NCAA Football BETTING PREVIEW - Virginia Cavaliers @ Wake Forest Demon Deacons

NCAA Football

2026-10-31 - Virginia Cavaliers at Wake Forest Demon Deacons

A Sports Betting Preview by FirstDown

Virginia Cavaliers @ Wake Forest Demon Deacons
United States : College Football Week 9
Saturday 31st October 2026 - Scheduled 3:45pm EST
7:45pm (British Time)

---

Preview

If they had won the ACC Championship Game, the Virginia Cavaliers (4-4) may have had a serious case of earning a spot in the College Football Playoff. The defeat to the Duke Blue Devils meant finishing with a 10-3 record and that allowed the Miami Hurricanes to move past both Duke and the Cavaliers to earn the place in the College Football Playoff Bracket.

It would have been hard to make a case for Virginia after losing the Championship Game, but there will be plenty of people associated with the team who will blame the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (6-1).

The Cavaliers were Ranked in the top 15 when they faced the Demon Deacons, but the upset loss knocked them back and Virginia were not able to recover.

We have yet to see the College Football Playoff Rankings, but this year the Virginia Cavaliers are 2-3 within the Conference and unlikely to be concerned about those, although motivation for revenge will be high. That only increases when noting that the Wake Forest Demon Deacons have begun with a 4-1 record in the Conference and are only behind the Miami Hurricanes and Louisville Cardinals in the current standings.

A 9-4 record in the 2025 in Head Coach Jake Dickert's first season is impressive, although the Demon Deacons were just 4-4 in the ACC. They have already matched that number of Conference wins, but Wake Forest want more and the four game winning run will have given the players a lot of belief.

Coming out of the Bye Week should mean Wake Forest are well prepared, and they will note that this Cavaliers team are still playing hard and they are still confident enough to believe they can produce back to back winning seasons under Head Coach Tony Elliot.

Moving back above 0.500 will depend on whether the Cavaliers can find a way to slow down a Wake Forest Offensive unit that entered the Bye Week with some strong numbers on the board. Quarter Back Gio Lopez has really found his groove and is 53 yards away from already having 2000 passing yards, while Lopez has 17 Touchdown passes and a single Interception on the season.

The Demon Deacons will lean on the Offensive Line, who can help establish the run, and putting Gio Lopez in third and manageable spots will be a big win for Wake Forest. As the competition has ramped up within the Conference, the Cavaliers Secondary have allowed some big passing yards and Lopez should be able to return from the Bye Week and pick up from where he and the Demon Deacons left off.

It is no surprise that most will focus on the Offensive numbers being produced by Wake Forest, but the Defensive unit has to be given a lot of credit for the current position that this team find themselves in. The Demon Deacons have allowed just 24 points across the last three Conference games played and the success has begun at the Line of Scrimmage where they have been able to shut down the run and force opponents to become one-dimensional.

Virginia will not shy away from pounding the rock, but they have been inefficient with the team averaging 4 yards per carry in recent games and they are not expected to have a lot of success against this Defensive Line in front of them.

Beau Pribula is the Quarter Back and he is experienced, but some have suggested the Cavaliers should be thinking to make a change with the poor passing numbers being produced. The experience means Pribula has avoided big mistakes, but he is averaging 138 passing yards per game in the last three played and it is going to be tough to make plays from third and long spots like he may see in Week 9.

If the Demon Deacons can push Virginia behind the chains, they will feel the pass rush can force Beau Pribula to throw under pressure and that should lead to errant passes and potential mistakes, which gives Wake Forest the advantage.

The last two seasons has seen both teams beat the other in tight, competitive games, but the Wake Forest Demon Deacons had won five in a row in this rivalry prior to 2024. Some of those wins had been by wide margins and the 2026 Demon Deacons look capable of both sides of the ball to return from the Bye Week and produce a dominant win.

Prediction

Lay the points with the home favourite in this ACC game.

The Pick :

Wake Forest Demon Deacons 34-20 Virginia Cavaliers

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

I'll back Wake Forest Demon Deacons - 12 Points at -111 with Bookmaker.EU