Wake Forest Football: 2 Names to Know

NC State Football will host Wake Forest tonight in their season opener at 8pm. Before they do, here’s a look at ___ Demon Deacon players to be aware of.

Redshirt Sophomore Quarterback Sam Hartman started the first 9 games of his True Freshman season before breaking his leg, which led to him missing the final 4 games of the season. In his first year, Hartman had 16 touchdowns compared to 8 interceptions. After beating out Jamie Newman as a True Freshman, Newman beat out Hartman in 2019 for the starting job. Since Hartman only played in 4 games last year, it was able to count as a redshirt season. There was zero expectation that Hartman would start for the Deacs in 2020, because Newman, who was a revelation in 2019, was to return for his final season. That all changed when Newman announced that he was transferring to Georgia for his final year of eligibility, which paved the way for Hartman to return again to the starting role. Entering 2020, Athlon listed Hartman as one of 35 possible breakout players this season.

Redshirt Senior Defensive End Carlos “Boogie” Basham Jr. could be playing on Sunday’s, but he opted to come back and play on Saturdays. Basham was projected to be drafted within the first 3 rounds of the 2020 NFL Draft, but he chose to come back for his final collegiate season to be one of the top picks in the 2021 Draft. In 2019, Basham had 11 sacks and 18 tackles for loss. His 112 Quarterback Pressures over the past 2 seasons leads all active Division-1 players. In a bizarre statistic, Basham has recorded a tackle for loss in 19 straight games. Last week he continued that streak with a sack on Clemson Quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The 1st Team All-ACC selection in 2019 has been a near unanimous Preseason All-American selection heading into 2020.

Both Hartman and Basham are Captains for Wake Forest this season.