Redemption is so close.

Well, the first step toward it, at least.

Wake Forest’s football season starts Thursday night with a game against North Carolina A&T. That will be the start of a much-anticipated season on the players’ behalf, given the Deacons were absent from a bowl game for the first time since 2015.

It’s the opening salvo of a season that could put Wake’s program back on track — or mean that last season was more trend than fluke.

“I think the anticipation has grown even larger because in years past, we were coming off good seasons,” left tackle DeVonte Gordon said earlier this week. “It was kind of a … it was kind of recognized that Wake Forest would be a good team.”

That’s hardly been the case for this past offseason.

Wake Forest was picked to finish 15th in the league’s preseason poll. Most bowl predictions — whatever they’re worth before October — have the Deacons either home in December again or sliding into one of the ACC’s lower-level bowls.

“I think a lot of the offseason, ‘Wake Forest isn’t going to be this, Wake Forest isn’t going to be that,’ has only driven us to work that much harder this offseason,” Gordon said.

This is where you get the reminder that while players can avoid social media and tune out predictions, nobody in this age is immune to it.

And they’re not dumb. Wake’s players know the record of last season, know there were missed opportunities, and know they’re not a program that’s going to get the benefit of the doubt when it comes to a one-year bounce back.

“Last year, we ended the season and we felt we had left a lot of meat on the bone. Going into this year, we kind of have something to prove,” linebacker Dylan Hazen said. “Something to prove to (ourselves) and also prove to our fanbase to say, ‘Hey, we’re not the same team as last year, we’re not going to go 4-8 again.’”

To the untrained eye, Hazen is right; Wake’s team did not look like one bound for a sub-.500 season during fall camp.

Few coaches are going to be pessimistic after fall camp and this year at Wake Forest isn’t an exception.

“I think we’re in good shape, I think we’re going to have to improve as the season goes on,” coach Dave Clawson said.

But then comes something of a realistic hedge.

“There’s a different dynamic to college football now,” Clawson said. “We’re going to play a bunch of teams here that have some pretty high payrolls, and we’re going to have to play really, really well in those football games.”

That’s about as close as you’ll get to a head coach acknowledging his team will struggle against certain teams. Three of those teams — Ole Miss, N.C. State and Clemson — are in the first half of Wake’s schedule.

It’s not softening the blow of what Clawson thinks will be a losing season; it’s an admission that Wake’s program can accomplish goals by climbing back into the middle of the ACC standings and by being a decent team by the end of the season.

“I’ve had teams that, you know, you know you’re in trouble,” Clawson said. “And I’ve had teams that you know if you just show up, you’re probably going to win eight or nine games.

“And then there’s teams in the middle that, do we play clean, do we take care of the football, do we not beat ourselves and do we get better as the season goes on? And some of those teams have pretty special seasons, and I think that’s the challenge for this team.”

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Here’s a primer on what you need to know for Thursday night’s game:

Time: 7 p.m.

Location: The venue formerly known as Groves Stadium, Winston-Salem.

TV: ESPN+/ACC Network Extra.

Announcers: Matt Schick (play-by-play) and Charles Arbuckle (analyst).

Radio link: Recommended listening, per usual.

Forecast: High-80s at kickoff, dropping to low-80s by game’s end, possible thunderstorm (30% chance), minimal wind.

Series; last meeting: Wake Forest leads 1-0; Wake Forest won 42-3 in 2004.

Records: N/A, opener for each team.

Stat to watch: 49.

Did you realize Wake Forest gave up one more sack last season than it did in Clawson’s first season?

(I did … not.)

Obviously, Wake Forest isn’t going to be in danger of giving up 49 sacks in this game. But it’ll be worth tracking just how many the Deacons give up, since sacks can tell you a few different things — if the offensive line can hold up, if the QB holds the ball too long, if the blitz pickup struggles, if receivers can get open.

N.C. A&T only had 16 sacks in 11 games last year.

Matchup to watch: Wake’s rushing game against N.C. A&T’s front-7.

The Deacons’ offense putting last season in the rearview mirror can easily happen if it has the type of rushing success you’d expect, with an older offensive line and two dynamic running backs. That will open things up for whoever is playing quarterback and provide some cushion for a lot of receivers who are unproven.

