Wake Forest football has been good for years. That’s no longer good enough.

Wake Forest has been, by most standards, a good football program for the past five years.

Every season has ended with a bowl game, and three of those were won. The Demon Deacons have garnered some Top 25 recognition, knocked off a previous Heisman winner and rewritten most of the school’s offensive record book.

All good things.

Now it’s time to be great.

“We want more. There’s a whole ‘nother level that we want to get to,” said coach Dave Clawson, entering his eighth season at the helm.

It’s not so much that Wake Forest has stagnated as a program as it’s a program that wants to raise expectations. The mere act of going to a bowl game isn’t going to cut it anymore, even though it would double the previous program record for consecutive bowl berths.

There’s a void in the ACC’s Atlantic Division behind the Clemson juggernaut. Most other Atlantic teams have had a chance to claim that No. 2 spot — none have held it for more than a couple of seasons, if even for that long.

Wake Forest wants to be great, and reaching that No. 2 spot — the way Clemson is rolling, you’re probably going to have to be No. 2 for a sustained period before you can dethrone the Tigers — would fulfill the program’s adopted mantra for the season.

“Taking that next step in our league is difficult. But we think we have a group this year that’s capable of doing that,” Clawson said. “Whether it’s New Year’s Day bowls or being in contention to win the ACC Atlantic, obviously that’s a very high standard in the ACC, but that has to be our goal.”

Carrying the load

▪ QB Sam Hartman, redshirt sophomore. The last time Hartman was on a football field, he threw four interceptions in a 7 1/2-minute span that helped turn a back-and-forth Duke’s Mayo Bowl into a rout.

That shouldn’t overshadow how steady Hartman was for 8 1/2 games.

The Charlotte native had a streak of 258 passes without an interception — the fifth-longest stretch in ACC history. He eliminated the careless turnovers that plagued him as a true freshman starter in 2018, and that helped Wake Forest’s offense score a program-record 36 points per game.

Not too long ago, it seemed impossible for Wake Forest to go into August without a quarterback competition. Now Hartman goes into a season for the second straight year as a captain and as the leader of the offense.

▪ WR Jaquarii Roberson, redshirt junior. News that Donavon Greene, Wake Forest’s best outside threat, will miss the season puts the onus on Roberson to be the Deacons’ go-to option.

That was already going to be the case — it’s just more obvious now.

There’s a case to be made that Roberson’s season a year ago (62 catches, 926 yards and eight touchdowns) was the best of any slot receiver under Clawson, given he only played nine games. Greg Dortch (2018) and Kendall Hinton (2019) both had 1,000-yard seasons but did so in three more games.

Roberson returns as one of the most dangerous critical-downs weapons in the country — he was the highest-graded receiver on third down and fourth down, per Pro Football Focus.

▪ DE Rondell Bothroyd, redshirt sophomore. Somebody has to replace the production of Boogie Basham, a second-round NFL draft pick, on the defensive line. First in line will be the player stepping into his position.

Bothroyd started his career at Wake Forest as a defensive tackle, spent a couple of seasons rotating between the interior and end positions, and will now be a full-time defensive end.

While it would be unreasonable to think Bothroyd can totally replicate the production of Basham by himself, it’s appropriate to compare their motors and sizes (Basham was 6-5, 285 last year).

During spring ball, he looked recovered from a torn ACL suffered at the end of the 2019 season.

▪ LB Luke Masterson, redshirt senior. One of Wake Forest’s oldest players is moving to a position he has only played out of necessity — and that was three years ago.

Masterson has been the Swiss Army knife of the Demon Deacons’ defense for several seasons, able to play rover and both safety positions. But this season he’ll shift to outside linebacker — the position he started at in 2018 when injuries depleted Wake Forest’s linebacker room.

“I put on 10-15 pounds this offseason,” Masterson said. “I think playing in the box has always come naturally to me. I think I’m a better football player when I’m in the box.”

▪ DB Traveon Redd, redshirt senior. After spending his first three seasons in the program as a man without a country, or position in his case, Redd has emerged in the past two years as a playmaker at rover.

