Wake Forest makes a cross-country trip to visit Stanford in ACC play on Saturday

Oct 24, 2024, 03:26 pm

Wake Forest (3-4, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) at Stanford (2-5, 1-3), Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (ACC Network)

College Football Odds: Wake Forest by 2 1/2.

Series record: Tied 1-1.

What’s at stake?

Wake Forest makes its first cross-country trip of the newly expanded ACC with its visit to Stanford. It's a matchup of teams trying to keep themselves in contention for a bowl bid as they push into late October. The Cardinal have lost four straight games by an average of 30.5 points per game.

Key matchup

Wake Forest QB Hank Bachmeier vs. Stanford WR Tiger Bachmeier. While the two brothers won't line up against each other, the game does offer the rare opportunity of a sibling competition. Hank has thrown for 1,713 yards and nine TD passes in his first season since transferring from Louisiana Tech. Tiger has five catches this season and a punt return TD.

Players to watch

Wake Forest: RB Demond Claiborne. Claiborne is seventh in the ACC in rushing (83.4 yards per game) to go with eight scores on the ground, which is tied for second in the league behind Virginia Tech's Bhayshul Tuten (12). He has two 130-yard rushing outputs this year.

Stanford: QB Elijah Brown. The freshman got his most extensive action of the season when he replaced Ashton Daniels at the end of the first quarter last week. He went 16 for 32 passes for 153 yards, one TD and two INTs and could earn the start this week.

Facts & figures

The Demon Deacons won the first meeting 24-17 at home in 2009. The Cardinal won the return game at home 68-24 in 2010, a performance highlighted by future No. 1 overall NFL draft pick Andrew Luck throwing for four scores and running for another for Stanford. ... The Demon Deacons have won both of their road games this season. ... This is the first of two straight games against California-based ACC teams for the Demon Deacons, who follow an open week by hosting California on Nov. 8. ... The Cardinal have lost 10 straight home games against FBS opponents and 16 of 17. ... Stanford had a season-high three takeaways last week against SMU, along with three sacks. The last time the Cardinal had at least three takeaways and three sacks in the same game came in the 2019 opener against Northwestern.

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