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NC State Football

Payton Wilson Announces He Will Not Play in the Pop-Tarts Bowl

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The news already broke previously, but the man himself made the announcement today. NC State Linebacker Payton Wilson is opting out of playing in the Pop Tarts Bowl, in order to prepare for the next chapter of his football career in the NFL.

Wilson’s stock has never been higher, and he has nothing left to prove to NFL Scouts. While his presence on the field would definitely increase NC State’s chances of beating #25 Kansas State in the bowl game, he also would put himself at risk of being injured, which would be detrimental to his draft stock.

While it’s sad that we won’t get to see #11 suit up one last time, let’s take a moment today to be grateful that we were privileged enough to be NC State fans while Wilson played for the Wolfpack.

Wilson simply is one of the best players to ever play football for NC State. He is 1 of only 3 players in school history to be named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year. He is the only player in NC State history to win the Butkus Award, which is handed out annually to the best Linebacker in College Football. He won the Bednarik Award, which is awarded annually to the best Defensive player in college football. Wilson earned 1st Team All-ACC honors for the 2nd time this season, becoming 1 of 37 players in school history to earn 1st Team honors multiple times. He is only the 4th player in school history to be named a Unanimous All-American. Wilson is 1 of 6 Wolfpack defenders to finish his career with 400+ tackles.

Originally a UNC commit, Wilson flipped his commitment to NC State coming out of Orange High School. He proved to be a perfect fit. Wilson’s tenacity and style of play embody the culture Dave Doeren and Tony Gibson have created.

Thank you Payton!

 

 

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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Howler
Howler
4 months ago

Absolutely incensed Mel Kiper has Payton ranked as the #6 outside linebacker. That’s fourth round stuff!!!
Guess highly rated high schoolers are being reminded again it doesn’t pay to go to Cow College.

TouchdownPack
TouchdownPack
4 months ago
Reply to  Howler

LoL. Another journalist, or wannabe, from UNCheats walmart club, trying to belittle the college they claim to be the bigbrother of and the college that they have no rivalry with.. LoL. Twenty years of institutional cheating to maintain that stained supposed status. Took the politicians to get involved or UNCheats would have lost its accreditation. Which is what should have happened. Remember your lawyers told the NCAA that the information you provided to only have UNCheats put on accreditation probation instead of losing accreditation as you should have was a typo. That UNCheats really didn’t admit to all the malfeasance… Read more »

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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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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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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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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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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