The travel bill has come due for Wake Forest’s football team.

The Deacons played five of their first six games at home and haven’t left the state of North Carolina yet — that is, before this weekend’s trip for a game against Connecticut.

Maybe that’s a good thing, as Wake Forest has lost four straight home games.

“It’s a little different than usual,” senior left tackle DeVonte Gordon said of it being this deep into a season when the Deacons have more than a bus ride to play a game. “But this is a veteran team, a lot of people have traveled, so it shouldn’t be that much of an adjustment because so many of us have been on the road, played in different stadiums.”

Wake Forest is also a 2-4 football team that can boast the best game it’s played was that lone road game.

The Deacons overcame a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter at N.C. State a few weeks ago. They’ve lost four straight home games; maybe hitting the road is what the doctor ordered for a scuffling team.

There are more road games — and flights — to come, as the Deacons head to Stanford next weekend and have November games in consecutive weeks at North Carolina and Miami.

“Playing at their stadium, their fans, so that’s where we have to build around each other and bring our own juice,” senior defensive end Kendron Wayman said. “With some of our own fans who come, of course.

“But yeah, that’s when we really get close.”

It’s also when the Deacons need to start stringing together some wins.

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

Time: Noon o’clock.

Location: Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn.

TV: CBS Sports Network.

Announcers: Rich Waltz (play-by-play), Ross Tucker (analyst) and Tiffany Blackmon (sidelines).

Radio link: Listen to the crew that knows Wake Forest best.

Forecast: Mid-60s at kickoff, minimal wind, sunny; maybe low-70s by end of the game.

Series; last meeting: Wake Forest leads 2-1; Wake Forest won 24-10 in the Meinecke Car Care Bowl in 2007.

Records: Wake Forest 2-4; UConn 4-2.

Stat to watch: Minus-2 | minus-3.

These aren’t exactly the most-sound teams when it comes to protecting the ball. Or disrupting it.

Wake Forest is minus-2 in turnover margin this season. The Deacons were even until last weekend, when they committed two turnovers — both Hank Bachmeier interceptions, though one was off a dropped pass — in a blowout loss to Clemson.

UConn is minus-3 despite the winning record. The Huskies didn’t have a turnover in the first two games, had one in each of the next three, and then forced three in a 29-20 win over Temple a couple of weeks ago. Problem was, UConn also committed three turnovers against Temple.

Matchup to watch: Wake Forest defensive end Jasheen Davis (No. 30) vs. UConn offensive tackles Valentin Senn (left, No. 71) and Chase Lundt (right, No. 75).

Wake’s defense is bound to look for matchup advantages that create pass-rush wins for Davis. He’s the best rusher on the team, leading the Deacons in QB pressures (20, per Pro Football Focus) despite missing two games.

You’re going to want to track whether he’s matched up against Senn or Lundt on obvious passing downs — or if Wake Forest puts him on the interior of the line to really mix things up.

Senn hasn’t allowed a sack in 187 pass-blocking opportunities this season. He’s only allowed four pressures (all hurries) and he’s been penalized three times; his PFF grades are solid across the board, in the neighborhood of the 70s.

Lundt has allowed one sack, also in 187 pass-blocking chances. He’s only been penalized once and has also allowed four total pressures. His run-block grade (81.4) is the highest of any Husky who’s taken at least 100 snaps.

Quote of the week: “We’ve just got to make sure that unit is ascending. Any time guys play for the first time, they struggle. And that’s why you like to break, like, one of them in at a time, not four of them in at a time.

“And so, again, it’s — I don’t really want to talk about it, I’ve said enough about that position. We just need to coach it better and get them better, and hopefully they’re playing better football as the season goes on.” – coach Dave Clawson on cornerbacks

Opposing offensive player to watch: Wide receiver Skyler Bell (No. 1).

Halfway through a season, Bell already has 211 more receiving yards than he had last season at Wisconsin.

He’s gotten there on 16 fewer catches.

UConn moved Bell to the outside after the Badgers had him playing in the slot last year and he’s become a game-breaking weapon.

The 6-foot, 185-pounder had five catches for 141 yards against Maryland in something of a coming-out party. He also put up 100-yard games against Merrimack and Buffalo. He actually isn’t UConn’s leader in catches — that’s TJ Sheffield, with 24 over Bell’s 22 — but is averaging 23.1 yards per catch, which is fourth-best in the country (among players with at least two catches per game).

The curious part of this is in two of the last three games, Bell has been held to one catch.

In a blowout of FAU, Bell was only targeted three times. And his one catch against the Owls was a 43-yarder. But then in UConn’s most-recent game, a tight game with Temple, he was targeted five times and only hauled in an 8-yard catch to show for it. He had one drop against Temple, too.

Opposing defensive player to watch: Linebacker Jayden McDonald (No. 10).

It should be fair to say McDonald was UConn’s best transfer addition on the defensive side of the ball.

The 6-foot, 235-pounder came from Troy (with a brief stop in between at Indiana), where he was the Trojans’ leading tackler, and leads the Huskies with 50 tackles.

McDonald also is tied for second on the team in TFLs (4½) and has an interception and two pass break-ups this year. According to Pro Football Focus, his nine QB pressures are tied with four other Huskies for the team lead, and he’s only missed four tackles.

Young Deacon to watch: Slot receiver Deuce Alexander (No. 81).

This is another game in which Wake Forest won’t have Donavon Greene and seems unlikely to have Walker Merrill.

Without those two, Micah Mays Jr. starts on the perimeter and when he or Horatio Fields needs a rest, slot receiver Taylor Morin slides back to the outside.

Which means Alexander gets even more time to shine in the slot.

The second-year receiver has seen at least four targets in every game this season. He hasn’t dropped a pass since the season opener; he was Wake’s leading receiver against Clemson; he’s bound to continue making plays as something of an unofficial starter in the receiver corps.

Don’t forget about: Post-off week records.

Hey, this isn’t referencing Wake’s struggles after off weeks under Clawson. Just for a change of pace.

UConn is playing for the first time in two weeks, having played six straight games to open the season.

This season, per Team Rankings, teams are 49-56 in games following off weeks. Spinning it over to gambling lines, it’s only slightly better, at 51-53-1.

Teams are about as likely to come out of an off week rusty as they are rested.

What a Wake Forest loss looks like: As easy and simple as it feels … Wake Forest losing this game would seem to mean its defensive woes have continued.

Bell is capable of torching secondaries and UConn’s rushing scheme creates problems. If Wake Forest can’t take at least one of those away, it’s going to be a miserable day for the Deacons.

Wake Forest should be able to move the ball against UConn but in a loss, that would mean the Deacons found success in the middle of the field and bogged down in the red zone.

What a Wake Forest win looks like: However Wake Forest could win this game, it feels like that has to include some version in which Demond Claiborne and/or Tate Carney have a big day.

That’s where personnel groupings and packages become interesting. If Wake Forest is going to utilize its trio of playable tight ends, finally healthy, it can become something it has never been under Clawson; a power-run team.

(If you want to argue that Wake Forest in the first half of 2019 with Cade Carney and Jamie Newman was a power-run team, I won’t disagree.)

And you only need to look at the last two games to see what Wake’s defense has to do in order to win games. Against N.C. State, the Deacons got stops and stiffened up in the red zone; against Clemson, eh, not so much.

More of the former and Wake Forest can go to 2-0 on the road this season.