Resolved: Wake Forest is having a marvelous season. I'll argue the affirmative. Eloise Brightman-Rowe here, the Wake Forest Fanatic, Wake grad, debate-team darling and a woman who keeps a roll of celebratory toilet paper in her handbag at all times, just in case. I follow the Demon Deacons to every game from the stands, and I roast bad tackling the way I used to roast weak rebuttals: politely, thoroughly and with footnotes.
This week's opening statement is short. Roll the Quad!
Part 1: Last Week, an Opening Argument That Ended the Debate
Wake Forest beat Cal 41-7 on Saturday night in Berkeley. We're 6-1 and 4-1 in the ACC. We came in ranked No. 21 in the AP poll, our first AP ranking in four years, and we've now climbed to No. 17.
Here's my evidence, and it's overwhelming. On our first possession, Gio Lopez led a five-play, 99-yard drive and finished it with a 39-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dominick Barry. Ninety-nine yards in five plays. Judges, I rest my case. But I'll keep going anyway.
On Cal's second possession, our defense stopped them on fourth-and-1 at their own 34. One play later, Lopez hit Jack Foley for a 29-yard touchdown. Then Jamar Searcy capped a 78-yard drive with a 1-yard run. Ty Clark III ran 31 yards for another touchdown. And with nine seconds left in the half, Lopez found Barry again from 30 yards out. Wake Forest led 34-0 at halftime.
Per the AP, we scored touchdowns on five of our six first-half possessions, averaged 12.3 yards per play and outgained Cal 394-142 before halftime. Barry added a 2-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter to make it 41-0, and Cal scored in the fourth to avoid the shutout.
Lopez completed 16 of 23 passes for 267 yards and four touchdowns, with no interceptions. Per the AP, he now has 23 touchdowns this season, passing and running. Barry caught four passes for 102 yards and three touchdowns. Kam Shanks caught five for 79. Searcy ran for 61 yards on five carries. Linebacker Myles Turpin made 10 tackles, with 1.5 for loss. And per the AP, it was our fourth road win over a power conference team this season. Counterargument? There is none.
Points of Information Against Myself
A good debater concedes what's true. We committed 11 penalties for 110 yards in Berkeley. That's a lot of flags, Deacs, and against a stronger opponent, it'll cost us. Our only loss came 33-20 at home to Miami, the team that's now No. 1. And yes, I watched one or two tackles in the fourth quarter that I'd grade as "needs a stronger thesis." We'll fix it.
Part 2: The Bye, Then Virginia
Wake Forest doesn't play this Saturday, Oct. 24. It's our open date, and I'll call it what it is: a well-earned recess. Rest, recover and review the tape. Even champion debaters need a weekend off between tournaments.
Then, on Saturday, Oct. 31, Virginia visits Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium. Kickoff time and TV are still to be announced.
The Opposition's Case
Let me fairly state Virginia's case. Virginia is 4-3. It opened the season with a 34-8 win over NC State, a team we beat 38-14, and it beat Syracuse 28-25. Virginia went 11-3 last season. That's a strong résumé, and I respect it.
And now, my rebuttal. Virginia lost 38-7 at Florida State, 38-27 to West Virginia and 23-13 at SMU last week. Two of its four wins came against FCS teams, Norfolk State and Delaware. And last season, Wake Forest beat Virginia 16-9 in Charlottesville, during the same 11-3 season Virginia likes to bring up. Points of information, judges.
Virginia also hosts Duke on Friday, while we rest. So we'll have two weeks to prepare, and Virginia will be coming off a game on a short week.
Cross-Examination: The Numbers
Let's enter some statistics into evidence, courtesy of the AP's preview of Virginia's game against Duke. Virginia quarterback Beau Pribula has thrown 13 touchdown passes and just one interception, and Virginia is plus-5 in turnover margin, 15th in FBS. Its pass defense ranks 25th. Those are strong exhibits, and I won't pretend otherwise.
But the cross-examination continues. Virginia converts only 33.0% of its third downs, 120th in FBS. It scores on 74.1% of its red zone trips, 124th. And its run defense allows 152.7 yards a game, 88th. Judges, a team that can't finish drives and can't stop the run is a team with a hole in its argument. And Wake Forest has Searcy and Clark, who combined for two rushing touchdowns and 114 yards in Berkeley on just 13 carries. I'd like the record to reflect that.
We went 9-4 last season, and this team looks even sharper. Six wins in seven games, four of them on the road against power conference teams, per the AP. That's not a fluke. That's a well-researched case.
Our Debate Prep
1. Keep Lopez upright. He has four touchdown passes in a game and 23 touchdowns this season. Protect the asset, and the case makes itself. 2. Clean up the flags. Eleven penalties are 10 too many for a debate champion. Discipline wins tournaments. 3. Tackle with conviction. Every missed tackle is a weak rebuttal. Wrap up, finish and win the round.
Winston-Salem vs. Charlottesville: A Formal Debate
Winston-Salem. I'll argue for my hometown. Winston-Salem was created in 1913 when two neighboring towns, Salem, a Moravian settlement established in 1766, and Winston, established in 1849, merged into one. We're a city with two names and one heart. We had an estimated 249,545 residents at the 2020 census, making us the fifth-most populous city in North Carolina. We grew into a major center of tobacco, textile manufacturing and banking, with companies including R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, Hanes and Wachovia.
Wake Forest was founded by Baptist Christians in 1834 and moved to Winston-Salem in 1956. And our nickname? In 1923, after a big win over Trinity College, the school that became Duke, a reporter wrote that the Deacons "fought like Demons." That's how we became the Demon Deacons. Our stadium, which opened in 1968, holds 31,500 people, the smallest permanent capacity in the Power Four. I call that intimate. Every seat is a front-row seat to excellence.
Charlottesville. Charlottesville is a lovely city, named after Queen Charlotte, with 46,553 residents at the 2020 census. Winston-Salem has more than five Charlottesvilles. And at Virginia, they don't call it a campus. They call it "the Grounds." Judges, I'd argue "the Grounds" sounds less like a university and more like what's left at the bottom of your coffee cup. We roll the Quad. They tend the Grounds.
Closing Statement
Here's my summation. Wake Forest has a quarterback with 23 touchdowns, a tight end who just caught three touchdown passes, a defense that held Cal scoreless for three quarters and a No. 17 ranking. Virginia has a solid résumé but three losses, including two on the road. We get two weeks to prepare, and Virginia doesn't. If we clean up the penalties and tackle with conviction, the judges will find for the affirmative on Oct. 31. Until then, the Deacons get to rest, study film and enjoy a quiet Saturday. I'll be drafting my opening argument, polishing my old gold and black, and reminding anyone who will listen that two weeks of preparation is a gift, and gifts are meant to be used wisely.
Resolved: Roll the Quad!