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, two helmets, 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 Dark Mode look announced for 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. Announced, and announced with a name. Wake Forest called this one Dark Mode, and the reveal video did what the branding demands, which is show almost nothing.

The full graphic spells it out: matte black helmet, black jerseys, black pants. All black, head to toe, for the ACC opener against No. 5 Miami on a Friday night with the whole country watching on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. Eastern.

Miami is in the other extreme. The Hurricanes announced all white, the white helmet with the orange and green stripe over a white jersey and white pants, which turns this into the cleanest black against white contrast of the weekend.

Wake Forest is also asking 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 this weekend.

September 26 at Louisville. White expected. A noon kickoff in Louisville against a home team in red. See our Louisville 2026 uniform schedule.

October 3 vs. Stanford. Black expected. The pants are the only real question, and gold is the most likely answer for a daytime home game.

October 10 at NC State. White expected at Carter-Finley Stadium, with NC State in red. Big Four rivalry week, and our NC State 2026 uniform schedule covers the home side.

October 17 at California. White expected. The longest trip on the schedule and the kind of late kickoff that usually produces the best photos of the white set.

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 has worn the matte black helmet in both games so far and will wear it again against Miami, which tells you how this closet works: the shell almost never changes, the jersey is decided by whether the game is at home, and the pants carry whatever variety there is. Black over gold is the signature. Black over black is the statement, and the Demon Deacons are saving it for the biggest home game of the year. The five remaining road games all point to white. The five 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 announced an all black Dark Mode uniform for Friday, September 18, against No. 5 Miami: matte black helmet, black jerseys and black pants. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN in Winston-Salem, and Miami is in all white. The program has also asked fans to wear black in the stands.

What are Wake Forest's football uniforms for 2026?

Two jerseys and two helmets. 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. 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 jerseys 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, and Wake Forest revealed it on September 16 with a teaser video followed by a full uniform graphic.

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.