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Gameday: State Readies for Showdown with UNC

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NC State Wolfpack vs. North Carolina Tarheels
Kickoff: 12:30pm Today
Location: Carter-Finley Stadium, Raleigh, NC

It’s finally that time, folks. After a rather unsurprisingly disappointing start to the season, the Pack will look to make up for it all with a slaughtering of their cross-town rival Tarheels. Right now, neither team has much to brag about. State its at 0-4 in the ACC, while UNC is barely ahead at 2-5. While it might not seem like it, the Heels are actually on a little roll right now. After nearly beating #10 Miami two weeks ago, they came out and took out Boston College 34-10. But NC State is going to be amped up and at home for this one.

So what can you expect for this one? Well, if you’ve watched UNC then you know their going to bring pressure on defense. They’re going to come with stunts, they’re going to blitz from everywhere and anywhere and they’re going to try to mask everything, which they have done pretty well up to this point. This is a strength, but against a good offense this can come back to kill them. State needs to be able to take advantage of this They need to read the defense and burn them when they try to get too aggressive. The problem right now is that NC State really doesn’t have a signal caller who has shown the ability to exploit an over anxious defense. Mitchell will be back, but is he ready? He sure didn’t look like it against FSU, however that may have been due to the long injury layoff he had.

State is also going to have to establish the run game early on. UNC has shown tendencies of getting shredded on the ground this season. Last week it was 172 yards by BC’s Andre Williams and the week before it was Miami’s Dallas Crawford grinding out 137 yds and 2 TDs. If State can get Shadrach Thornton on track early on, State could control the ground game, control the clock and play this game at their pace.

Stay tuned as we’ll have more following today’s game…

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NC State Football

Dave Doeren Led the Hurricanes to a Game 1 Victory Over Devils

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NC State Head Football Coach Dave Doeren helped lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a Game 1 victory over the New Jersey Devils in Game 1 of the 2nd Round of the playoffs. Doeren was ferocious in sounding the siren.

The Canes demolished the Devils 5-1 last night. Go Canes!

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Which NC State Players Signed with NFL Teams as Undrafted Free Agents?

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Chandler Zavala was the only player from NC State that was drafted this past weekend in the 2023 NFL Draft. So which Wolfpack players signed with NFL teams as undrafted free agents?

NC State has quite a few players playing in the NFL that went undrafted: Defensive Tackle T.Y. McGill, Running Back Zonovan Knight, and Wide Receiver Jakobi Meyers.

The Chargers organization must have liked what was going on in Raleigh, signing 3 Wolfpack players as undrafted free agents.

The Bolts signed Safety Tanner Ingle.

Also heading to Los Angeles is Defensive Back Tyler Baker-Williams.

Los Angeles might have found their kicker of the future in Christopher Dunn.

Linebacker Isaiah Moore has signed with the reigning Super Bowl Champs in Kansas City.

Moore is joining former Wolfpacker Joe Thuney in KC.

Wide Receiver Thayer Thomas has signed with the Minnesota Vikings.

Thomas is joining former Wolfpacker Garrett Bradbury in Minnesota.

Thayer’s brother, Linebacker Drake Thomas signed with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Thomas joins former Wolfpacker’s Jakobi Meyers (WR) and A.J. Cole (P).

Cornerback Derrek Pitts has signed with Tampa Bay.

Defensive Tackle Cory Durden has signed with the Detroit Lions.

Durden joins former Wolfpacker Alim McNeil, who also plays Defensive Tackle.

Finally, Punter Shane McDonough is a rookie mini-camp invitee.

 

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Chandler Zavala was NC State’s Lone Draft Pick in 2023

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Surprisingly, NC State only had one player taken in the 2023 NFL Draft. Unsurprisingly, Offensive Lineman Chandler Zavala was that singular player.

The Carolina Panthers drafted Zavala in the 4th round with the 114th overall pick.

This marks the second year in a row that the Panthers have selected an offensive linemen from NC State, drafting Ikem Ekwonu with the 6th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Zavala and Ekwonu played beside one another in Raleigh on the left side, and there’s a chance that they will eventually do the same thing on Sunday’s for Carolina.

Zavala is coming off of a season where he earned 1st Team All-ACC honors, and didn’t give up a single sack.

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NC State’s Demie Sumo-Karngbaye Enters Transfer Portal

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NC State Running Back Demie Sumo-Karngbaye has officially entered the Transfer Portal. As a Redshirt Freshman this past season, he rushed for 305 yards (5.5 yards per carry) and 3 touchdowns. Sumo-Karngbaye also had 12 receptions for 148 yards and a touchdown.

Demie was electric to start the season, but battled injuries all season long. In conference play, he was limited, only rushing the ball 16 times for 53 yards (3.3 yards per carry) with 0 touchdowns.

There’s no denying that the Wolfpack Running Back room is crowded. From the beginning of the season, Sumo-Karngbaye shared carries with Jordan Houston, who is once again returning this season. After Sumo-Karngbaye continued to miss action due to injuries, True Freshman Michael Allen stepped in and proved to be more than ready for the spotlight, averaging 5.1 yards per carry (53 carries), with most of those carries coming against ACC opponents. Not to mention the fact that True Freshman Kendrick Raphael will look to make an instant impact this Fall.

With all of this being said, I don’t get this move. At the end of the day, every young man has to make the decision they think is best, but Sumo-Karngbaye had every reason to to expect significant playing time in 2023, as long as he could prove to stay healthy.

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