He’s not the fastest or most athletic player on the Deacons’ defense but has 94 tackles, 9.0 tackles for loss and three pass breakups in the past two seasons (21 games).

With youth and depth being themes for Wake Forest’s secondary, especially at safety, Redd’s experience and durability should pay dividends.

Areas of concern

▪ Defensive depth. This has been an area of concern since the 2016 season ended and will continue to be one until proven otherwise.

Wake Forest has been hammered by injuries in recent seasons and while the offense has handled some blows, the defense struggles most. The Demon Deacons’ defense entered last season with a hobbled secondary — injuries and COVID-related — and became healthier in the middle of the season before falling off at the end.

Wake Forest has better defensive depth than a year ago. Defensive positions break down in twos (two defensive tackles, two ends, etc.) and Clawson likes to have a pair and a spare, though having a few spares would go a long way in October and November.

▪ How much offensive depth is there? As mentioned, the Deacons have proved able to handle some offensive injuries in past seasons — with the glaring exception of the receiving corps in 2019.

They’ll have to manage season-ending injuries to Greene and starting right tackle Je’Vionte’ Nash, both ruled out before fall camp even starts.

Elsewhere on the offense, though, there’s plenty of depth. It becomes a question of how much of it will be used? Roberson is a star but can Ke’Shawn Williams spell him? Christian Beal-Smith is the ACC’s returning leader in rushing yards per game (81.3), but how much can Michigan transfer Christian Turner and last year’s freshman crop contribute?

And in Greene’s absence, who can step up at wide receiver to win 50-50 matchups on downfield passes?

▪ Late-season fade. Partially a product of the schedule becoming more difficult and partially because of the previous two points, Wake Forest has struggled with finishing seasons.

The Demon Deacons are a combined 10-14 in November and December in the past five seasons — and that includes a 3-2 mark in bowl games. The closing stretches in 2016 (1-3), 2019 (1-4) and 2020 (0-3) derailed dreams of historic seasons.

This season’s November schedule isn’t easy: Three of four games are on the road, including trips to North Carolina (non-conference) and Clemson, and a home game against N.C. State.

Can’t-miss game

▪ Louisville, Oct. 2

Wake Forest will likely be favored to win its first three games — all at home, against Old Dominion, Norfolk State and Florida State — and then heads to Virginia for a Friday night game to close September.

That leads to a home matchup against Louisville and the Demon Deacons likely sitting at 3-1 or 4-0.

The Cardinals and Demon Deacons have become something of interesting rivals in the ACC Atlantic, even moving past the Wakeyleaks scandal of 2016. Wake Forest’s win against Lamar Jackson in 2017 was a big step for the program, and the following year was a blowout at Louisville.

Since then, the Cardinals won a 62-59 barn burner in 2019 — Wake Forest’s first loss that year — and beat the Demon Deacons handily (45-21) last year in the regular-season finale.

For Wake Forest to even set the stage for a big November, it needs to reverse the momentum of this series.

A successful season is ...

When you target a “great” season, the notion might be championship or bust.

That’s not really the case for Wake Forest.

Clemson is the class of the ACC and has beaten the Demon Deacons by a combined 152-19 in the past three seasons. The likelihood of Wake Forest knocking off Clemson is slim; it’s a slimmer possibility of winning that game plus winning the Atlantic.

But a great season is possible for Wake Forest without beating Clemson. The Big 4 rivalries are important to Wake Forest and beating each in-state foe two years ago was celebrated with “state championship” rings. All three rivals are on the schedule, all in a three-week stretch.

A great season at Wake Forest could be nine or 10 wins — the program’s only double-digit-win season was in 2006, when it won the ACC and won 11 games. Other than that, Wake Forest has only won nine games once.

Wake Forest is raising the bar and it seems reachable.

Wake Forest football projected starters

Wake Forest 2021 football schedule

This story was originally published August 30, 2021 at 9:30 AM with the headline "Wake Forest football has been good for years. That’s no longer good enough.."