Two resurgent quarterbacks and two teams aiming to play way above preseason expectations will meet in Winston-Salem this Saturday as Stanford visits Wake Forest in ACC action.
The game kicks off at noon at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium and will be broadcast on the ACC Network.
Wake Forest features former South Alabama and UNC quarterback Gio Lopez, who is quietly having one of the best seasons of his college career.
Stanford counters with Davis Warren, a cancer survivor who transferred from Michigan after missing the 2025 season while recovering from an ACL injury. Warren likewise has started 2026 in prime form.
Here is everything you need to know about Stanford-Wake Forest, including kickoff time, TV and radio information, betting odds stat comparisons, injury updates, series history and more.
🔄 Last Updated: September 30, 2026 2:34 pm
🏟️ How to Watch Stanford at Wake Forest Football
Matchup: Stanford (2-2, 1-2 ACC) at Wake Forest (3-1, 1-1 ACC)
Date: Saturday, October 3, 2026
Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
Location: Allegacy Financial Stadium (Winston-Salem, NC)
TV: ACC Network
Broadcast Crew: Jorge Sedano (play-by-play), Rodney McLeod (analyst), Kendra Douglas (sideline)
Wake Forest Radio: WBRF 98.1 FM (flagship), WPOL 103.5 FM / 1340 AM in Winston-Salem, and affiliates on the Wake Forest Sports Network (Learfield).
📊Stanford at Wake Forest betting odds
Spread: Wake Forest -12.5
Over/Under Total: 53.5 points
Moneyline: Stanford +390 | Wake Forest -520
Lines courtesy FanDuel Sportsbook. Odds will be refreshed periodically during the week. All lines are subject to change.
🩹 Stanford at Wake Forest Injury & Availability Updates
Official availability reports from the ACC are scheduled to be released starting Wednesday, Sept. 30. Information from those reports will be added here later in the week.
⏪ Last Time Out
Stanford 34, Georgia Tech 27 (Sept. 26) – Davis Warren threw for career-high 396 yards and three touchdowns, and Stanford rallied from a 20-10 deficit to win its first ACC game. Caden High (121 yards, 2 TDs) and Nico Brown (98 yards, 1 TD) had big nights, with Brown hauling in a 33-yard touchdown catch on an athletic play on fourth-and-11.
Wake Forest 30, No. 16 Louisville 27 (Sept. 26) – The Demon Deacons blocked a 57-yard field-goal attempt in the final seconds to preserve the upset win, knocking the Cardinals out of the Top 25. Wake kicker Connor Calvert provided what would be the winning points with a 32-yard field goal with 6:20 left. Carlos Hernandez racked up 194 receiving yards.
🔍 What to Know About Stanford-Wake Forest
Wake Forest is overachieving again
Wake Forest was picked near the bottom of the ACC in 2025, Jake Dickert’s first season as head coach. The Demon Deacons responded by winning nine games, upsetting a ranked SMU team at home and knocking off an SEC foe (Mississippi State) in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
Wake was picked 13th in this year’s preseason media poll, and so far the Demon Deacons are punching above their weight once again. Dickert’s team put a second-half scare into ACC favorite Miami and then upset 16th ranked Louisville (picked third) this past weekend to improve to 3-1. Since replacing Dave Clawson, Dickert is 12-5 at Wake Forest.
Stanford was picked to finish dead last in the ACC, 17th out of 17 teams. But ACC foes may not want to overlook the Cardinal either. Stanford upset Georgia Tech, picked fifth in the preseason, this past weekend.
Davis Warren’s remarkable road to Stanford
Stanford quarterback Davis Warren’s journey to Saturday’s game at Wake Forest has been anything but conventional. Diagnosed with leukemia at 17, Warren underwent chemotherapy before returning to football, eventually walking on at Michigan and working his way into the starting lineup. He helped the Wolverines finish the 2024 season with wins over Ohio State and Alabama, but tore his ACL in the bowl victory over the Crimson Tide and missed the entire 2025 season before transferring to Stanford for a fresh start.
So far, Warren has made the most of his new surroundings. He threw for a career-high 396 yards and three touchdowns in last week’s 34-27 win over Georgia Tech, earning ACC Quarterback of the Week honors. Warren has also attempted 143 consecutive passes without an interception, the longest active streak in FBS, giving a player who has already overcome plenty another impressive chapter to his story.
Wake Forest receiver Carlos Hernandez is becoming a household name
Carlos Hernandez followed coach Jake Dickert from Washington State to Wake Forest in 2025. He had a solid first season in Winston-Salem – catching 40 passes for 611 yards and three touchdowns – but he’s been a breakout star so far this season.
Through four games, he leads the league and ranks fifth nationally in receiving yards (516 on 30 catches) – averaging 129 yards per contest. He tallied 194 receiving yards last week against Louisville, showing breakaway potential.
