Somewhere between the Purdue trip and the back half of the ACC schedule, Wake Forest carved out a Saturday to host an FCS Independent from North Andover, Massachusetts. This is the buy game.
Bush’s Picks
MRMKWAKE
MRMKWAKE
OverUnder
Best BetWake Forest
Wake Forest is the clear class-gap favorite here, and moneyline value on the home side isn't really the question — it's whether the Demon Deacons are worth laying at whatever the number ends up being. An FCS Independent traveling to face an ACC roster with a returning defensive core and a new starting quarterback is about as lopsided as a moneyline gets on paper.
Merrimack
+Nothing to lose, can play loose against bigger roster
+Chance to put FBS-caliber tape in front of recruits
+Payday game gives program financial flexibility
−FCS Independent lacks scholarship depth of an ACC roster
−2025 season included a rough middle stretch of losses
−Physical and size mismatch up front vs. Power 4 line
Wake Forest
+Dickert enters year 2 off a 9-win debut season
+Added Gio Lopez at quarterback this offseason
+Defense returns as the strength of the roster
−New starting QB still building chemistry in-season
−Letdown/trap-game risk sandwiched in an ACC slate
−Late-season attrition possible by a Nov. 7 date
This is Jake Dickert's second season in Winston-Salem, and the early buzz isn't nothing — he walked into the job and got 9 wins out of a Demon Deacons roster that wasn't supposed to be that good. The headline addition this offseason is quarterback Gio Lopez, who's bounced from South Alabama to a stop at North Carolina before landing at Wake Forest. He's not a turnover machine, and if he's settled in by Saturday, November 7, this is exactly the kind of game a new starter is supposed to feast on.
Merrimack, meanwhile, is playing out its third year as an FCS Independent, having ditched the Northeast Conference in search of a fuller, more flexible schedule. That flexibility is how you end up on a plane to face an ACC program in November. The Warriors get a paycheck and a highlight tape opportunity; Wake Forest gets a tune-up. Neither side is pretending this is anything else.
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MRMK Merrimack
WAKE Wake Forest
The scholarship math here is brutal for Merrimack before a snap is played — FCS rosters simply don't have the depth or size to match an ACC program snap-for-snap, and buy games like this one tend to expose that gap fast, regardless of what the number says on a board somewhere.
Merrimack Warriors
Sep 3?@ Delaware—
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Oct 30?vs Virginia—
Oct 16?@ California—
Oct 9?@ NC State—
Oct 2?vs Stanford—
Sep 25?@ Louisville—
Sep 18?vs Miami—
Sep 12?@ Purdue—
Sep 3?vs Akron—
Recent form.
Where this gets interesting for Wake Forest is less about the outcome and more about who's on the field getting reps. A defense that's supposed to be the strength of this roster gets a low-stakes Saturday to work out any kinks from the ACC gauntlet, and skill players around Lopez get another week to build chemistry without needing to play a whole game's worth of snaps. For Merrimack, it's about survival and tape — walking away with something on film that helps the program's case the next time it's negotiating a money game like this one.
Merrimack Warriors
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
By the time these two kick off, Wake Forest will be deep into its ACC slate and Merrimack will be well into its own grind as an Independent. The gap between the two programs is the whole story here — this is circled on Winston-Salem's calendar as a chance to rest starters and stay sharp, not as a game anyone worries about losing.
