Jasheen Davis expresses pride in Wake Forest facing in-state North Carolina schools

For Wake Forest and other D1 schools in North Carolina, state pride matters, and that’s why Demon Deacon players are honored to get to play in so many in-state games as part of their schedule.

The Tar Heel State is home to a plethora of FBS and FCS schools when it comes to football, including the Big Four all in the ACC: Wake, Duke, North Carolina and NC State. But even beyond those guys, Wake Forest and those other three have made a point to play many of the lower-conference in-state foes.

For instance, Wake Forest took on Elon last year on the final day of August to open their season in 2023 and also played them in 2019. Plus, they welcomed the Campbell Camels as their only non-conference game of the COVID-altered 2020 season and open this year with North Carolina A&T.

Those contests, plus the annual matchups against the other NC-based ACC clubs, make for some great rivalries. At ACC Media Days this past week, Wake Forest’s Jasheen Davis got a chance to speak on the special nature of the North Carolina intrastate rivalries.

“It means a lot. I feel like every game means a lot to me. Personally, just rivalry games stand out a little bit more because it’s the stakes for the best team in state,” said Davis.

“I pride myself on being a Big Four team,” he continued. “I know the last time Wake Forest was a Big Four champion was back in 2019. Just being able to play schools like Duke, UNC, NC State, it’s a blessing. I feel like I’m part of the history.”

When it comes to Wake’s bitter rival, NC State, Davis is anxious to get back on top of the seesaw against the Pack, but respects them and all of the in-state squads.

“Lastly, they’re a good team,” admitted Davis. “I respect those teams. So just being able to play against them, we have a chip on our shoulder. We just got to show up and show out.”

Dave Clawson won’t need to question that man’s effort when NC State week arrives.