Akron ZipsvsWake Forest Demon Deacons
AKR 16/WAKE 38
Things to say
Wake Forest beat Akron 38-16 at home to open the season 1-0.
01
opener
Wake handled Akron 38-16 and it was never close. They hung 28 on them before Akron even got on the board. Home opener, exactly what you want.
02
key player
Gio Lopez was surgical. 21 of 32, 350 yards and three touchdowns. Dude was picking them apart.
03
hot take
Akron's defense couldn't cover anybody. Two 70-plus yard touchdown passes? That's not a scheme problem, that's a talent problem.
04
deep cut
Both Akron scores came in the fourth with the game already gone, and they still shanked the extra point. Pure garbage time.
05
exit
Real test is when Wake hits ACC play. Beating a MAC team tells you nothing.
The recap
Wake Forest opened the season by hanging 28 on Akron before the Zips ever found the end zone, and the game was over by halftime. Gio Lopez was the story, carving up the defense for 350 yards and three scores, including a 72-yard bomb to Antonio Meeks and a 78-yarder to Carlos Hernandez that basically iced it in the first half.
Akron couldn't move the ball when it counted—Cibastian Broughton dinked and dunked his way to 111 yards but never threatened, and the two late touchdowns from backup Brayden Roggow were pure garbage time. Demon Deacons roll 38-16 and never sweat it.