After getting dominated by Tennessee in the Duke’s Mayo Classic, NC State football returns home to take on the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs on Saturday at noon.
Seeking a rebound win, the Wolfpack will face the Bulldogs for the third time in program history. The Pack is 2-0 in the series and won the most recent matchup in 2021, 34-27.
In 2023, the Bulldogs finished 3-9 (2-6 C-USA). They are led by third-year head coach Sonny Crumble and come into this week only having played one game, a 25-17 win against Nicholls on Aug 31. NC State will be the first of two Power Conference teams they will play, as they also travel to play Arkansas in November.
Louisiana Tech started the game against Nicholls led by redshirt junior quarterback Jack Turner, however, Turner left early with an injury and has an unclear status for the game in Carter-Finley. The quarterback that stepped in for Turner was freshman Blake Baker. In the game against Nicholls, Baker was 12-24, with 207 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
The leading rusher for the Bulldogs in their opener was Junior Marquis Crosby. He had nine carries for 44 yards. Their two best wide receivers are Marlion Jackson and Jay Wilkerson. Jackson had three receptions for 76 yards and Wilkerson also had three receptions for 64 yards.
While the offense for the Bulldogs was able to generate enough momentum to give them the win, they also committed 4 turnovers, those being three interceptions and one fumble. One thing NC State will need to do in order to have success in this game is put pressure on the offense, get physical and force turnovers.
Defensively, the Bulldogs did a great job against Nicholls. They limited them to 200 total yards and only allowed one touchdown, despite several turnovers by their offense. Their performance in week one was against an FCS team, so the Wolfpack’s offense will be a much bigger test for this defense.
Due to their only game being in the first week of the season, the Bulldogs have had an extra week to prepare for NC State, who are trying to rebound from a humbling loss to the Tennessee Volunteers. Not only that, but NC State travels to Death Valley to play Clemson in Week 4, which means they have very little time to fix what they need to in between that point.
One of the red-and-white’s glaring weaknesses in the Tennessee game was the inability to stop the run. They allowed a total of 249 rushing yards against the Volunteers and allowed 120 total in the previous week against Western Carolina. As Louisiana Tech’s run game is not their strength, the Wolfpack defensive line should be able to figure out how to establish an effective run defense.
Wolfpack graduate quarterback Grayson McCall will be looking for ways to get more comfortable and make his offense more well-rounded, as he has only thrown three touchdowns so far this season and they were all to sophomore receiver Kevin Concepcion. He has thrown two interceptions so far this season and will be looking for ways to limit those mistakes.
Rushing is something that the Wolfpack as a whole will be looking to improve as the team only had 39 total rushing yards against Tennessee. Graduate running back Jordan Waters is another Wolfpack member who will be looking to get more comfortable with a still new team as he only has 120 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the span of games.
Several teams have rocky starts to the season and NC State has been no exception. They now have an opportunity to fix what they need to fix and get back on track before heading to Death Valley to take on the Tigers.
Kickoff between the Wolfpack and Bulldogs is slated for 12:00 p.m on Sept. 14. The game will be played at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina.
