Square peg. Round hole.
That, in the most basic of terms, sums up Gio Lopez’s experience at North Carolina last season.
An accomplished dual threat quarterback during his two seasons at South Alabama, Lopez proved to be the wrong fit to run Bill Belichick’s pro-style offense. His struggle to become a pocket passer became an easy target to blame for the Tar Heels’ disappointing 4-8 showing and led to his stock taking a severe nosedive upon his return to the transfer portal.
But Wake Forest coach Jake Dickert saw something in the senior quarterback others didn’t, or at least had forgotten, when he rescued him from the scrap heap this summer. That vision has quickly turned into results now that Lopez is back in an offense more suited to his skillset.
His passing and running has lifted the Deacons to a 2-0 start and recognition as the ACC’s Quarterback of the Week for his performance in last Saturday’s double overtime win at Purdue.
“The best part about Gio is he’s very comfortable in this offense,” Dickert said in Charlotte at the ACC’s Football Kickoff event before the season even began. “I got to study the best version of Gio Lopez when I hired (offensive coordinator) Rob Ezell from South Alabama. I believe in the best version of Gio Lopez, period. We can recreate that.”
That best version was on full display against the Boilermakers.
Coming off an encouraging 350-yard, three-touchdown passing performance in an opening week victory against overmatched Akron, Lopez was the driving force in a road victory that was as much a testament to grit and determination as talent.
His numbers weren’t exactly Heisman worthy: 16-of-27 passing for 227 yards a touchdown and no interceptions to go along with 58 rushing yards on 14 carries. But yet, every time Wake needed him to make a play, he delivered.
That was especially the case after Purdue battled back from a 10-point deficit in the final nine minutes to send the game into overtime.
With the momentum squarely in the home team’s favor, Lopez made an immediate statement by hitting Bryce Kania for a 24-yard touchdown on the second snap of the first extra possession.
But that was just the start.
After Purdue answered back with a touchdown of its own, then took the lead with another score to open overtime No. 2, Lopez took matters into his own hands to pull his team through.
“We have an absolute big-time quarterback,” Dickert said after the game. “In the toughest moments, the biggest spot, he’s taking hits, doing whatever it takes to win. He’s the ultimate competitor.”
Dickert won’t get any argument from the Boilermakers. Despite being bothered by a painful hip, Lopez kept the Deacons alive by completing a pass to Carlos Hernandez to convert a fourth-and-15 situation. Two plays later, he scored his second rushing touchdown of the game on a three-yard run.
Then, with the victory there for the taking, Lopez kept the ball again, scampering untouched around left end for the decisive two-point conversion.
“When Coach called the play to put the ball in my hands, I’ve been doing it for a while. He’s been doing it since I was 19 years old at South Alabama,” Lopez said of play-caller Ezell in a postgame Zoom. “I just trusted his play call. Once he called that I knew I had to go score. It’s bigger than me. It’s for the team. I didn’t want to let the team down.”
The confidence and trust Lopez and Ezell have in each other has gone a long way toward easing the quarterback’s transition from UNC to Wake Forest. It also helped that, unlike his experience in Chapel Hill, Lopez was already familiar with the Deacons’ offense from the moment he walked in the door.
He picked it up so seamlessly that he was able to help teach it to his fellow newcomers, a function that helped strengthen his credentials as a team leader.
“I got back in the playbook and remembered everything,” Lopez said. “All the checks, all the protection checks. Just a little bit of verbiage difference, but it’s the same plays. I’m like, ‘Oh, this is this — I know what this is.’ It feels like I’ve never left it, honestly.”
It’s a playbook that takes advantage of Lopez’s mobility both in a passing game through a series of quick, precise short-to-intermediate range throws and read option keepers designed to control tempo and move the chains.
As good as Lopez was in running the scheme against Purdue, his coach said that there’s still room for improvement. He’ll have to be even better this week for Wake to have a fighting chance when No. 5 Miami rolls into Winston-Salem, N.C., to provide the Deacons with their stiffest challenge of the new season.
Given what he’s seen so far, Dickert likes his chances.
“What he needs to improve on are a couple of deep shots that we’ve missed. He’d be the first one to admit that,” Dickert said of Lopez. “But leadership, character, toughness … you go into the season and be like, ‘I think this guy can run the ball,’ but he’s shown to be a really effective runner. We’re kind of using all five tools that he has.”
–photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletics