State players had not even begun to take off their equipment after Saturday’s 38-10 loss to Virginia Tech when Pack fans who traveled to Blacksburg, Va. let senior safety Bobby Floyd and his teammates know what was on their minds.
“Walking out of the stadium at Blacksburg, the fans were chanting, ‘Beat Carolina,'” Floyd said. “Our tunnel was right by where our fans were and a lot of them were chanting that. It’s a testament to how much this game means to Wolfpack fans. I still had my shoulder pads and helmet on.”
N.C. State’s last meeting with the Tar Heels saw the Pack dominate, winning 41-10 in what many fans considered the highlight of the 2008 season. Growing up in North Carolina, redshirt senior left guard Julian Williams is well aware of the nature of the rivalry between State and Carolina. Williams said this year’s game will be particularly intense after what happened last year.
“This game means a bunch to me,” Williams said. “Growing up in this state, I’m from North Carolina; N.C. State-North Carolina always has been a big rivalry. With what we did to them last year over there [in Chapel Hill], they’re going to come in pumped. Any time you play at someone else’s stadium and you have more fans left at the end of the game than they do, you know it’s an embarrassment to them. So we’re going to have bring it to them this year even more.”
For the third week in a row, the Pack offense will square off with a ranked opponent boasting one of the conference’s top defenses. North Carolina’s defense enters the regular season finale first in the conference in scoring and rushing defense and is second in pass defense.
“They’re playing with a lot of confidence,” coach Tom O’Brien said. “It comes down to the continuity of what they have. When you look at it, it’s probably an NFL defense; they probably have got half a dozen guys that are NFL guys. Looking at them, they’re very similar to the N.C State defense of about seven years ago when they had all those guys end up in the NFL.”
Knowing its offense will face a defense which has forced 28 turnovers this year, more than any team in the ACC, Floyd said the Pack’s own defense is aware of how important it will be to cause turnovers of its own.
“A lot of times turnovers are the name of the game,” Floyd said. “The team that wins the turnover battle wins a lot of games. Obviously their defense is very good at creating turnovers. And if we want to be able to beat them, I think we have to beat them in the turnover battle, which means we have to be better at taking the ball away from their offense than they are at taking [the ball] away from ours.”
Hopes for a bowl game were dashed two weeks ago and the possibility of a .500 finish is no longer achievable after the loss to the Hokies. But with 17 seniors, 10 of which are current starters, preparing for their last ever game, the Pack will treat the noon kickoff Saturday against the Tar Heels like its bowl game.
“This is pretty much as big as a bowl game right now,” Williams said. “Especially for the seniors, because it’s our last go-round. It’s your last game and it’s against Carolina so it might as well be that bowl atmosphere to us. “
Floyd said he could not think of a better ending to his career than a third straight win against the Tar Heels.
“This has been a disappointing season,” Floyd said. “We really want to go out on a good note and send seniors out. I’m one of them. I’d really like to end my career here with a win over Carolina and beat them three years in a row. That would be a great way to go out, in my opinion.”
