It’s finally here. Another year of NC State football is only days away, and with a new season comes a new slate of challenges for head coach Dave Doeren and company to overcome in the team’s search for postseason glory. From make-or-break conference matchups to classic Wolfpack trap games, the red-and-white has plenty to be cautious of as its hunt for 12-0 gets underway.
Nonconference Matchups
Weeks one through four see NC State facing off against the entirety of its nonconference schedule for the 2022 season. From afar, many onlookers would scoff at the quality of competition the Pack will square off against early in the year, but make no mistake — plenty of these teams possess the upset potential to knock NC State off its high horse.
The Wolfpack has no time to slowly work its way up to playing speed with a daunting week one matchup against the Pirates down in Greenville, North Carolina. For those outside of North Carolina, a name like East Carolina doesn’t mean much. Within the state, however, this is a rich and competitive rivalry spanning back to the first time these two programs faced off in 1970.
Over the past 52 years, NC State has earned itself a slight advantage in the all-time record with 18 wins to 13 losses against the Pirates. Within those 31 matchups, the Pack has fared much better at home than on the road, with a 16-7 advantage when playing in Carter-Finley Stadium compared to a losing 2-4 record in Dowdy-Ficklen. The last time the red-and-white was able to walk out of Greenville with a win was 2007, and in the six matchups since, the two teams are split three wins to three.
After the showdown at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, NC State returns home to face the remainder of its nonconference schedule. Weeks two through four see Charleston Southern, Texas Tech and UConn all making the trip to Raleigh in hopes of knocking off an NC State team with a lot of hype surrounding it.
The largest unknown to NC State is Charleston Southern, a program that the Pack has never had the opportunity to face off against before. Fortunately for the Wolfpack, Charleston Southern is coming off a rather disappointing 4-6 (3-4 Big South) season where struggles on the road were its biggest killer a year ago.
NC State hopes to capitalize on that shortcoming in its home opener, where Wolfpack fans will march out in droves to start another year of football in Raleigh. If it weren’t for such a potentially competitive matchup in the season’s first game, this would likely serve as the Pack’s warm-up for the remainder of the year, similar to how South Florida did a year ago when NC State managed a 45-0 shutout of the Bulls in week one.
Weeks three and four welcome two teams in Carter-Finley that NC State has a history of success against in the past. The Wolfpack hasn’t dropped a game to the Red Raiders since 1952, and over the course of the 70 years between then and now, NC State is 4-0 against Texas Tech. History doesn’t mean everything, however, as a lot has changed since the last time these programs faced off in 2003.
The same sentiment rings true for the UConn matchup in week four, with NC State coming into the game with a 2-0 all-time record against the Huskies. Again, a lot has changed in the 10 years since these teams met on the field in 2012. Despite the week zero loss to Utah State, the Huskies’ offense looked potent enough to give the Pack a run for its money, especially in the run game where UConn back Nathan Carter started off his season with a career-high 190 rushing yards on 20 carries.
Coastal Competition
In the final season before the ACC shifts to a conference without divisions, NC State will have to face a pair of opponents from the other side of the table that are guaranteed to give the Pack trouble.
The first of the two is a week nine faceoff against Virginia Tech at home, a series that historically has favored the Hokies. NC State comes into the season 18-28-4 against Virginia Tech all time and is currently on the tail end of a five-game losing streak dating back to Sept. 4, 2005. The four-point loss from nearly 17 years ago stands as the closest the Pack has come in the time frame to taking the Hokies down, with the average margin of defeat from the past five games sitting at almost 16 points.
The matchup in 2020 saw the continued slow rollout of now redshirt junior quarterback Devin Leary, who entered the game in the third quarter to lead a touchdown drive. Leary finished the contest throwing 12-16 for 165 yards and the aforementioned touchdown and will hope to put up even more impressive numbers in his first career start against the Hokies.
The last of the coastal pairings comes against every Wolfpack fan’s least favorite program, UNC-Chapel Hill. The final game of the regular season on Friday, Nov. 25 could be an absolutely electric one, with NC State primed to hold a pretty distinguished ranking heading into the start of postseason football.
