The NC State football schedule <a href="https://www.on3.com/teams/nc-state-wolfpack/news/nc-state-football-schedule-2022/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">begins Sept. 3 with a road date at East Carolina</a>. That’s the start of four straight non-conference games to start the year. Then it’s all ACC action from that point forward.



One game that has been circled on the NC State slate is its Nov. 5 home showdown against Wake Forest, champions of the Atlantic Division in 2021.



With <a href="https://www.on3.com/teams/nc-state-wolfpack/news/nc-state-football-preseason-2022-projections/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">much anticipation for the upcoming Wolfpack season</a>, here’s an early look at <a href="https://www.on3.com/college/wake-forest-demon-deacons/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Wake Forest</a>.



<h2 id="h-wake-forest-in-2021">Wake Forest in 2021</h2>



An awful lot went right for Wake Forest last fall.



The Demon Deacons had a nice early season warm-up, playing two teams that did not participate in 2020 due to COVID-19, and then lopsided wins over reeling <a href="https://www.on3.com/college/florida-state-seminoles/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Florida State</a> and slumping <a href="https://www.on3.com/college/virginia-cavaliers/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Virginia</a> to begin 4-0.



A pair of close wins over <a href="https://www.on3.com/college/louisville-cardinals/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Louisville</a> and <a href="https://www.on3.com/college/syracuse-orange/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Syracuse</a>, the latter in overtime on the road, was followed by a shootout win at Army West Point and easy home win over ACC bottom-feeder Duke. 



With an 8-0 record, the Demon Deacons blew a fourth quarter lead at <a href="https://www.on3.com/college/north-carolina-tar-heels/">UNC</a> to suffer its first loss of the year, but even that did not hurt much since the game was technically a non-conference matchup. Late season wins over NC State and at <a href="https://www.on3.com/college/boston-college-eagles/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Boston College</a> negated a loss at <a href="https://www.on3.com/teams/clemson-tigers/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Clemson</a> to clinch the Deacons’ second-ever trip to the ACC Championship Game. 



Once there, Wake Forest was blown out by <a href="https://www.on3.com/college/pittsburgh-panthers/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pittsburgh</a>, 45-21. The Deacons had little trouble against <a href="https://www.on3.com/college/rutgers-scarlet-knights/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Rutgers</a>, a fill-in opponent for the Gator Bowl, to give the Deacons an 11-3 overall record to conclude the year.



Head coach Dave Clawson enjoyed good continuity in 2021. Eighteen of the 22 starters lined up for at least 10 games, with nine of them in all 14.



<h2 id="h-spring-outlook">Spring Outlook</h2>



Wake Forest is a good bet to be a preseason top-25 team, and the reasoning behind that begins with the return of All-ACC quarterback <a href="https://www.on3.com/db/sam-hartman-104329/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sam Hartman</a>, who may be the early odds-on favorite to be preseason first-team all-conference this fall.



The Deacons also could return four starters on the offensive line, one of its two primary running backs (<a href="https://www.on3.com/db/christian-turner-23210/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Christian Turner</a>) and its star receiver <a href="https://www.on3.com/db/atorian-perry-8004/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">A.T. Perry</a>. Thus an offense that ranked 11th nationally in total yards per game and fourth in scoring should once again be a challenging assignment for opposing defenses.



The bigger question for the Deacons is the defense. Wake Forest was 91st nationally in yards per game allowed and 88th in points allowed. WFU will be losing five starters, including three of its top five tacklers, from that unit that struggled at times to stop opponents.



Defensive coordinator Lyle Hemphill left in the offseason to join new Duke head coach Mike Elko’s staff. In his place, Clawson hired Brad Lambert, an accomplished defensive coach. Lambert was the head coach at Charlotte when it started its program, and then had successful stints as the defensive coordinator at Marshall and Purdue before returning to Wake Forest, where he coached from 2001-10.



——



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