Seven Straight and a Statement in Dallas: Gio Lopez Leads No. 11 Wake Forest Past No. 25 SMU, 49-7

There are wins, and then there are statements. Wake Forest made a statement Saturday in Dallas. Gio Lopez ran for two touchdowns and threw for another, and the No. 11 Demon Deacons buried No. 25 SMU 49-7 for their seventh straight victory, a result the Associated Press said strengthens their case for a College Football Playoff spot.

It was over almost before the crowd settled in. Wake Forest scored four touchdowns in the second quarter alone and carried a 42-0 lead into halftime.

Lopez set the tone. His 44-yard touchdown pass to Carlos Hernandez came early in the second quarter, and his 5-yard run with 9:42 left in the half made it 28-0, Field Level Media reported. The capper came after SMU failed to recover a pooch kickoff; six plays later, Lopez ran it in from short range to make it 42-0.

By the end, the numbers were lopsided across the board. Wake Forest outgained SMU 535-275 and ran for 286 yards as a team, with Ty Clark leading the way with 77. Lopez threw for 201 yards and ran for 34 more, and Hernandez finished with six catches for 94 yards and the touchdown. Backup quarterback Steele Pizzella added a 25-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

SMU avoided the shutout in the third quarter, when Kevin Jennings found Yannick Smith for a 19-yard touchdown, according to the AP. That was all the Mustangs could muster against a defense that played with speed and discipline from the opening snap to the final whistle.

The rout carried an echo of last season. A year ago, Wake Forest beat SMU 13-12 at home to end the Mustangs' 20-game winning streak in conference regular-season games, the AP noted. That one came down to the wire. This one was decided by the second quarter.

The timing made the day sweeter. The blowout came two days after the school announced a contract extension for coach Jake Dickert, Field Level Media reported. Schools do not always get to see an investment pay off so quickly. Wake Forest saw it on the road, against a ranked opponent.

There is something old-fashioned in that story worth cheering. In an age when coaches and players often seem to have one foot out the door, Wake Forest chose stability. It put its trust in the man building the program, and his players answered by playing like a team that believes in what it is doing and in each other. Seven straight wins do not happen by accident. They come from preparation, discipline and a locker room that pulls in the same direction.

Even the pregame analysts learned something. ESPN's Pat McAfee and Kirk Herbstreit had picked SMU on College GameDay, and with the Mustangs trailing 42-0 at halftime, the two posted a video apologizing for the pick, Fox News' OutKick reported.

It was a small, good-natured moment, but it said something. Plenty of people with big platforms never admit they got one wrong. Two of the biggest voices in college football looked into a camera and owned it. Humility is a good look on anybody, and it was a fitting footnote to a day when the quieter program did all of its talking on the field.

ESPN's conference standings show Wake Forest at 9-1 overall and 6-1 in the ACC after the win, while SMU fell to 7-3 and 5-3. The Demon Deacons' lone loss came against Miami back in September, and they are now the likeliest opponent for a rematch with the Hurricanes in the ACC Championship Game, according to Pro Football Network. Miami beat Duke 36-25 earlier Saturday to stay unbeaten in league play.

Next up for Wake Forest is a trip to Georgia Tech next Saturday, TSN reported. If the Demon Deacons keep playing like this, a lot more people will be picking them, and nobody will need to apologize.