Stanford is allowing 294.3 passing yards per game, making its mostly man-to-man approach against Hernandez and quarterback Gio Lopez one of Saturday’s most intriguing matchups.
Familiar faces return to Winston-Salem
Stanford’s first trip to Wake Forest in 17 years will bring back a couple of familiar faces. Andrew Luck, now the Cardinal’s general manager, was Stanford’s starting quarterback when the teams met in Winston-Salem in 2009. Current Stanford coach Tavita Pritchard was his backup.
Stanford led that game 17-3 before Wake Forest rallied for a 24-17 victory. The Cardinal got revenge a year later, beating the Demon Deacons 68-24 behind four touchdown passes and a 52-yard touchdown run from Luck.
Stanford returns to North Carolina for second time in three weeks
Old-school ACC fans are growing more accustomed to having Stanford and Cal in the league. But it still doesn’t take away from the fact that cross-country travel has an impact on teams and players.
Stanford is making its second trip to North Carolina in three weeks after playing at Duke on Sept. 19. The Cardinal must prepare for a noon kickoff this time around (9 a.m. Stanford time).
Stanford’s schedule is pretty brutal this season, with trips to Notre Dame, Louisville and Virginia Tech still looming. The Cardinal lost to Duke (35-7) three weeks ago and went 0-3 on East Coast trips a year ago (Virginia, Miami, UNC). Stanford was 1-2 playing on the East Coast in 2024, beating Syracuse but falling to Clemson and NC State.
📊 Stats and Trends
Stanford Team Highlights (2026 Season)
- Points For: 21.0 points per game
- Points Against: 33.5 points per game
- Passing Offense: 272.8 yards per game
- Rushing Offense: 98.8 yards per game
- Passing Defense: 294.3 yards per game
- Rushing Defense: 149.5 yards per game
Stanford Individual Statistical Leaders
- Passing: Davis Warren – 1,071 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INT
- Rushing: Micah Ford – 257 yards, 4 TDs
- Receiving: Caden High – 256 yards, 3 TDs
- Tackles: Matt Rose – 38 tackles, 4 TFLs
- Interceptions: Three players with 1 interception each
Wake Forest Team Highlights
- Points For: 31.5 points per game
- Points Against: 28.0 points per game
- Passing Offense: 279.5 passing yards per game.
- Rushing Offense: 147.0 rushing yards per game.
- Passing Defense: 257.3 passing yards per game
- Rushing Defense: 127.0 rushing yards per game.
Wake Forest Individual Statistical Leaders
- Passing: Gio Lopez – 1,112 yards, 8 TDs, 1 INT
- Rushing: Ty Clark – 235 yards, 3 TDs
- Receiving: Carlos Hernandez – 516 yards, 3 TDs
- Tackles: Aiden Hall – 33 tackles
- Interceptions: Somad Eaddy – 1 interception
Notable
- Carlos Hernandez has already produced 14 receptions of at least 15 yards this season for Wake Forest, including six of 25 yards or longer.
- Micah Ford is the only Stanford player to score a rushing touchdown through four games. The junior running back has found the end zone four times, but everyone else has been shut out. Likewise, only three Stanford players have caught TD passes – Caden High (3), Nico Brown (1) and Atticus Joseph (1).
- Wake Forest has only generated two turnovers thus far, recovering a fumble and intercepting one pass. The Deacons’ offense has only turned the ball over twice, so the team’s turnover margin is a push after four games.
- Third-down defense has been an issue for Wake Forest. The Deacons have allowed a 46 percent conversion rate (25-of-54).
- The Demon Deacons have been penalty prone thus far. Wake has been flagged 38 times in four games for an average of 93.0 penalty yards per contest. While they overcame penalty woes at Louisville, flags and miscues hurt their comeback chances in the second half against Miami a few weeks ago.
- Wake’s Langston Hardy and Gabe Kirschke each have 5.5 tackles-for-loss, three sacks and one quarterback hurry. Kirschke came up with the field-goal block at Louisville in the final seconds that sealed the game.
- Kicker Emmet Kenney is in his sixth year with the Stanford program. He’s 34-of-43 on field goals and 65-of-66 on PATs. He hit a 52-yard game winner against Louisville in 2024 and once nailed a 58-yarder as a North Dakota high schooler.
📚 Series History
- Wake Forest leads the all-time series 2-1
- Last Meeting: Wake Forest 27, Stanford 24 (Oct. 26, 2024)
- First Meeting: Wake Forest 24, Stanford 17 (Sept. 12, 2009)
- Wake Forest earned its first-ever win in the state of California with the 2024 victory, creating four turnovers and getting 200 all-purpose yards from Demond Claiborne.
🔗 More North Carolina College Football Coverage
- Wake Forest Football Schedule
- ACC Standings
- 2026 week-by-week schedule
- North Carolina college football scores
