Boston College Opponent Previews: NC State Wolfpack

During the summer months and as we prepare for the upcoming season, BC Maven will be doing weekly previews of all of Boston College's opponents. Next up on the docket is a team BC holds a two game winning streak against, the NC State Wolfpack. Last year was another step in the right direction for the pack, with Ryan Finley a stellar group of wide receivers and a solid defense, as they finished the season at a solid 9-4 record. Every year since Doeren has been at NC State has been a solid upward trajectory. Now Finley is gone, and much of the talent around him has graduated. What can we expect from the Wolfpack in 2019?

Previous Previews: Week 1 vs. Virginia Tech

Week 2 vs. Richmond

Week 3 vs. Kansas

Week 4 vs. Rutgers

Week 5 vs. Wake Forest

Week 6 vs. Louisville

Previous Matchups: NC State is on a two game winning streak against Boston College winning in 2017 when Anthony Brown went down with a knee injury, and again last year in 2018 when the Pack shot up to an early lead, and held on when a late BC scoring drive was stalled on a very controversial Ben Glines fumble near the goalline. BC's last win against NC State was in 2016 when Davon Jones threw a touchdown pass late in the game. BC holds a 9-7 advantage historically over the Pack, with their first win a 7-3 thriller in 1936.

Head Coach: Dave Doeren, in his 7th year with the Wolfpack, with a career record of 43-34 and ACC record of 20-28. In his playing days he was a tight end with Drake, where he started his collegiate career as a position coach from '95-97. He had various position coach/GA titles at Montana, Kansas, USC, and Wisconsin before becoming the DC for the Badgers from '08-'10. From there he became the head coach at Northern Illinois, where he made the Orange Bowl but did not coach instead leaving for NC State.

2018 Season: Last year it was all about the offense with some serious talent in Ryan Finley, Jakobi Meyers, Kelvin Harmon and running back Reggie Gallaspy all playing huge roles. Finley, almost threw for 4000 yards last year with 25 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, while Myers and Harmon had 170 receptions between the two of them. The Pack did what they had to do make sure they won the games they had to, only dropping one game to a non Top 25 team (Wake Forest). But on the other hand, Boston College might have been their signature win for the season. They got smoked by Clemson, beaten handily by Syracuse, and crushed by Texas A&M. In those games the immaturity of the defense really showed, as they allowed an average of 48 points in those games against ranked teams.

2019 Outlook: While 2018 was the year that the defense had to rebuild,, the offense has to be a major area of concern going into this season. They have a trio of quarterback options in Matthew McKay, Bailey Hockman, and Devin Leary, but they have no real in game experience. Even with Meyers/Harmon gones, the Pack still has Emeka Emezie who had 54 catches last year. In terms of running back it sounds like four star recruit Zonovan Knight might be the guy this year, but again he is unproven.

On the defensive side of the ball NC State has some really good veteran talent. James Smith-Williams has all the ability to be an All-ACC defensive end (10 sacks in 2018), while cornerback Nick McCloud is pretty close to a shut down cornerback. Behind their veterans are a bevy of young talent who are ready to step up to be stars. Linebacker Isaiah Moore had 8 TFLs last season while, tackle Alim McNeil had 5.5 TFLs.

BC Game Date: Saturday October 19, 2019

Location: Alumni Stadium, Chestnut Hill MA

Chances of BC Victory: 65%.

S&P Chances of BC Victory: 43%

Add us as a preferred source on Google