Two ACC teams on the way up meet in Week 4, both trusting brand-new quarterbacks to keep the momentum going.
Bush’s Picks
WAKELOU
WAKELOU
OverUnder
Best BetLouisville
Louisville's the more proven roster right now — a 9-win season, a backfield that's already elite, and a higher national ranking in the advanced metrics than Wake Forest. The wildcard is Kienholz's inexperience, but Brohm has more established pieces around his new starter than Dickert does. Back the Cardinals to win outright.
Wake Forest
+Jake Dickert turned 4-8 into 9 wins in Year 1
+Gio Lopez brings real starting production from UNC
+Langston Hardy anchors an already good defense
−Program was 4-8 in back-to-back years before Dickert
−Preseason outlook has them around 7-5
−New QB still learning Ezell's system live
Louisville
+9-4 last season, Year 4 continuity under Brohm
+Isaac Brown averaged 8.8 yards per carry
+Ranked 27th nationally, 3rd in ACC per SP+
−Kienholz has only 36 career pass attempts
−Allowed 25 sacks last season, up from 15
−Two likely contributors already out for the year
Louisville enters Year 4 under Jeff Brohm off a 9-4 season, and the buzz around the program is real. But the guy throwing the ball is not: Lincoln Kienholz takes over after attempting just 36 passes in three years at Ohio State. He inherits a backfield that does not need much help — Isaac Brown averaged 8.8 yards a carry a season ago — but he also inherits an offensive line that allowed 25 sacks last year, up from 15 the year before. That protection question follows Louisville into every game on the schedule, including this one.
Wake Forest is running its own version of the same experiment. Jake Dickert flipped the program from back-to-back 4-8 seasons into a 9-win breakout in his first year, and now he's plugging in Gio Lopez, who transferred in from UNC after throwing for 1,747 yards and 10 touchdowns there in 2025. Lopez reunites with offensive coordinator Rob Ezell, his old play-caller at South Alabama, which should shorten the adjustment period. Edge rusher Langston Hardy — 7 sacks, 17 tackles for loss last season — gives the Demon Deacons a defensive anchor while the offense gets up to speed.
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WAKE Wake Forest
LOU Louisville
Neither roster is fully settled this early in the summer, so treat depth-chart specifics as fluid until fall camp wraps. What is clear: Louisville checks in around 27th nationally in SP+, third in the ACC behind Miami and Clemson, while one preseason outlook has Wake Forest around 7-5. That gap in projection is the backbone of how the market is likely to shape up once lines are posted.
Louisville also has some attrition to account for — Montavin Quisenberry and Kris Hughes are both considered likely out for the season, thinning a receiver room that already needs Kienholz to find rhythm fast. Wake Forest's roster is comparatively cleaner heading into camp, giving Lopez more continuity around him even as he learns a new system on the fly.
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Sep 18?vs Miami—
Sep 12?@ Purdue—
Sep 3?vs Akron—
Louisville Cardinals
Sep 19?vs SMU—
Sep 11?vs Villanova—
Sep 6?@ Ole Miss—
Recent form.
Friday, September 25 lands in Week 4, early enough that both quarterbacks will have only a handful of live snaps under their belts. That makes this as much a measuring-stick game for two new starting signal-callers as it is a result that moves the ACC standings. Louisville's run game gives it a floor Wake Forest doesn't have on offense; Wake Forest's returning defensive identity under Dickert gives it a floor Louisville has to solve.
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Louisville Cardinals
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
However it shakes out, this is a fair litmus test for both programs' bigger ambitions. Louisville wants to prove last year's breakthrough wasn't a fluke even with a new arm at the controls, and Wake Forest wants to show its 2025 turnaround under Dickert has staying power on the road against a ranked-caliber SP+ team.
