NC State Sophomore linebacker Jerod Fernandez is all business. He led the team in tackles during the regular season with 76, and earned Freshman All-American honors (1st Team Phil Steele, 2nd Team Athlon, and CFN Honorable Mention). But he doesn’t care about that stuff.
“I just got to go out there and keep playing man,” said Fernandez. “I don’t feed off of that.”
When I asked him what his personal goals were for this year.
“Do better than I did last year.” said Fernandez
Fernandez started at Middle Linebacker in 9 of the 12 games that he saw action in last season. Airius Moore started in the middle the other 4 games as a true freshman. The NC State coaching staff thought that both of them were too good to compete for the same position, so they have moved Moore to the Will linebacker position. The Wolfpack have a unique situation where they have two players on the field starting this season that have played middle linebacker and called the defense.
“We both have that experience from last year. Airius is a great learner. He’s really smart,” said Fernandez. “If he doesn’t know anything, I help him out. If I don’t know anything, he helps me out. We both kind of feed off of each other.”
Fernandez is in the middle of a defense that didn’t post amazing numbers last year, but finished the season with a statement. In the last 5 games of 2014, the Pack defense allowed just 201.4 passing yards per game, and held quarterbacks to a measly 49.4% completion percentage.
“I think we look pretty good,” said Fernandez. “I think we have the potential to be a top tier defense in the ACC.”
Prior to the announcement, NC State already had their non-conference slate booked for both of those seasons.
As a result of the addition of the Virginia series, a previously scheduled non-conference game from each season would need to be dropped. While it hasn’t been officially announced by the school, Joe Giglio and David Glenn seem to think that the series with Appalachian State is going to be dropped.
State swaps out a home-and-home with App State for one with Virginia
Given the ACC’s stance on road G5 games, that was going to happen
NC STATE BACKS OUT OF FOOTBALL SERIES WITH APPALACHIAN STATE…. David Glenn Weighs in on Required #NCPOL Scheduling Bill per UNC, NC STATE, ECU, CHARLOTTE AND APP https://t.co/5sfWzmRa93 via @YouTube
— NORTH CAROLINA SPORTS NETWORK (@TheNCSportsNet) May 16, 2024
It would make the most sense, considering the Mountaineers were the only opponent the Wolfpack was scheduled to play in both 2025 and 2026. It would also make sense, considering the fact that ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips isn’t a fan of ACC teams playing Group of 5 schools on the road.
I will tell you this much. The Mountaineer faithful certainly believe NC State is dropping the series with App State, and it just takes a little scrolling on X (formerly Twitter) to get a read on their feelings on the situation.
CBS Sports released their Top-25 Power 4 Coaches in College Football, and NC State’s Dave Doeren came in at #16. Heading into last season, he went into the season ranked #25.
16) Dave Doeren: The NC State coach finally gets some overdue credit. He’s always hovered around the bottom of our top 25 or just outside it, and now he finds himself firmly entrenched in it thanks to all the changes at the top. Coaches who take mid-tier programs and overachieve never get enough credit, in my estimation, and the consistency Doeren has established at NC State — where he spent most of his time in a division with Clemson and Florida State — is one of the most impressive things any coach in the country has done. I’m glad to see Doeren getting closer to the top 15. 2023 rank: 25 (+9) (CBS Sports)
Numerous CBS Sports’ analysts voted in the poll, and Tom Fornelli actually ranked Doeren #8.
DraftKings released their way-too-early odds for the game, and Tennessee is currently a 5.5-point favorite.
Here’s the deal, as NC State fans, if we want to be a big time Football program, NC State fans need to gobble up tickets to this game. Let’s do our part and make sure that Bank of America Stadium is painted RED. Buy Tickets HERE.
NC State announced this morning that the Wolfpack and UVA will play in a home-and-home non-conference series, with the game in 2025 being in Raleigh, and the game in 2026 being in Charlottesville.
To reiterate, despite the fact that both teams are in the ACC, these games are considered non-conference games, and won’t count toward conference records. This is similar to what UNC and Wake Forest did a few years back.
Here’s what’s interesting about the addition of these games in 2025 and 2026. Prior to the announcement, NC State already had 4 non-conference games scheduled for both years.
It would be my assumption that one of the previously scheduled non-conference games for each season will not take place now.