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NC State Football

Previewing NC State’s Opponent: Boston College

Published

6 years ago

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NC State and Boston College are set to kickoff at 12:30pm, but before they do, let’s get to know the Golden Eagles a little bit more.

BC is off to a solid start, with the opportunity to begin the season 5-1 for the first time since 2008. They even broke into the Top-25 in the Week 4 AP Poll, sliding in at #23. They went on to lose to Purdue the following Saturday, knocking them out of the polls.

Offense

The Golden Eagles offense is averaging a gaudy 43.2 points per game (NC State – 34.3), which ranks 19th in the NCAA (NC State – 46th). They are averaging 476.8 yards of total offense per game (NC State – 467), ranking 28th nationally (NC State – 35th). A majority of those yards come on the ground, averaging 243.4 yards (NC State – 124.8) from the backfield, ranking 19th nationally in rushing offense (NC State – 109th). While their aerial attack doesn’t compare to the Wolfpack’s, Boston College is averaging 233.4 passing yards per game (NC State – 342.3 – 9th nationally), which is good for 7th in the ACC (NC State – 1st).

Leaders

Sophomore Running Back AJ Dillon is the face of the Boston College football team. He won the ACC Freshman of the Year award in 2017, and he’s done nothing but improve since then. Through 5 games, Dillon has rushed for 652 yards (6.2 yards per carry), ranking 1st in the ACC, and 3rd nationally. Dillon tweaked his ankle in last weeks game vs. Temple, and missed most of the 2nd half. He’s going to be a gametime decision today, but I’d be shocked to not see him out there at all, even if he’s limited.

Sophomore Quarterback Anthony Brown started of 2018 on fire, completing 69 percent of his passes through the first 3 games. He played the best game of his life in the Golden Eagles victory over Wake Forest in Game 3. Brown threw for 304 yards and 5 touchdowns (0 interceptions). After his breakout performance, he’s been ice cold. In the past two games, Brown has only completed 47% of his passes, and has thrown 4 interceptions (all against Purdue). If you don’t just look at the struggle of the past two games, but the season thus far, Brown has been solid, logging a passing efficiency rating of 152.7. He has thrown 12 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions.

While the receivers aren’t the focal point of the Boston College offense, their two leading receivers have shown the ability to make big plays. Sophomore Wide Receiver Kobay White is averaging 19.3 yards per reception, and Senior Jeff Smith is averaging 17.0.

Defense

Boston College has a couple of studs on the defensive side of the ball. In fact, two of the Top-5 highest graded defensive players in the ACC through Week 5 are on the Golden Eagles.

2. Zach Allen, Edge, Boston College

2018 season grade: 89.0

Allen has lived in Harold Landry’s national shadow long enough. Despite two solid years of production, Allen has stepped up his game in 2018. He already has 28 QB pressures including three sacks and 10 QB hits, which ties for his career-high.

4. Hamp Cheevers, CB, Boston College

2018 season grade: 86.0

Cheevers has been targeted 26 times already, with not much success from opposing quarterbacks. He’s allowed just 46.2% of passes thrown his way to be caught while he’s intercepted three balls and recorded three pass breakups. (PFF)

Senior Defensive End Wyatt Ray, on the other side of Allen, has practically matched his numbers, recording 6.5 tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks. Allen has 7.5 tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks.

Boston College has a very disruptive defense, ranking 5th nationally in sacks, and 4th nationally in interceptions.

While sacks and interceptions are important, and can be game-changing plays, they don’t make a defense, and the Golden Eagles defense is bad. Real bad.

They rank 71st in Total Defense (383 total yards allowed per game), 81st in rush defense (165.6 rushing yards allowed per game), and 61st in pass defense. On average, Boston College’s opponents have scored 27 points, which ranks 79th nationally.

Their opponents have been UMASS, Holy Cross, Wake Forest, Purdue, and Temple.

That’s ugly.

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Matthew is Publisher and Co-Owner of Pack Insider. He is also the Lead Pastor of The Point Church in Cary, NC.

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NC State Football

Does the Addition of the UVA Series Equal the Elimination of NC State’s Series with App St.?

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20 hours ago

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May 17, 2024

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Earlier this week it was announced that NC State and Virginia would play one another in a home-and-home series, with the Wolfpack hosting in 2025, and the Cavaliers hosting in 2026.

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.

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.

This situation brings to mind the bill that has been proposed in the North Carolina House of Representatives that would force NC State and UNC to play App St., ECU and UNC Charlotte in Football, Men’s Basketball and Women’s Basketball.

If the addition of UVA means the elimination of App St. on NC State’s schedule, what are your thoughts? Share in the comments.

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NC State Football

CBS Sports Ranks Dave Doeren as 1 of the Top-20 Coaches in College Football

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2 days ago

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May 16, 2024

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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.

ACC Coaches that made the Top-25

3. Dabo Swinney (Clemson)

8. Mike Norvell (FSU)

16. Dave Doeren (NC State)

19. Jeff Brohm (Louisville)

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NC State Football

NC State vs. Tennessee Kickoff Time & TV Network Revealed

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3 days ago

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May 15, 2024

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Kickoff time and TV Channel details have been revealed for NC State and Tennessee’s game in the Duke Mayo Classic in Week 2 of next season.

The game will be a primetime game on Saturday 7th, at 7:30pm on ABC.

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This game has the makings to be a Top-25 matchup.

Here’s a look at some of the Way-Too-Early Preseason rankings for the Wolfpack and the Volunteers:

Action Network: NC State #24/Tennessee #17

ON3: NC State #22/Tennessee #15

247: NC State #21/Tennessee #11

ESPN: NC State #17/Tennessee #15

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.

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NC State Football

NC State and UVA Agree to Home-and-Home Non-Conference Games

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3 days ago

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May 15, 2024

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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.

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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.

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