NC State Aims to Make a Statement vs. Florida State

NC State and Florida State will be a battle between 5-5 programs clashing for a chance at bowl eligibility. The Wolfpack enters the matchup coming off of one of its worst losses of the season, a 41-7 drubbing at Miami in which the offense crossed the 50-yard line one time.

Dave Doeren and NC State could use the aid of its home crowd at Carter-Finley Stadium, which figures to be a high-octane atmosphere on Military Appreciation Night, something very important to Doeren and the Wolfpack program.

On this episode of the NC State Insider Podcast, get the full game day preview from host and lead beat writer Tucker Sennett, who provides stat projections, key storylines and more heading into the key matchup for both ACC programs.

Watch the Preview

Doeren knows better than anyone what's at stake for the Wolfpack over the next two weeks. To ensure 2025 isn't a completely lost season, his team must find a way to win one of those games, but the task remains tall. The veteran coach broke down the FSU matchup and the importance of Friday's game for him at his Wednesday availability. Find out what he had to say here:

Nov 1, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; NC State Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren during the first quarter at Carter-Finley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Zachary Taft-Imagn Images | Zachary Taft-Imagn Images

On the opportunity to play at Carter-Finley Stadium again and what makes the atmosphere special

"I think it's team to team. Someone asked me that yesterday; it depends on your home environment. We have a great home environment, and this one, Military Appreciation Day, is always my favorite home game of the year. I think our military presence in North Carolina is huge. It's very, very special to me, being from a military family, my wife being from a military family, and so you have the pageantry of that, along with a sellout and a packed house."

"If you were playing at a place, maybe where there's 20,000 people, you know, probably a different answer to the question. But for us, home field is an advantage because of who we have in the stands and how loud they can get in the student section. There's some teams that have a bad game day at home, so going on the road might bring energy to them."

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— NC State Football (@PackFootball) November 21, 2025

"I think that's not the case for us right now. And you know, the teams I've had that have played well on the road, obviously, we were very mature football teams. We weren't dealing with the injuries that we're dealing with. Every year is different when you look at those kind of things, but we have a great home-field advantage. It's been that way for a while and we're excited to be back in the Carter."

On Carter-Finley Stadium being an asset in recruiting

"Thursday night and Friday night, you get great coverage, right? And so that's the positive of that. And your fans, it's great for them. For high school recruits, unless their seasons are over, which to your point some of them are, it's hard to get them in the stadium... We'll get, you know, a portion of them to be here for game day, but it's give and take."

"I do like the coverage that we do get on a Thursday night, Friday night. Prefer those games after a buy or to open the season, just from a health standpoint... Being able to get guys fresh and keep them healthy throughout the season. But, there is a huge advantage when you're not in a short week to playing those night games during the week, because of how much television coverage you can get."

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