Justin Kontul Answers Question No. 3

Here we go. Quarterback Gio Lopez has played for three different programs. What has made him so successful at Wake Forest this season? You hit on that a little bit earlier, but expand on that a little bit. Yeah, so Gio Lopez at South Alabama, really high-level quarterback with Robby Zell, really high power, high scoring, very efficient offense at South Alabama. Robby Zell goes from South Alabama to Wake Forest, and Gio Lopez goes to North Carolina. and really struggles, you know, very visible, just didn't play up to the standard or expectation. I think anyone had set for him when he went to North Carolina, but then when he came to Wake Forest, I think it really was, like I said, the foundational system of Robby Zell's offense. You could just feel the energy, even in the spring, Gio Lopez seemed confident. He seemed comfortable. The ball was coming out great out of his, out of his hand. And one big piece of his game that is very relevant at Wake that wasn't relevant at UNC is his ability to use his legs and run more, being a dual-threat quarterback. That was something in North Carolina. I think he's already eclipsed all of his rushing numbers he had at Carolina by maybe even a significant margin. But he was not a running-threat quarterback at North Carolina. He didn't really use that part of his game a lot, but came to Wake Forest, and that has been foundational to their success. A lot of, you'll see quarterback draw plays. also Lopez just extending plays when plays break down being able to move outside the pocket take off and scramble uh games against Purdue comes to mind is a big one where Gio Lopez legs were critical in the victory in that one and they ran him a lot against Stanford and also you know against NC State uh he there was a lot of Gio Lopez design quarterback runs so i think his ability as a passer was already always known but has become more prevalent at Wake but he's Really, the ground game as a quarterback, the dual threat versatility of Gio Lopez is something that I think has made him so successful at Wake Forest that wasn't as present in North Carolina.