Wake Forest has its highest AP Top 25 ranking, the best start in program history and is in the race to reach the College Football Playoff.
Getting there requires the 10th-ranked Demon Deacons to keep winning through a demanding November – starting with Saturday’s unusual matchup against fellow instate Atlantic Coast Conference team North Carolina that won’t count in the league standings.
It marks the second nonconference game between the Demon Deacons (8-0) and Tar Heels (4-4) in three seasons. It originated from a 2015 agreement to play a home-and-home series outside of ACC play because they don’t meet as often amid the expanded league’s scheduling rotation.
This game won’t affect Wake Forest’s push for its first ACC title since 2006, but can impact just about everything else in a special season.
“Definitely the temptation’s there,” tight end Brandon Chapman said of getting caught up in the historic start. “We keep reminding each other, put on the blinders. … It’s all about what we believe in and what we think we can do.”
The Tar Heels started the year at No. 10, but enter November trying to become bowl eligible. They’re coming off a loss to No. 8 Notre Dame.
“When you’re playing the No. 10 team in the country, very seldom does the No. 10 team come to your place,” UNC coach Mack Brown said. “So what a great opportunity for us.”
Kickoff on Saturday is at noon. The game will be shown on ABC.
THE SERIES
The series began in 1888, and the teams had met every year from 1944 to 2004 before the league’s expansion beyond nine teams made those get-togethers less frequent. The nonconference series came because the teams weren’t scheduled to meet in league play for six seasons (2016-21).
Wake Forest won the first nonconference game at home in 2019 in a game that ended with an officiating mistake, then the teams got an extra ACC matchup last year when the league shuffled its scheduling model due to the COVID-19 pandemic. UNC won that one 59-53, rallying from 21 down in the third quarter behind Howell setting program records with 550 yards passing and six TDs along with a rushing score.