2023 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team explained

Year:	2023
Team:	Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Sport:	football
Conference:	Atlantic Coast Conference
Short Conf:	ACC
Record:	4–8
Conf Record:	1–7
Head Coach:	Dave Clawson
Hc Year:	10th
Off Coach:	Warren Ruggiero
Oc Year:	10th
Off Scheme:	Slow mesh^[1]
Def Coach:	Brad Lambert
Dc Year:	2nd
Def Scheme:	Multiple 4–2–5
Stadium:	Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium

The 2023 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team represented Wake Forest University as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Demon Deacons were led by Dave Clawson in his tenth year as head coach. They played their home games at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Offseason

Players drafted into the NFL

Kobie Turner	DE	Los Angeles Rams	3	89
A. T. Perry	WR	New Orleans Saints	6	195

Transfers

Outgoing

Jackson Hensley	WR	Eastern Kentucky
Christian Turner	RB	Indiana
Zavier Simpson	WR	Ball State
Brett Griffis	QB	James Madison
J.J. Roberts	CB	Marshall
Gavin Holmes	CB	Texas
Quinton Cooley	RB	Liberty
Rondell Bothroyd	DL	Oklahoma
Dez Williams	WR	Stony Brook
Sam Hartman	QB	Notre Dame
Bernard Gooden	DL	South Florida

^[2]

Incoming

Bryce Ganious	DL	Villanova
Walker Merrill	WR	Tennessee
Jacob Roberts	ILB	North Carolina A&T

Schedule

Wake Forest and the ACC announced the 2023 football schedule on January 30, 2023.^[3] ^[4] The 2023 season will be the conference's first season since 2004, that its scheduling format just includes one division. The new format sets Wake Forest with three set conference opponents, while playing the remaining ten teams twice (home and away) in a four–year cycle. The Demon Deacons three set conference opponents for the next four years is; Duke, Georgia Tech, and Virginia Tech.^[5] ^[6]

^[7]

Game summaries

Elon

Statistics	ELON	WAKE
First downs	13	22
Total yards	251	427
Rushing yards	104	98
Passing yards	149	327
Turnovers	2	1
Time of possession	31:50	28:10

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Elon	Passing	Justin Allen	18/29, 130 yards, 2 INT
Rushing	Jalen Hampton	15 carries, 89 yards, 1 TD
Receiving	Jordan Bonner	7 catches, 58 yards
Wake Forest	Passing		19/30, 329, 3 TD, 1 INT
Rushing	Demond Claiborne	13 carries, 70 yards, 1 TD
Receiving		6 catches, 108 yards, 1 TD

Vanderbilt

Statistics	VAN	WAKE
First downs	21	29
Total yards	423	484
Rushing yards	109	288
Passing yards	314	196
Turnovers	3	1
Time of possession	25:43	34:17

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Vanderbilt	Passing	AJ Swann	26/39, 314 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT
Rushing	Patrick Smith	10 carries, 77 yards
Receiving	London Humphreys	4 receptions, 109 yards, TD
Wake Forest	Passing	Mitch Griffis	17/26, 196 yards, 2 TD
Rushing	Demond Claiborne	26 carries, 165 yards
Receiving	Ke'Shawn Williams	5 receptions, 92 yards, TD

at Old Dominion

Georgia Tech

at Clemson

Statistics	WAKE	CLEM
First downs	18	19
Total yards	239	338
Rushing yards	102	207
Passing yards	137	131
Turnovers	1	2
Time of possession	28:39	31:21

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Wake Forest	Passing		15/25, 137 yards
Rushing	Demond Claiborne	19 rushes, 60 yards, 1 TD
Receiving		8 receptions, 55 yards
Clemson	Passing		18/28, 131 yards
Rushing		19 rushes, 97 yards, 1 TD
Receiving		5 receptions, 50 yards

at Virginia Tech

Statistics	WF	VT
First downs	20	21
Total yards	262	462
Rush yards	35	141
Passing yards	227	321
Turnovers	3	1
Time of possession	27:08	32:52

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Wake Forest	Passing	Michael Kern	14/22, 166 yards
Rushing		11 carries, 35 yards
Receiving	Taylor Morin	7 receptions, 86 yards
Virginia Tech	Passing		20/29, 321 yards, 2 TD
Rushing	Kyron Drones	15 carries, 59 yards
Receiving	Jaylin Lane	3 receptions, 102 yards, 2 TD

Pittsburgh

No. 4 Florida State

at Duke

NC State

WAKE –0.5	42.5

Statistics	NCSU	WAKE
First downs	19	8
Total yards	379	163
Rushing yards	268	7
Passing yards	111	156
Turnovers	1	2
Time of possession	40:16	19:44

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
NC State	Passing		12–17, 113 yards, 1 TD
Rushing	Brennan Armstrong	15 rushes, 96 yards, 1 TD
Receiving	Dacari Collins	2 receptions, 40 yards
Wake Forest	Passing	Michael Kern	14–26, 137 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing	Demond Claiborne	8 rushes, 12 yards
Receiving	Horatio Fields	3 receptions, 31 yards

at No. 19 Notre Dame

Statistics	WAKE	ND
First downs	14	25
Total yards	232	450
Rushes/yards	36–134	30–137
Passing yards	98	313
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	12–21–0	24–34–0
Time of possession	31:27	28:33

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Wake Forest	Passing	Michael Kern	11/20, 81 yards
Rushing	Ellison Justice	15 carries, 63 yards
Receiving		5 receptions, 35 yards
Notre Dame	Passing		21/29, 277 yards, 4 TD
Rushing		22 carries, 115 yards, TD
Receiving		8 receptions, 102 yards

at Syracuse

Players drafted into the NFL

Notes and References

Web site: . Markowski . Jack . Pitt Panthers Preparing For Wake Forest's RPO-Heavy Offense . October 19, 2023 . October 26, 2023.
Web site: 2023 College Football Transfer Portal . 247Sports . 2023-08-31 . 2024-11-02.
Web site: Wake Forest will play three of its first four football games this fall at home. News & Record. February 3, 2023. January 30, 2023.
Web site: Here are the 2023 football schedules for NC State, North Carolina and Duke. WRAL. Mark. Bergin. February 3, 2023. January 30, 2023.
ACC Announces Football Schedule Model for 2023–26 . Atlantic Coast Conference . June 28, 2022 . February 3, 2023.
Web site: ACC eliminates football divisions, adopts new schedule model in 2023. WRAL. Brian. Murphy. February 3, 2023. June 28, 2022.
Web site: 2023 Wake Forest Football Schedule . FBSchedules.com . December 23, 2022 .
Web site: 2024 NFL Draft Listing . 2024-11-11 . Pro-Football-Reference.com . en.

4	124	Malik Mustapha	S	San Francisco 49ers
5	174	Caelen Carson	CB	Dallas Cowboys
7	230	Michael Jurgens	C	Minnesota Vikings