The official opening weekend of the college football season begins on Thursday, September 3, with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons set to host the Akron Zips in tonight's 7:00 p.m. ET kickoff on the ACC Network. Wake Forest enters as 24.5-point favorites on the spread, returning a 1.02x payout with a win in Winston-Salem, per PrizePicks Team Picks.
Wake Forest and Akron are set to face off on the gridiron for the first time in history. The Demon Deacons are looking to carry over the momentum from a 9-4 season in 2025, while the Zips are coming off a 5-7 campaign.
Below, we’ll break down our Akron vs. Wake Forest prediction and picks for Thursday’s CFB game in Week 1, including the spread for PrizePicks.
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Akron vs. Wake Forest Prediction, Spread, Over/Under for Week 1
After back-to-back losing seasons, the Demon Deacons had an impressive 9-4 campaign in the first year under head coach Jake Dickert, who arrived from a three-year stint at Washington State.
Wake Forest finished tied for seventh place in the ACC and ended up playing in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl against Mississippi State. The Demon Deacons were able to come away with a 43-29 win against the Bulldogs in their third consecutive bowl victory dating back to 2021.
The Demon Deacons were actually one of the ACC’s better offenses with 393.8 yards per game last season, which ranked sixth in the conference. QB Robby Ashford threw for 2,472 yards and 12 TDs for a team that averaged 28.1 points per contest.
In 2026, Wake Forest will be led by QB Gio Lopez, who transferred from North Carolina. Lopez looks to rebound from an inconsistent season in Chapel Hill in which he recorded a 51.9 QBR (97th in the nation).
Meanwhile, Akron has experienced eight consecutive losing seasons and hasn’t been to a bowl game since 2017. Under former Oregon offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead, the Zips put together a 5-7 finish in the 2025 season.
QB Reese Poffenbarger will be under center for Akron after throwing 60 TDs in two seasons at Albany. Poffenbarger completed 58.6% of his passes for 3,614 yards to go along with a career-high 36 TDs and 13 INTs in 2023. He sat behind QB Carson Beck at Miami in 2025 and only registered 7 pass attempts.
Akron vs. Wake Forest Spread, Over/Under for Week 1 – Thursday, September 3
Wake Forest enters Thursday’s game as 24.5-point favorites against Akron, returning a 1.02x payout if they win outright, via PrizePicks Team Picks.
Here are the full payouts for Akron vs. Wake Forest on PrizePicks Team Picks.
Make your Akron vs. Wake Forest prediction on the spread or over/under on PrizePicks Team Picks to earn real money—available in 36 states!
Team Picks data is live at the time of writing and is subject to change.
Akron vs. Wake Forest Prediction on Spread for Week 1 – 9/3/26
Here are the key stats and trends behind our Akron vs. Wake Forest prediction on the spread for Thursday, September 3.
- Wake Forest produced a 9-4 record against the spread during the 2025 season.
- Meanwhile, Akron went 6-6 against the spread in 2026, with two of its losses coming by 42+ points.
- Wake Forest QB Gio Lopez hopes to begin his season on a strong note after completing 65.1% of his passes for 1,747 yards with 10 TDs and 5 INTs with North Carolina in 2025.
- Lopez had three games in which he tossed 2+ TDs with the Tar Heels a season ago.
- The Demon Deacons allowed 393.8 yards per game (seventh in the ACC) while also tallying 156.2 rushing yards per contest (sixth) in 2025.
- On the other hand, Akron yielded the fifth-most yards per game (384.4) in the MAC and fifth-most PPG (27.4) in the conference.
- According to GameOnPaper, Wake Forest surrendered -0.07 EPA/pass last season, ranking 22nd in the nation.
Lock in your Akron vs. Wake Forest prediction on PrizePicks before Thursday's CFB game.
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Make Akron vs. Wake Forest Picks on PrizePicks
Week 1 of the 2026 college football season officially kicks off with Wake Forest hosting Akron for the first time in program history on Thursday evening. Will Gio Lopez be able to lead the Demon Deacons to a statement victory to start off the season? Or can Akron keep this matchup competitive as the clear underdog?
Don't wait until kickoff—make your Akron vs. Wake Forest pick on PrizePicks Team Picks. There is a wide variety of player stat projections on the CFB board, so you can make predictions on yards, field goals, and more! Just pick your players, predict More or Less on their stats, and cash in on your predictions if you're right.
With Team Picks, you can make predictions on game winners, spreads, and over/unders, now available in 36 states.
Keep it here with the Playbook for continued CFB picks, predictions, futures, and more as we jump into the 2026 season.
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