Wake Forest Dominates Cal in a Late-Night Showdown

For the third straight week, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons absolutely routed their opponent and now find themselves on a four-game win streak. Gio Lopez threw four touchdown passes, and Ty Clark III and Jamar Searcy both had touchdowns on the ground in a stellar offensive performance.

Cal was forced to punt on their opening possession, and Wake struck quickly. In five plays, the Deacs went 99 yards, and Gio Lopez connected with freshman Dominick Barry for a 39-yard touchdown (more to come from him). The Wake defense kept stepping up, and Lopez was surgical with the football. At the half, the score was 34-0, and Cal was already waving the white flag. Let's go through the highlights.

Fantastic Freshman

As mentioned earlier, freshman tight end Dominick Barry started off the scoring for Wake Forest with a 39-yard touchdown catch. He did not stop there, though; Barry scored three receiving touchdowns, the first three of his college career. He finished with a monstrous four receptions for 102 yards and three touchdowns. The second one was a 30-yard touchdown reception, and the third was a two-yard reception out of the half.

With star Carlos Hernandez banged up, people were asking who would step up and take on that production in the receiving game. Lots of players made contributions, but Dom Barry had the breakout game and now presents himself as another legitimate weapon in this offense.

Heisman Hopeful?

Every game this season, we have seen Gio Lopez's brilliance with the football and thought there was no way he could continue to level up, and yet, every week, the star QB continues to raise his game and garner praise.

In this one, Lopez was an efficient 16/23 for 267 yards, an average of 11.6 yards per pass attempt. He had a QBR of 96.9, according to ESPN. Lopez also threw for four touchdowns this week, as he continually makes plays to put the ball in the end zone. He also ran for 51 yards, showing his ability to extend plays and convert on third and fourth downs with his legs.

The only hesitation from some throughout Gio's stellar season was his reliance on number-one receiver Carlos Hernandez, who has been one of the best receivers in the country. Hernandez was Wake's number-one receiver by a considerable margin heading into this one, and he still is. However, Gio showed that his playmaking extends beyond just Hernandez, as essentially without him against Cal, Gio still put up video-game numbers and created plays for a variety of different receiving targets.

We already talked about Barry shining, but Gio spread the ball around, finding guys like Shanks, Foley, and Meeks for big gains. Now there is absolutely no excuse to ignore Gio's dominant play this season, as he has established himself as a top-three QB in the ACC and a top-tier guy nationally. Will the Heisman conversation happen? I do not know, but if Gio continues to put up performances like this, it will be hard for voters to ignore.