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Things to Know about NC State’s Opponent: Texas Tech

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The Wolfpack will host a Non-ACC Power 5 opponent tonight in Carter-Finley, for the first time since they beat Notre Dame in the rain in 2016. Here’s a few things to know about their opponent tonight: Texas Tech.

  • Joey McGuire is the new head coach for Texas Tech in 2022. After getting his start at the high school ranks, McGuire spent the his first 5 years of collegiate coaching at Baylor, where he served as an Assistant coach for 5 years.
    • Texas Tech fired Matt Wells in the middle of last season, after posting a 13-17 record. McGuire inherited a team that went 7-6 last year, a team that defeated Mississippi State (a team that beat NC State 10-24 in 2021) 34-7 in the Liberty Bowl.
  • Starting Quarterback Tyler Shough missed the final 9 games of last year due to a broken collarbone, and went down in Week 1 of this year with a shoulder injury to his non-throwing arm. Sophomore Donovan Smith stepped up to the plate in the season opener against Murray State, completing 14 of 16 for 221 yards and 4 touchdowns.
    • Against Houston (who was ranked #25 at the time), Smith struggled a bit. He threw 3 interceptions and fumbled the ball twice (0 lost). With that being said, he did throw the ball for 350 yards and 2 touchdowns.
    • Smith also has the ability to hurt you with his legs. His stats are deceiving. It says in the Box Score, that he rushed the ball 21 times for 31 yards, for an average of 1.5 yards per carry. It’s deceiving, because he was sacked 6 times by Houston. He actually gained 88 yards on the ground, but lost 57 due to sacks.
  • Turnovers killed the Red Raiders against Houston last week, because the game shouldn’t have been close. They had 20 more first downs than Houston, and held the ball for nearly 15 minutes longer than their opponent.
  • Tech had 2 receivers go for 100+ yards in the season opener.
    • Junior Loic Founji had 6 receptions for 110 yards and 2 touchdowns and Redshirt Freshman Jerand Bradley had 4 receptions for 108 yards and 2 touchdowns.
  • The Red Raiders rushing attack is better than their 3.4 yards per carry shows. 78 yards have been lost, and 57 of those are sacks on the QB.
    • Junior Running Back Tahj Brooks is averaging 5.6 yards per carry, and has 4 rushing touchdowns.
    • Senior SaRodorick Thompson is averaging 4.9 yards per carry.

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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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 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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