Whether it wants to be heard or not, history favors the Tar Heels, which hold a 68-37 advantage in the all-time record with six ties sprinkled across the 128 years of the rivalry. The last 10 matchups between the programs are far more indicative of the nature this rivalry possesses, with the two teams split at five games apiece since 2012. No matter how good or bad of a year either program has had heading into the game, it’s anyone’s crown for the taking year after year. Mack Brown will probably be hellbent on redemption as well after last season’s historically humiliating loss at Carter-Finley.
Battle for the Atlantic
The first four weeks of the season are going to have to give the Pack all the time it needs to prepare for a week five matchup that has to be the most anticipated game of the season. Despite walking away with a 27-21 2OT victory in Carter-Finley last September, everything the Pack learned about Clemson in that game will fly off the table when NC State sets foot in Death Valley.
It’s been said a million times before, but, with every repetition, it remains just as true; to be the best, you have to beat the best. Even if you consider a 10-3 season a down year for the perennial powerhouse, the Tigers have claimed six of the last seven ACC titles. The ceiling for such an experienced and talented Wolfpack football squad extends past winning a conference championship, but it’s an essential stepping stone to get where this team undoubtedly wants to be. To get there, a win over Clemson is all but necessary for the Pack to control its own destiny within the conference.
If NC State can manage to pull off a miracle in Tigers territory, a week six matchup against Florida State has all the makings of a classic Wolfpack heartbreaker. In terms of “trap games,” this one is as real as it gets, with the potential high of downing Clemson sure to fog the minds coming into the game against the Seminoles.
Florida State has been an underperformer in recent years, but not due to a lack of talent. The program builds rosters that can compete with anyone year after year down in Tallahassee, Florida, and 2022’s unit is no exception. The dual-threat quarterback Jordan Travis may finally have found his footing in the passing game, and if that’s the case, NC State’s going to have its hands full trying to contain him.
The Pack has had the Seminoles’ number over the past five seasons, going 4-1 in that time and 2-0 when playing at home.
Week seven’s matchup against Syracuse is NC State’s last game before what will be a much-needed bye week. Historically speaking, the Pack hasn’t dealt with much pressure from the Orange in the past, owning a 13-2 record against Syracuse all time.
That being said, NC State is still going to have its hands full on the defensive side of the ball when trying to close holes on Sean Tucker, the running back receiving the most preseason All-ACC votes. This matchup leans towards an offensive showcase for both teams, but Wolfpack fans have seen wilder things happen than a tightly contested, low-scoring outing against Syracuse right before a week off.
Rounding out NC State’s schedule before the previously mentioned matchup with the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, the Pack squares off against both Wake Forest and Boston College at home before making a road trip to Louisville, Kentucky.
Maybe the most underrated of NC State’s rivalries, the matchup against Wake Forest never fails to entertain. It’s the Pack with the all-time advantage against the Demon Deacons, owning a record of 67-42-6 since the first meeting between the programs in 1895. However, similar to the history with UNC, the last 10 meetings between the teams are split an even five to five.
Things in college football have progressed quite a bit since that 1895 matchup that ended in a 4-4 tie. In modern times this rivalry seemingly always guarantees one thing — points in bunches. Expect much of the same this year, especially if Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman is cleared to play by early November.
Perhaps the most surprising series that NC State doesn’t hold a firm grasp on is against Boston College, which the Pack is 8-10 against all time. In the past five meetings between the programs, NC State has started to turn the tide, however, holding a slight three-wins-to-two advantage over the Eagles. On senior day, for a program that managed to retain so many veteran pieces from last year’s team, expect the experienced members of the Pack to use their last home game as an opportunity to leave their mark on Carter-Finley one last time.
The regular season’s penultimate matchup, and final ACC Atlantic game, is set for Saturday, Nov. 12 against Louisville. In an all-time series that is extremely reminiscent of the previously mentioned one against Boston College, the Cardinals hold a 7-4 all-time advantage but the Pack has taken three of the last five games. A win in Cardinal Stadium would go down as NC State’s second-ever road win against Louisville and could be just enough to punch the Pack’s ticket to an ACC championship appearance.
A lot of stars have aligned for NC State to face the slate of opponents it’s preparing for in 2022, but for everything that could go right — just as much can go wrong. Sure, the Pack has faced much tougher schedules in the past, but a team of this year’s caliber can’t afford to look over some of its non-primetime matchups. Every week will be its own independent battle, fought in order to break through the front lines of the ACC, which NC State may finally be built for.
