NC State Football

ASU passed on Ryan Finley. Will it come back to haunt them?

Published

6 years ago

December 29, 2017

The N&O pointed out a couple days ago that Ryan Finley may have ended up at Arizona State if it were up to his high school coach.

That didn’t happen because ASU prioritized Joshua Dobbs, who at the last second picked Tennessee over the Sun Devils. After that happened, Finley’s high school coach once again pushed ASU to offer Finley. They finally gave him a look, but it was too late, he stayed committed to Boise State.

ASU ended up with nothing in 2013, but in 2014 they got a commitment from 3-star QB Manny Wilkins.

Wilkins will be behind center when ASU takes on NC State today and he’s a big reason why they are where they are. He finished with 2,918 yards passing (235-370), 17 TDs and 5 ints. He’s also rushed for 269 yards and 6 TDs.

Meanwhile, Finley has thrown for 3,200 yards (288 of 450), 16 TDs and 6 INTs. He’s also rushed for 195 yards and 3 TDs. Both quarterbacks have thrown for just about 64%.

The storyline is interesting. ‘QB ignored by ASU faces off against them in a bowl game.’ But honestly, on paper, these two guys are pretty identical. Based on stats and tangibles alone, it wouldn’t seem like either guy had an advantage it this one.

However, sometimes it’s the intangibles that end up tilting the scale.

There is a chance that this is it for Ryan Finley. The junior is being graded pretty well in mock drafts and in a year where the QB class isn’t all that strong, he could opt to make the jump. Couple that with the fact that Finley has been a ‘beat the odds’ kind of guy his whole career and you could see where he may have more riding on this one.

He came out of high school as 3-star recruit, was passed up by a lot of big-name schools, and then had to come back from a major surgery. He loves a good challenge, and what better challenge then rubbing his success in the face of the school who passed him by.

All things considered, we are predicting Finley has a huge game against the Sun Devils and makes them pay for their mistake.

NC State Football

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

Published

9 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Matthew Bradham

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)

NC State Football

NC State vs. Tennessee Kickoff Time & TV Network Revealed

Published

1 day ago

May 15, 2024

Matthew Bradham

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.

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.

NC State Football

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

Published

2 days ago

May 15, 2024

Matthew Bradham

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.