The NC State football team’s regular season will draw to a close Saturday when the Pack plays host to No. 14 UNC-Chapel Hill at Carter-Finley Stadium on Senior Day.
The Tar Heels (10-1, 7-0 ACC) will travel to Raleigh to challenge a Wolfpack team (7-4, 3-4 ACC) that has managed to turn things up offensively late in the year. Over the last five games, the Pack has scored 31.8 points per game, scoring more than 20 points in four of the five games.
Last Saturday, the Wolfpack dominated the 42-29 Syracuse Orange on the Military Appreciation Day. The Pack’s offense was incredibly balanced; NC State ran for 276 yards and threw for 235 yards as a team.
Redshirt sophomores Jaylen Samuels and Dakwa Nichols and freshmen Nyheim Hines and Reggie Gallaspy all combined for the Packs monster game on the ground, totaling 47 carries with an average of 5.9 yards per rush. Head coach Dave Doeren mention that the offensive line should get a lot of credit for the performance on the ground as well.
“I think for us to run the ball like that with four guys shows you the great blocking that was going on in the game,” Doeren said. “It’s not just them though, there’s tight ends and wide receivers getting the blocks downfield to get those guys free too.”
As for UNC, the coastal division champions had to grit out a win against Virginia Tech in what was Frank Beamer’s last home game as Hokies head coach. The Tar Heels, despite the factors leading to a near-upset, managed to escape Blacksburg, Virginia with a 30-27 overtime win.
The game has been an indicator of how tough teams have been for the Tar Heels the last three games defensively. The Tar Heels have given up 26.3 points per game with all three opponents scoring more than 20 points in each. In the previous eight games, the Tar Heels only gave up more than 20 points once.
But giving up three or more scores has hardly mattered given the state of the Tar Heels’ offense, which has averaged 43.7 points during their 10-game winning streak, scoring more than 50 points in four of those games. Doeren noted how it will be tough to contain the UNC attack.
“It’s about stopping the run,” Doeren said. “You also gotta defend the big play because they are going to throw it downfield. We have to make sure that we are getting pressure on the quarterback and making sure that we take away their throwing lanes.”
The player to watch for the Wolfpack will be the electric freshman Hines. He was lights out during the matchup against Syracuse in his breakout game, racking up 208 yards of total offense and one rushing touchdown on 16 touches. The freshman from Garner is looking forward to making his mark in the rivalry between the schools.
“It’s great to be part of the rivalry,” Hines said. “I grew up rooting for State, so I’m looking forward to playing and cheering the seniors on.”
Last season, the Pack traveled to Chapel Hill and stomped UNC 35-7, putting up 388 yards on the ground. Redshirt senior quarterback Jacoby Brissett put on a monster performance, running for 167 yards and a touchdown while throwing for three touchdowns.
While this year’s UNC team is a different beast, the Pack will turn to its prolific running game to create big plays just as it did a season ago.
NC State will look to send its seniors out with win number eight and a win against the Tar Heels on Senior Day, with kickoff scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
