Cal and Wake Forest are four-win teams in vastly different situations as they prepare for their first November game of the season.
Only one of them will have a winning record after Friday night’s game at Winston-Salem, N.C. in an Atlantic Coast Conference game marking the first meeting between the teams.
Wake Forest (4-4, 2-2 ACC) has won its past two games. Cal (4-4, 0-4) also is coming off a victory.
“This feels like a 4-4 team that is ascending,” Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson said of his team.
Preparation time was plentiful with neither team playing a game since Oct. 26, when Wake Forest won 27-24 at Stanford, while nearby at Cal the Bears defeated former Pac-12 rival Oregon State 44-7.
The Bears have lost their four ACC games by a combined nine points, including a pair of one-point setbacks.
“There are people out there that would have crumbled and not been able to bounce back,” Cal coach Justin Wilcox said. “I’m really, really proud and pleased with our guys for battling back.”
Cal and Wake Forest look evenly matched in many areas, Clawson said.
“Whatever team executes best is going to win,” he said. “This should be a very competitive game.”
Clawson said he views the Bears as a stronger team than their record indicates. He also said the Demon Deacons have had a split of good fortune and bad luck.
“You always look at the extremes of it,” Clawson said. “We could be sitting here 6-2 or we could be sitting here 1-7.”
The Demon Deacons expect to be challenged by Cal’s defense.
“I would put these guys defensively right up there with the Ole Miss-es and Clemsons of the teams we’ve faced,” Clawson said.
Cal received a career-high 364 passing yards from redshirt sophomore quarterback Fernando Mendoza in the Oregon State game. Also in that game, kicker Derek Morris tied a single-game program record with five field goals.
Wilcox said Tuesday that linebacker Cade Uluave is expected to be back from injury to play vs. Wake Forest.
Transfer quarterback Hank Bachmeier, a Californian, has continued to give the Demon Deacons boosts.
“Some of the plays he has given us with his feet have really helped,” Clawson said.
Cal’s big edge this season has come in the third quarters, when the Bears have a combined 61-8 scoring advantage. Wake Forest has a third-quarter scoring edge of 55-45.
–Field Level Media
