Gio Lopez leads No. 11 Wake Forest to 49-7 rout of No. 25 SMU for 7th straight win

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Dixon, S. (2026, November 14). Gio Lopez leads No. 11 Wake Forest to 49-7 rout of No. 25 SMU for 7th straight win. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/sports/football/gio-lopez-leads-no-11-wake-forest-to-49-7-rout-of-no-25-smu-for-7th-straight-win/article_da872052-6f72-51c8-8c6a-2283636f6f67.html

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Quick Summary

Gio Lopez contributed significantly to No. 11 Wake Forest's 49-7 victory over No. 25 SMU on Saturday, scoring two touchdowns and throwing for another. The win extended Wake Forest’s winning streak to seven games and boosted their chances for a playoff spot. SMU, previously undefeated at home in conference play, suffered a decisive loss, ending their 12-game home winning streak. Wake Forest dominated with a 535-275 yardage advantage, and the victory marked a stark contrast to last year’s 13-12 win over SMU.

Written by AI on 2026-11-14, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Gio Lopez led No. 11 Wake Forest to a 49-7 victory over No. 25 SMU on Saturday, extending Wake Forest's winning streak to seven games and strengthening their case for a playoff spot. The Demon Deacons dominated, leading 42-0 at halftime. This win marks the first Atlantic Coast Conference loss for SMU at home in their third ACC season, despite entering the game with a perfect 12-0 home record in conference games. SMU's playoff hopes were dimmed as they fell to 7-3 overall and 5-3 in the ACC. Lopez scored two touchdowns by running and threw for another score. The Mustangs' Kevin Jennings, who was 16-2 at home, struggled, throwing for only 40 yards in the first half.

Written for “Gio Lopez Leads Wake Forest Victory” on 2026-11-15, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

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This article does not take a side on a contested political question, so it has no leaning score. That is an answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political position.

No political leaning scored for article 154015 · logged 2026-11-14

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This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

Pat McAfee and Kirk Herbstreit apologize for picking SMU over Wake Forest on College GameDay Different event

Fox News

Hedges 0 of 14 claims Outlet record 67/100

“While both articles discuss the same football game between Wake Forest and SMU, Article A focuses on the game's outcome and performance, while Article B discusses the pre-game predictions and the hosts' apologies for picking SMU.”

Story

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0 of 17 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

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takes no side on a contested political question

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64/100

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Toronto Star · 14524 article(s) · 29 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 29 correction(s)

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Who wrote this

Schuyler Dixon

23 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction

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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 23 articles by Schuyler Dixon →

Topics

ACC Mustangs SMU The Demon Deacons Wake Forest

Subjects

SMU ORG · 6× Wake Forest ORG · 6× Mustangs ORG · 4× ACC ORG · 3× The Demon Deacons ORG · 3× Atlantic Coast Conference ORG · 1× College Football Playoff ORG · 1× DALLAS GPE · 1× Gio Lopez PERSON · 1× Ty Clark’s PERSON · 1×

Narrative

DALLAS (AP) — Gio Lopez ran for two touchdowns and threw for a score, and No. 11 Wake Forest extended its winning streak to seven games while strengthening a case for a playoff spot with a 49-7 blowout of No. 25 SMU on Saturday.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-14

2026-11-14 · Toronto Star

Gio Lopez leads No. 11 Wake Forest to 49-7 rout of No. 25 SMU for 7th straight win · assertive framing

Claims (17 extracted, 0 hedged)

Forest → run → Saturday

The Demon Deacons (9-1, 6-1 ACC) led 42-0 at halftime while handing the Mustangs (7-3, 5-3) their first Atlantic Coast Conference loss at home in the Ford Stadium finale of their third ACC season. asserted

Deacons → lead → season

SMU entered 12-0 at home in league games. asserted

SMU → enter → games

Wake Forest, which was 13th in this week’s rankings for the 12-team College Football Playoff, opened the scoring with Ty Clark’s 27-yard touchdown on third-and-18, the first of four first-half TDs on third down. asserted

which → open → down

Another 1-yard score was set up by Jamar Searcy’s 38-yard run on fourth-and-1. asserted

score → set → fourth

Kevin Jennings threw for 209 yards with a touchdown and an interception while falling to 16-2 at home in his final Ford Stadium start. asserted

Jennings → throw → start

He had just 40 yards passing late in the first half when the deficit was 42-0. asserted

deficit → have → half

Flickering CFP hopes were all but snuffed out for the Mustangs, who began the year hoping for a second playoff trip in three ACC seasons with Jennings while making a Heisman Trophy push for their hometown quarterback. asserted

who → snuff → quarterback

Carlos Hernandez had 94 yards receiving with a 44-yard touchdown for Wake Forest, the only team in FBC with five road victories over power conference teams this season. asserted

Hernandez → have → teams

The dominant performance came two days after the school announced a contract extension for coach Jake Dickert. asserted

school → come → Dickert

The Demon Deacons outgained SMU 535-275 in a matchup of two of the top offenses in the country. asserted

Deacons → outgaine → country

Clark had 77 of the 286 yards rushing, and Lopez threw for 201 yards before Steele Pizzella took over mop-up duty late in the third quarter. asserted

Pizzella → have → quarter

The shocking rout came a year after Wake Forest beat the Mustangs 13-12 at home to end SMU’s 20-game winning streak in conference regular-season games. asserted

Forest → come → games

The Demon Deacons scored 119 points in six quarters, going back to last week’s 77-0 rout of Merrimack of FCS. asserted

Deacons → score → FCS

They became the first team since Alabama in 2013 to score at least 20 points while shutting out the opponent in the first half of four consecutive games. asserted

They → become → games

Coach Rhett Lashlee hadn’t seen anything like this in five seasons on the Ford Stadium sideline. asserted

Lashlee → see → sideline

The Mustangs came in at 27-4 at home under him, and the worst loss was eight points (42-34 to crosstown rival TCU in 2022, his first year). asserted

loss → come → 2022

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