Wolfpack Kickoff: UNC
No. 22/23 NC State (4-1, 4-1 ACC) vs. No. 13/14 (3-1, 3-1 ACC)
Kenan Stadium (51,000)
Noon, ESPN (PxP: Dave Pasch; Mike Golic, Analyst; Marty Smith, Sideline)
Streaming: WatchESPN; National radio: Sirius 81, XM 381; Live stats: GoPack.com
Weather at kickoff: Partly cloudy and mild, 76 degrees at kickoff, 15% chance of rain
Series history: UNC leads 41-36-5 (35-21-2 in Chapel Hill)
Last meeting: UNC 41, State 10, Nov. 30, 2019 at Carter-Finley Stadium
Last week: State beat Duke 31-20. UNC lost to Florida State 31-28
BetOnline line: State plus 14 1/2 | Over/Under 60 1/2
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING
"I don’t exactly know what their culture is, so I don’t want to speak on something I don’t understand. I know what our culture is. It’s blue collar. I’ve said it many times, I came to NC State because I felt like I fit in. It’s a bunch of people that work hard and like to have a good time together -- very intelligent people, but very hard-working people. The blue collar, hands in your dirt program, that’s what we’re all about here." Coach Dave Doeren
"NC State's doing really well. I think we've been overrated. I think they've been underrated. They’re 4-1. On offense, Tim Beck has come in. He was Nebraska, Ohio State and I knew him in Texas and he's done a really good job with their offense. They're physical up front, they're running the ball, they've got two outstanding backs." UNC coach Mack Brown
"He’s prepared like a starter always," wide receiver Emeka Emezie said."He’s started games here before. He’s won games here before. I know he’s ready,” Senior receiver Emeka Emezie
PLAYERS TO WATCH
| NC STATE | UNC | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Passing | Bailey Hockan | 27-46-3 316 yards 2 TD | Sam Howell | 77-119-4 1,151 yards 9 TD |
Rushing | Zonovan Knight | 60 carries 365 yards 3 TD | Michael Carter Jr. | 57 carries 478 yards 2 TD |
Receiving | Emeka Emezie | 19 catches 286 yards 2 TD | Dyami Brown | 17 catches 296 yards 3 TD |
Cary Angeline | 11 catches 177 yards 5 TD | Dazz Newsome | 14 catches 137 yards 1 TD | |
Defense | Payton Wilson | 44 tacjkes 4.5 TFL 2 INT | Tomari Fox | 36 tackles 10.0 TFL 5.0 sacks |
Drake Thomas | 42 tackles 6.0 TFL 2 sacks | Jeremiah Gemmel | 26 tackles 2.0 TFL 3 PBU |
UNIFORM COMBINATION
Doeren and his players are sticking with what has been a winning look so far this season. For the third straight road game, they'll be wearing their white jerseys with red pants and red helmets.
NOTABLE
This is the 110th meeting between the Wolfpack and Tar Heels in a series that began in 1984. UNC is State's oldest against ACC teams and the fourth-most played series in the conference. ...
This is also just the third time, and first since 1993 when State was 15th and UNC 19th, that both rivals come into the matchup nationally ranked. The Wolfpack lost both of the previous occasions ...
Although the Tar Heels hold an overall lead in the rivalry, the Wolfpack holds the edge during the current century. NC State has won nine of the 13 games (including three of the last four) since 2000.
State is 3-0 in Chapel Hill under coach Dave Doeren and 4-3 against the Tar Heels overall ...
UNC coach Mack Brown is 6-7 all-time against the Wolfpack He lost his first five meetings with State between 1987-92, but won five in a row from 1993-97 before leaving for Texas ...
This is the fourth time in six games this season that State has played on the road ...
Although the Wolfpack usually plays in the ACC's Atlantic Division -- when divisional play is used -- it is playing every team from the Coastal Division during this year's 10-game league schedule ...
This is the fourth time since 2000 State is off to a 4-1 start against ACC competition. The other times came in 2002, 2003 and 2017) ...
Junior linebacker Vi Jones has blocked a punt in each of the past two games. He’s the first Wolfpack player since 2010 to block two punts in a season. ...
Redshirt sophomore linebacker Payton Wilson leads the ACC in tackles per game at 11.0 and ranks sixth in the FBS. Wilson and fellow linebackers Drake Thomas and Isiaiah Moore rank 1st, sixth and 10th in the ACC in tackles per game ...
Junior placekicker Christopher Dunn is six field goals shy of tying the the school record for career three-pointers. He has currently third on State's all-time list 49. Niklas Sade holds the record with 55. Mike Cofer is next with 50. ...
Junior linebacker Vi Jones has blocked a punt in each of the past two games. He’s the first Wolfpack player since 2010 to block two punts in a season.
UNC running backs Michael Carter jr. and Javonte Williams are the only pair of teammates nationally to average more than 100 yards rushing per game (among teams that have played more than one game). The two have combined to average 220 yards on the ground this season. ...
Tar Heels quarterback Sam Howell threw for 374 yards, the second most in his career, in last week's loss at Florida State. He had 283 of those yards after halftime.
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