Coming off a bye week, the NC State football team looks to grab its fifth win of the season and first conference win of head coach Dave Doeren’s tenure on the road against ACC rival Syracuse.
After a promising 4-0 start, the Pack (4-4, 0-4 ACC) has lost its last four games by an average of 21 points in each contest. With the impending threat of falling under the .500 mark for the first time this season, NC State is eager to return to its winning ways from earlier in the year.
A trip up north to a below-average Syracuse team (3-5, 1-3 ACC) just might be the right remedy to the Pack’s recent woes. With a week of rest and preparation under its belt, the Pack is hungry for its first action in almost two weeks.
“I think the week of rest was really beneficial,” NC State Head Coach Dave Doeren said at the weekly ACC Coaches Press Conference. “I think you’ll see there is a lot of improvement in a lot of areas. A lot of guys are playing better and young guys are growing into the system.”
The last time we saw the Pack in action was a road game at Louisville. State was able to hang with the Cardinals for four quarters, but a last-minute touchdown put the game out of reach for the Wolfpack.
Redshirt junior quarterback Jacoby Brissett had a solid performance going 18-for-32 with 223 yards, two scores and one interception. The Pack was able to put up 16 points on the third-ranked scoring defense in the country, promising signs for Offensive Coordinator Matt Canada’s offense.
“I think you see the resiliency of our team in that game,” Doeren said. “Nobody thought we had a chance with the injuries and the suspensions going into that game. The guys really rallied around each other in their effort for the game.”
The Orange limps into Saturday’s matchup having lost five of its last six games, with the most recent coming in a 16-6 loss at Clemson last weekend. In the wake of senior quarterback Terrel Hunt’s leg injury, the last three games have seen ‘Cuse turn to true freshman quarterback AJ Long. Long had a mediocre game against the Tigers, completing 12 of 27 passes for 82 yards and two interceptions.
“Their quarterback is a versatile kid that makes plays with his feet,” Doeren said. “They’re really balanced on offense.”
Defensively, the Orange isn’t much of a threat, giving up 375 total yards to Clemson, 166 of those yards on the ground. However, the defense did force four turnovers on the day against the Tigers.
“They’re a pressure defense,” Doeren said. “They bring a lot of different pressures—edge pressures, middle pressures, moving guys around. They play hard on defense and pride themselves on stopping the run.”
The good news for the Wolfpack is the return of the seven suspended players, including linebacker Jerod Fernandez and safety Josh Jones. With the defense regaining some of its key players, look for a better showing from the Pack on the defensive side of the ball.
“I think it was a great lesson for those guys, and I really think they learned a lot,” Doeren said. “It forced our players to have to rally around each other, which is a really good thing for our football team to have to do.”
Even with the recent struggles and slump the Wolfpack has experienced, it hasn’t deterred Doeren and company from finishing strong.
“It’s a four game season,” Doeren said. “It doesn’t matter how we won the first four and lost the next four. We’re really trying to take that attitude with a fresh start and a strong finish.”
