NC State Fans: Dave Doeren Really Needs Your Help
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The Wolfpack prepare to welcome Louisville into Carter-Finley Stadium this Saturday in a game that means a lot to both teams.
A win for NC State means the Wolfpack will have an even record in the ACC race.
It’s also a confidence booster for a program and its fan base that has been on a roller coaster ride through the first four weeks of the season.
Meanwhile, Louisville needs this win to get back on track. The Cardinals suffered a close loss to Wake Forest the week after going toe-to-toe with SMU. The Cardinals bested the Mustangs in that matchup.
Louisville may be the better team on paper, but NC State has a huge home-field advantage inside Carter-Finley Stadium.
Home-Field Advantage
State fans bring a high energy to Carter-Finley, transforming the space into a hostile environment for opposing teams.
Over the previous ten seasons, NC State is 52-16 at home. And for comparison’s sake, the Wolfpack have a losing record on the road during that same span (22-27).
This season, NC State is perfect at home (2-0), including a record-setting 73-0 performance against FCS Richmond in Week 2.
“I look forward to another great environment at home in Carter-Finley [Stadium],” Head Coach Dave Doeren said at Monday’s press conference. “Our players and I all thank everybody there so much for your support, and we need the crowd noise to be epic this week. We really need that against this football team. Make it hard on their offense.”
This Cardinals team may be one of the best Louisville squads that Doeren has ever seen, led by former Ohio State transfer quarterback Lincoln Kienholz.
The Wolfpack have historically struggled against Louisville. State has lost the last two in the series and is 2-4 against Louisville at home.
Bring The Noise
“It'll be a very, very, very good football team coming in here that we're facing,” Doeren said on Thursday. “Our guys are excited to play, and I'm looking forward to a great crowd. And they haven't had crowd noise all year; they have not.”
“This is their first real road test, and so our fan base needs to dig in on that,” Doeren said. “We need people out of their seats, screaming and yelling when the opponent's out there on offense. You are a factor when you do that.”
There’s a lot riding on this game, and Doeren knows it. Multiple times this week he’s spoken to the fans directly, pleading for their help this weekend.
One Final Plea
“Having that 12th man, that crowd noise, that intensity helps us play better, makes it harder on their team to communicate and do things well,” Doeren said. “And battling the noise obviously can lead to some pre-snap issues for the other team. So we do appreciate everything you guys do and look forward to having another packed house at Carter-Finley [Stadium].”
The fans will be a big factor in this game, especially if Kienholz doesn’t suit up. State fans will make things difficult for whoever is backing him up.
“I'm asking for our players and for the program that the crowd can just be on fire in this one for us, from start to finish,” Doeren said.
NC State and Louisville are set to kick off at 3:30 pm ET on Saturday, October 3rd, on the ACC Network.
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Andre Cherry began covering college football in 2010 through his CherryPickin podcast network. Andre originally hails from Chicagoland and is a proud Illinois State alum. He has lived in Philadelphia since 2014 and has previously covered Temple Football. Andre has a broadcast journalism background and got his start in media at WSCR the Score. He’s written for Fox Sports, Bridgehead Media, cinéSPEAK Journal, and IPMF.
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