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NC State Football

NC State 26 Wake Forest 6: Initial Thoughts

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NC State improved to 7-3 on the year, and 4-2 in ACC play, after defeating Wake Forest 26-6 on the road this afternoon.

If I’m honest, after the Louisville loss, and especially after the Duke loss, I wasn’t sure NC State would win another game in 2023. Surprisingly, the Wolfpack found a way to defeat Clemson and Miami at home, with the home team entering as underdogs in each matchup. MJ Morris was the Quarterback in both of those victories, but the Sophomore announced this week that he had made the decision to redshirt the remainder of the season. Insert Brennan Armstrong, who had been previously benched after the Louisville game, and no one quite knew what to expect in Winston-Salem today.

Armstrong has handled everything this season with the utmost class, and today he handled business on the field, leading the Wolfpack to a victory in a place that they had won 2 of the last 11.

NC State dominated the line of scrimmage rushing for 268 yards, which is a season high. Armstrong led the way, rushing for 96 yards and a touchdown, averaging 6.4 yards per carry. Swiss Army Knife Kevin Concepcion rushed for 86 yards on 5 carries, averaging an audacious 17.2 yards per carry. In recent memory, Wolfpack Running Backs haven’t received many rushing attempts, but that wasn’t the case today. True Freshman Kendrick Raphael rushed 15 times for 54 yards and Delbert Mimms III rushed 13 times for 35 yards and a touchdown.

The Wolfpack defense held Wake Forest to 163 yards of total offense, which is the least amount of yards produced by an opponent this season.

Let’s not breeze by the fact that Armstrong was also efficient in the passing game, completing 12 of 17 for 111 yards and a touchdown, with a Passing Efficiency Rating of 144.8 (2nd highest of the season, besides his performance against VMI).

To say that NC State dominated the time of possession battle is an understatement. The Wolfpack possessed the ball for 40:16, and Wake Forest only had the ball in their hands for 19:44.

NC State also won the turnover battle 2 to 1. True Freshman Kendrick Raphael did fumble the ball, but Sean Brown intercepted a pass, and Shyheim Battle recovers a fumble caused by Robert Kennedy III. Also, Linebacker Jaylon Scott had a pick-2 on a Wake Forest 2-point conversion attempt.

Also, this little nugget won’t do it justice, but Cornerback Aydan White was dominant, recording 3 pass breakups.

The Wolfpack will face a Virginia Tech team on the road next week that shares the same conference record of 4-2.

This season has been a weird one, but this Wolfpack fan is proud.

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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Afterglow
Afterglow
6 months ago

Brennan Armstrong deserves an apology. He’s done nothing but man up, and he’s been a patient yet honorable steward of the game with a more than commendable effort today.

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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