Wake Forest DB Chelen Garnes: "We have a very special team"

Wake Forest has lost two consecutive games for the first time since 2020. After those back-to-back defeats against Louisville and NC State, the Deacs will look to bounce back against a top-15 UNC squad at home on Saturday night. The losses, though frustrating, have lit a fire under the team.

“If anything, it’s making us go harder,” safety Chelen Garnes said. “We knew coming into this stretch of our season that we were going to have to elevate our defense. Good wasn’t good enough.”

Against NC State, the Deacs got off to a great start defensively, forcing several three-and-outs to begin the game. Things unraveled a bit in the second half, though, and NC State went on a 7-plus minute touchdown drive in the third quarter that would prove difficult to come back from.

“I didn’t think we executed all the calls,” Garnes said. “We played with amazing effort. [It was] the minute details that we’ve trying to fix this week in practice that cost us in the game.”

Wake Forest hasn’t played their best football the past couple of weeks. There have been slip-ups in all phases of the game that culminated in two tough losses. The beautiful thing about college football, though, is that the next week always presents a new opportunity. And while playing well against UNC is the perfect way to get things back on track, the Deacs need to handle their own business in order to perform better.

“We’re embracing the challenge of course ,” Garnes said. “We’re trying to go 1-0 every week. It’s not as much about the opponent as it is with us. Just making sure we’re doing the right thing in practice and knowing our assignments.”

Though things have been rocky recently, it’s still clear to those within the program that this team can accomplish big things.

“We know that we have a very special team capable of doing very special things,” Garnes said. “We like to look at the process to get the prize. That’s what we’re looking forward to, and [we’re] doing it every day.”