Our side
MoneylineWAKE to win
ours 48%
Projected score
25–29
WAKE – NCSU
2026-10-10 · kickoff TBD
Carter-Finley Stadium · Raleigh, NC
ACC game
Early season
The books
No book has priced this game. Nothing to compare, and no ticket to build.
Series
NC State lead
70–43–5
· 118 meetings since 1908
2025 unit ranks —
last completed season, from games actually played
Run game
even
43 ranks apart
Wake Forest Demon Deacons #83 rush offense
NC State Wolfpack #126 run defense
Pass game
even
0 ranks apart
Wake Forest Demon Deacons #139 pass offense
NC State Wolfpack #139 pass defense
Run game
even
13 ranks apart
NC State Wolfpack #32 rush offense
Wake Forest Demon Deacons #19 run defense
Pass game
even
25 ranks apart
NC State Wolfpack #56 pass offense
Wake Forest Demon Deacons #31 pass defense
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Balanced · 53% run
Ball-control
Dual-threat QB · 46 rush ypg
NC State Wolfpack
Balanced · 51% run
Ball-control
Jake Dickert · 32-24 · defense-minded
Dave Doeren · 84-56 · offense-minded
Ranked by team-unit strength
(rush & pass offense vs. run & pass defense) across all 265
D1 teams, not by individual players. Identity, tempo and unit strength are measured from the
2025 season.
The evidence 2025 production and power ratings · supporting the number above
Who carried each team in 2025
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
QB
Gio Lopez
575 pass yds · 4 TD · 0 INT
#4 QB
K
Connor Calvert
6 FG · 6 XP · 24 pts
#10 K
WR
Carlos Hernandez
11 rec · 253 yds · 1 TD
#49 WR
LB
Vincent Firenze
20 tkl · 2.0 TFL
#49 LB
NC State Wolfpack
LB
Popo Aguirre
21 tkl
#147 LB
TE
Preston Douglas
5 rec · 71 yds · 1 TD
#52 TE
RB
Jayden Scott
148 rush yds · 2 TD
#149 RB
DB
Ronnie Royal III
9 tkl · 1 PD
#499 DB
Top-rated players from last season, ranked within their
position across D1. A grade measures what a player produced, and no
2026 game has been played yet — so this is who produced for
these programs in 2025, not a claim about who is on the field this year.
Power breakdown
Def is higher = better. The projection assumes a 2.4-pt home edge (0 at neutral sites).
Where the number comes from
Wake Forest offense vs NC State defense+3.8 pts
NC State offense vs Wake Forest defense+1.2 pts
An efficiency adjustment from season-to-date EPA and success rate applies once teams have
played enough games; before then it is 0 and the number is the power rating alone.