Progrums

Miami’s Third ACC Test: Taming the Demon Deacons in 2026

After a tune-up win over FAMU, the Miami Hurricanes hit the road for their first true ACC challenge: a visit to Wake Forest in Winston-Salem. With both teams coming off promising 2025 campaigns—Miami as national championship runners-up and Wake Forest posting a 9-4 record—the stakes are high. New head coach Jake Dickert, fresh from Washington State, aims to bolster his résumé with a signature “prove yourself” victory over the Canes. Offensively, Wake must replace QB Robby Ashford with Gio Lopez and fill the running back void left by Demond Claiborne’s graduation, leaning on Ty Clark and Florida transfer KD Daniels. Defensively, redshirt senior Langston Hardy leads a unit returning 15 of its top 22 tacklers, anchored by linebacker Aiden Hall and a secondary ready to stifle Miami’s high-powered attack. The game marks Miami’s first litmus test after tune-up matches, promising a physical showdown under the lights at ESPN on September 18.

Cheer up, Miami fans! Your team’s only “warm-up” so far has been a delicate stroll past Stanford and FAMU—yawn. Now it’s time to face the Demon Deacons, who apparently consider mayo showers a victory ritual. Nothing says “gridiron supremacy” like being doused in sandwich spread, right? Expect Coach Cristobal’s locker room speech to include mandatory taste tests of that famous Wake Forest condiment. On the plus side, our quarterback might survive long enough to actually play this time. Fingers crossed the sun-scorched turf of Winston-Salem doesn’t melt the Hurricanes’ swagger before kickoff. If nothing else, at least we’ll know who can dodge mayo and who can’t.