, assembled by the Wake Forest Demon Deacons On SI editorial staff. Wake is currently firmly ranked No. 2 in those rankings, meaning this should be a good, competitive game.

Before the Halloween showdown, Virginia plays a home game against Duke. They will hope to grab some much-needed momentum against a solid Duke team before they head to Winston-Salem.

2026 Schedule: Wake Forest Football

Sept. 3 vs. Akron (W, 38-16)
Sept. 12 at Purdue (W, 38-36, 2OT)
Sept. 18 vs. No. 5 Miami (L, 33-20)
Sept. 26 at No. 16 Louisville (W, 30-27)
Oct. 3 vs. Stanford (W, 57-3)
Oct. 10 at NC State, (W, 38-14)
Oct. 17 at Cal, (W, 41-7)
Oct. 31 vs. Virginia, 3:45 p.m. ET on ESPN or ESPN2
Nov. 7 vs. Merrimack, 12 p.m. ET, network TBA
Nov. 14 at No. 22 SMU, TBA
Nov. 21 at Georgia Tech, TBA
Nov. 28 vs. Duke, TBA

What's Next for Wake?

The Demon Deacons have a bye week, meaning they have some time to rest and get their guys healthy before their next matchup. They should be ready and prepared going into a long-awaited rematch the Cavaliers have been waiting for.