In Demond Claiborne and Tate Carney, Wake Forest has a lightning-and-thunder combo it can put to good use. The opener should be a good start to that, as N.C. A&T allowed 227.2 rushing yards per game last year.

(this next part is a little add-on to Wake’s rushing attack)

Quote of the week: “Last year, the offensive line felt very passive. I think that’s a tone we want to change.” – sixth-year offensive tackle DeVonte Gordon

Opposing offensive player to watch: Running back Kenji Christian (No. 7).

Covered a bit in the 5 things to know article, Christian was N.C. A&T’s leading rusher last season and is a transfer from Virginia Tech.

Christian is big (6-2, 207) and talented, rushing for 718 yards and six touchdowns last season and adding 16 catches for 197 yards and a touchdown. It’ll be interesting to see how many different ways the Aggies get the ball in his hands; he also had three kickoff returns last year (for 72 yards).

On a coincidental note: N.C. A&T’s top running back is a transfer from Virginia Tech … and Virginia Tech’s top running back, Bhayshul Tuten, is a transfer from N.C. A&T.

Opposing defensive player to watch: Cornerback Karon Prunty (No. 1).

Also, as covered in 5 things to know, Prunty is a Kansas transfer who’s on NFL teams’ radar as a draft prospect.

According to Pro Football Focus, he allowed a completion percentage of 55.9% (19 of 34) when targeted last season, only allowed one catch over 30 yards, and gave up two touchdowns. He’s a 6-2, 180-pounder who’s going to provide a good measuring stick for Wake’s receivers who will need to step up this season, such as Horatio Fields and … the player who’s listed next.

Young Deacon to watch: Wide receiver Micah Mays Jr. (No. 18).

Part of the equation that’s going to have Mays start Thursday night’s game is because Donavon Greene has missed most of the last month and Wake Forest doesn’t want to rush him back into full service.

But another part of the equation is that Mays, a second-year receiver who played all of 13 snaps last season, has quickly developed and earned his spot as a starter.

“When Donnie is healthy and can play over 50 snaps, he will be the starter,” Clawson said. “But we’re certainly rewarding Micah for how well he’s playing.”

Mays was a good recruiting win for the Deacons, fending off a late charge from Miami to get the speedster out of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. He was raw last season, but his development curve has been sharp and he flashed at times during fall camp.

Don’t forget about: Linebacker Eldrick Robinson II (No. 8).

Linebacker play wasn’t much of an issue for the Deacons last season — Hazen emerged as a leader and Jacob Roberts made what seemed like a seamless transition from N.C. A&T to Wake Forest.

For those reasons, it was easy to forget that Robinson was lost to a non-contact injury in fall camp. In his second season as a Deacon, it was his second season-ending injury — he also had a season-ending injury in the fourth game of the 2022 season.

The 6-foot, 223-pounder is back and provides some depth and versatility in the middle of the Deacons’ defense.

In his only healthy season of college football, Robinson had 74 tackles, 5.5 TFLs, two interceptions, four QB hurries and two pass break-ups as a freshman at Georgia Southern in 2021.

(Doing something a little different this year with this last part of previews. Instead of just predictions that didn’t actually predict who would win, I’ll break down what I think the formula will be for a Wake Forest win … what would have to go wrong in a loss.)

What a Wake Forest loss looks like: There would have to be a whole lot that goes wrong for Wake Forest to lose this game.

That shouldn’t be seen as disrespectful to N.C. A&T; it’s the reality of a team that was 1-10 last season playing a power conference team — even if said power conference team was 4-8 last year.

Think turnovers, penalties, blown assignments, missed tackles — everything that can lose a football game would have to happen.

What a Wake Forest win looks like: There’s a lose-lose degree to FCS games — which is why they should replace spring games, but I digress.

If Wake Forest loses, the sky is falling. If it wins by, say, about 33 (around the line), it’ll be taken with a grain of salt because it’s just an FCS team. If it’s closer, doom and gloom about an ACC team that couldn’t cover against an FCS team.

So, the win condition here is a simple one: Figure out who starts at QB against Virginia.

Going into the opener with a plan to play both Hank Bachmeier and Michael Kern makes sense, given there was no separation in fall camp. It’s not sustainable, though. And that’s why the most important part of this game boils down to figuring out which option is the best for the Deacons moving forward.