Wake Forest Uniform Schedule 2026: Every Jersey and When the Demon Deacons Wear It

Wake Forest owns one of the tidiest wardrobes in the ACC. Two jersey colors, four helmet looks so far, three pants, and a program identity built entirely around the color black. This is the full Wake Forest 2026 uniform schedule: the black home set, the white road set, the old gold that ties them together, the all black Dark Mode set the Demon Deacons wore against Miami, and a week by week outlook for all twelve games in Jake Dickert's second season. We update this page as each combination is confirmed.

The Wake Forest 2026 Uniform Sets

The Nike set dates to a 2019 cleanup that stripped out the architecture inspired shoulder patterns and the custom number font and replaced them with a plain block WF lockup and standard numerals. It is deliberately simple, which is why the pants and the helmet do most of the work from week to week. What has changed under Jake Dickert is the messaging. The program brands itself Built in the Dark, black is the default at home, and Wake leans on it harder than almost anyone in the conference. ACC home teams wear color and visitors wear white, so every road date points to the white jersey and every home date starts from black.

The Full Wake Forest 2026 Uniform Schedule, Week by Week

September 3 vs. Akron. ★ Confirmed from the broadcast: matte black helmet, black jersey, old gold pants, the classic Wake Forest home look, for a Thursday night opener in Winston-Salem. The Demon Deacons won 38-16. Akron was in white over gold pants, which made for a duller color clash than the scoreline.

September 12 at Purdue. ★ Matte black helmet, white jersey, white pants at Ross-Ade Stadium, a noon Eastern kickoff on FS1 that Wake Forest won 38-36 in double overtime. Purdue wore its old gold helmet, black jersey and gold pants, so the two teams essentially swapped palettes for an afternoon. That is a fun quirk of this matchup: Purdue and Wake Forest share old gold and black, and only the helmet kept them apart. Details on the home side are in our Purdue 2026 uniform schedule.

September 18 vs. Miami. ★ Confirmed from the broadcast: matte black helmet, black jersey, black pants, the Dark Mode set exactly as announced, for the Friday night ACC opener in Winston-Salem. Miami answered in all white, the white helmet with the orange and green stripe over a white jersey and white pants, which gave us the cleanest black against white contrast of the weekend. Wake Forest lost 33-20. The look held up better than the result did, and the reveal video before it did what the branding demands, which is show almost nothing.

The full graphic spelled it out: matte black helmet, black jerseys, black pants. All black, head to toe, and that is what the Demon Deacons wore against No. 5 Miami at 7:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN.

Miami went to the other extreme. The Hurricanes announced all white and wore it, the white helmet with the orange and green stripe over a white jersey and white pants.

Wake Forest also asked the stands to match the uniform. A blackout is a fan theme rather than a uniform, but when the home team is already in all black it changes how the whole broadcast looks. Our Miami 2026 uniform schedule has the visitor's season, and the Week 3 uniform guide has every game from the weekend.

September 26 at Louisville. ★ Confirmed from the broadcast: gold helmet with WAKE on the side, white jersey, gold pants. Louisville wore the white helmet, red jersey and red pants. Connor Calvert kicked three field goals, the last a 32-yarder with 6:20 left, and Wake Forest upset No. 16 Louisville 30-27 to move to 3-1. See our Louisville 2026 uniform schedule.

October 3 vs. Stanford, noon ET on ACC Network. ★ Confirmed by Wake Forest: black helmet, black jersey, black pants, all black, revealed in a "Back in black" video. We had gold pants as the likeliest pairing for a day game, and the Deacons went black instead. This is not the Dark Mode set from the Miami game: the helmet carries the gold "Deacs" script on the side, and the black jersey has old gold numbers, so the trim reads gold rather than tonal. Stanford is expected in its white road set, so it is black against white at noon. The Cardinal's side is on our Stanford 2026 uniform schedule. The broadcast matches: black helmet with the gold Deacs script, black jersey, black pants, worn as revealed, and Stanford wore all white. Gio Lopez ran for three touchdowns and threw for two more in three quarters, and Wake Forest won 57-3, its largest margin of victory in an ACC game, to move to 4-1.

The Week 5 uniform reveal, via @WakeFB

October 10 at NC State, noon ET on The CW. ★ Confirmed from the broadcast: black helmet with the gold Deacs script, white jersey, gold pants, the same helmet from the Stanford game paired with the white road set. NC State wore the white helmet, red jersey and red pants, and our NC State 2026 uniform schedule covers the home side. NC State led 14-10 in the third quarter, Wake Forest scored the last 28 points, and the Deacons won 38-14 at Carter-Finley Stadium to move to 5-1.

