It\u2019s no secret that Wake Forest had challenges at the quarterback position last season. There is the old saying that if you have two quarterbacks, it means you don\u2019t have one. That was part of last year\u2019s storyline, the lack of\u00a0 Wake Forest quarterback stability. Now Wake comes out of Spring camp with one definitive quarterback and a different outlook on the position for 2026.<\/p>\n
Jake Dickert walked into the head coaching job at Wake Forest in mid-December of 2024, quickly needing some quarterback help. For better or worse, there was no one returning from the 4-8 season that had just wrapped up a couple of weeks before his arrival.<\/p>\n
The Deacs wound up with Robby Ashford, a transfer most recently from South Carolina, who was on his fourth school in five years. And they got sophomore transfer Deshawn Purdie, a transfer from UNC Charlotte. From the start of Spring camp last season, the question from observers was a weekly one: Who is the quarterback? Some days it was Purdie. Other days, it was Ashford who looked like he could run the offense on a consistent basis.<\/p>\n
Both could run, either impromptu or by design, a critical part of the position for any Jake Dickert offense. Purdie actually threw better on the run than he did from the pocket. Even with his 6\u2019-5\u2019\u201d frame, his three-quarter arm delivery didn\u2019t work well in the pocket. But on a sprint out, he could find a way. For Ashford, it was about decision-making under pressure.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not to say they did not have their individual high spots. Ashford threw for 303 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception in the win over Mississippi State in the Duke\u2019s Mayo Bowl and went home with the game\u2019s MVP award.<\/p>\n
With the two of them combined, the position had the stats of a nearly viable quarterback. There were 3,090 passing yards with a pedestrian 57% completion rate. Just as importantly, there were 11 interceptions against 18 touchdowns.<\/p>\n
The defense carried much of the season to the 9-4 record and a level of success few saw coming during camp.<\/p>\n
Fast forward to the preparations for the 2026 season. Ashford is looking for a place to play pro football, with his college eligibility having expired. Purdie transferred to Liberty University. And the starting quarterback position is now firmly in the hands of one person. Gio Lopez<\/a> transferred from UNC, looking for a new lease<\/a> on his football life.<\/p>\n Lopez left South Alabama in time to get to Chapel Hill for the 2025 season. He missed Spring camp with an injury and so wasn\u2019t really working with the team until Summer. And under the guidance of former NFL Super Coach Bill Belichick, the Tar Heels promised to be the NFL\u2019s 33rd<\/sup> team. The future Hall of Fame coach had committed that everything about the program was going to be pro football-adjacent. It didn\u2019t quite work that way for Lopez, or the Tar Heels as a whole.<\/p>\n The Tar Heels went 4-8 overall and 2-6 in conference play. Lopez had a decent enough completion percentage at 65%, but the gross numbers were not there. He threw for 1,747 yards, 10 touchdowns, and five interceptions.<\/p>\n With two years of college eligibility left, Lopez was in real need of a change of scenery and football.<\/p>\n \u201cThe culture, the way they run the team. Not just the offense, but the team. It\u2019s a real good culture here,\u201d Lopez said during Spring camp when asked what compelled him to choose Wake Forest. \u201cWe\u2019re in a day where college football feels like a business. But I feel like here it\u2019s just back to playing football and being a family.\u201d<\/p>\n He said it was common for him to feel like his play was the reason for UNC\u2019s poor record in 2025. He said it taught him how to grow as a leader and a football player on the field and off. He is not unappreciative of his time in Chapel Hill, always quick to thank Belichick and the staff for their time teaching him. But from his first time with the media at Wake Forest, back in late March, you could sense the ease with which he is now negotiating his role.<\/p>\n Dickert, during camp, compared Lopez favorably to other quarterbacks he has worked with in the past. \u201cGio really knows who he is, as a person, as a man. He really knows what he wants,\u201d Dickert said. The coach also noted that, as the presumed QB1, Lopez walked in and started working with his teammates right away, in a way usually associated with leadership qualities.<\/p>\n Lopez said the Spring was easier because he got to have one as compared to last season. \u201cWhen you miss a throw [in Spring camp], you\u2019re like \u2018Okay, we can get that again.\u2019 But when you\u2019re in Fall camp, and it\u2019s your first time throwing with the guys, and you miss a throw, you know you only have three weeks to not miss that throw again.\u201d<\/p>\nThis Is Now<\/h3>\n