October 17 at California, 10:30 p.m. Eastern (7:30 p.m. Pacific) on ESPN2. ★ Confirmed by the team in its Week 7 threads post: gloss black helmet, white jersey, black pants. The longest trip on the schedule and the kind of late kickoff that usually produces the best photos of the white set. Cal makes it a special night: the Grateful Bears game, with a gold Grateful Dead helmet carrying the Cal script inside a Steal Your Face skull, a lightning bolt center stripe and dancing bears on the back bumper, worn with the blue jersey and gold pants. Every Week 7 look is in our Week 7 uniform guide, and the Bears side is on the Cal uniform schedule.

October 24. Bye.

October 31 vs. Virginia. Black expected. Halloween night at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium against a Virginia team that will be in white, which is about as on theme as a uniform matchup gets. If Wake Forest has a second special look in the closet this season, this is the obvious date for it.

November 7 vs. Merrimack. Black expected. A non conference home game in November, which is an unusual slot and a reasonable spot for the chrome gold helmet.

November 14 at SMU. White expected.

November 21 at Georgia Tech. White expected at Bobby Dodd Stadium, with Georgia Tech in gold. Another shared palette matchup, and our Georgia Tech 2026 uniform schedule has the home side.

November 28 vs. Duke. Black expected. The regular season finale and Senior Day in Winston-Salem. Duke is expected in white, per our Duke 2026 uniform schedule.

The Bottom Line

Wake Forest wore the matte black helmet in its first three games, then went to a gold helmet with WAKE on the side at Louisville and a black helmet with the gold Deacs script against Stanford and again at NC State. The jersey is still decided by whether the game is at home, and the pants carry most of the variety. Black over gold is the signature. Black over black is the statement: the Demon Deacons spent it on Miami, a 33-20 loss in the ACC opener where the uniform outplayed the scoreboard, then went all black again with gold trim for a 57-3 rout of Stanford. The white road set came out at NC State with gold pants in a 38-14 win, and the three remaining road games all point to white. The three remaining home games all start from black, and Halloween against Virginia is the date to watch for something extra. The grid above has every game, and we add the star as each uniform is confirmed.

Frequently Asked Questions

What jersey is Wake Forest wearing this week?

Wake Forest wore the black helmet with the gold "Deacs" script, a white jersey and gold pants at NC State on Saturday, October 10, confirmed from the broadcast, in a 38-14 win that moved the Deacons to 5-1. The week before, they wore all black against Stanford in a 57-3 win. Next is California on the road on October 17, where Wake Forest wears a gloss black helmet, white jersey and black pants, confirmed by the team, against Cal in its Grateful Dead helmet, blue jersey and gold pants. The week-by-week grid above lists every game with the expected set.

What are Wake Forest's football uniforms for 2026?

Two jerseys and, so far, four helmet looks. The black home jersey carries old gold numerals and a gold collar, and the white road jersey uses black numerals with a solid black collar and gold trim. Pants come in old gold, black and white. The helmets are a matte black shell with the gold block WF on both sides and a chrome gold shell with a black WF, and in 2026 Wake has also worn a gold helmet with WAKE on the side at Louisville and a black helmet with a gold Deacs script against Stanford. The base design comes from Nike and dates to the 2019 cleanup that simplified the jerseys.

What did Wake Forest wear against Akron and Purdue?

Against Akron on Thursday, September 3, the Demon Deacons wore the matte black helmet, black jersey and old gold pants in a 38-16 win. At Purdue on September 12 they wore the matte black helmet with the white jersey and white pants and won 38-36 in double overtime.

What is Wake Forest's Dark Mode uniform?

It is the name Wake Forest gave its Week 3 combination against Miami: matte black helmet, black jersey and black pants, the full monochrome version of the home set. The name fits the Built in the Dark branding the program has used under Jake Dickert. Wake Forest revealed it on September 16 with a teaser video followed by a full uniform graphic, then wore it on September 18 in a 33-20 loss to Miami, who countered in all white.

How many games does Wake Forest play in 2026?

Twelve regular season games: six at home in Winston-Salem against Akron, Miami, Stanford, Virginia, Merrimack and Duke, and six on the road at Purdue, Louisville, NC State, California, SMU and Georgia Tech, with a bye on October 24. The full schedule with every expected uniform is in the grid above.