OUR FINAL TAKE: NC State vs. North Carolina
Several members of the Inside Pack Sports staff predict the winner of the NC State-North Carolina matchup and tells you why.
James Henderson (IPS Publisher)
NC State 42, North Carolina 10
Senior Day for NC Stat,e and I believe this game sets up well for the Wolfpack.
North Carolina has struggled with teams who are strong in the trenches, and the lines are two of the biggest strengths for the Wolfpack.
In what should be a rowdy environment, this will be a matchup that UNC hasn't faced on the road since traveling to Virginia Tech.
The Hokies won 59-7.
It won't be that bad because UNC is clearly playing better, but look for the Wolfpack to conclude the year with a big win over the Tar Heels..
Rob McLamb (IPS Beat Writer)
NC State 42, North Carolina 17
NC State could lose this game if they have lapses. The Wolfpack has had some struggles at times, typically either in the first or third quarter. This is a game where State needs to assert itself.
It would be easy to see NC State struggle early with Senior Day festivities have a lingering impact. Expect the Wolfpack to take control late in the first or early in the second quarter and win going away.
Bryant Carson (IPS Football Analyst)
NC State 34, North Carolina 27
Here’s the deal…State should win this game BUT in this particular rivalry, the team that should win very often does not. Overlooking UNC at this point would be a very large mistake for NC State as the QB change and a couple of back-to-back wins have brought new life to the Tarheels.
The scary thing for the Pack on Saturday is that UNC has nothing to lose. If you’re UNC why not run every trick play you’ve got, go for 2 every time you score, try some surprise onside kicks, never punt on anything below 4th and 5 or fake every punt, etc? The half time locker room speech from the great Gene Hackman in the 2000 masterpiece The Replacements sums it up for the Tarheels—(I have included that below just in case we have some IPS subscribers that do NOT celebrate the entire cinematic career of Mr. Keanu Reeves).
“Listen up! This time tomorrow, the strike will be officially over. Now Dallas has made a big mistake out there tonight. They haven't been afraid of you, and they should be, because you have a powerful weapon working for you tonight: There is no tomorrow for you... and that makes you all VERY DANGEROUS PEOPLE!”
Another scary element to this game for Pack is that the NCSU-UNC rivalry is an odd one in that the road team seems to have the advantage, at least as of late. In the last 20 games, the road-team has won 11 and 2 others were played on a neutral field in Charlotte—so 11 of the last 18 games (a shade over 60%) played in either Chapel Hill or Raleigh resulted in a road-team victory. More recently, the last 4 games have gone to the road-team.
It’s hard not to imagine State winning this game but if they come in with a turkey-hangover or thinking about their potential bowl game in some sunny spot then expect the Tarheels to surprise them and score some easy points early on. If the Heels stick around in this thing it will get interesting in the 4th. State needs to put their foot down early and never let off the throttle.
James Johnson (IPS Football Analyst)
NC State 35, North Carolina 14
State gets back on track against the rival Tar Heels. Carolina has beem playing better, but look for State to return to form in Carter Finley Stadium.
The Carolina defense will struggle to get stops as State will establish the run and in turn hammer the ball home in the red zone. Ryan Finley will use play action and RPOs to establish the passing game as a compliment to the stretch run game.
On the other side, expect the senior laden to defense to play with fire and pressure the UNC passing game. Limiting explosive and trick plays will be key to controlling the UNC offense. If those things happen and the slot defense is improved, expect the Pack to roll.
Daniel Wilson (IPS Writer)
NC State 38, North Carolina 10
I could go into detail about how this matchup will turn out for the Wolfpack, but I think this GIF sums it up quite nicely.
(P.S. The Hulk represents NC State)
Austin Parker (IPS Writer)
NC State 38, North Carolina 17
Records do not matter in games like this, but having better players do.
Pack has just that at nearly every position compared to Chapel Hill. Expect State to control the clock like they did last week at WF and a balance on Oz Also, sort of a night game in the 2nd half so expect a rowdy and pump up crowd helping the Pack on the field and giving that advantage.
Jake McSwain (IPS Writer)
NC State 35, North Carolina 10
When two teams have a heated rivalry you often hear people say, “Throw out the records.” I do not buy into that. At the end of the day this is a putrid and depleted UNC team. They struggle to score at all on offense and have an equally hard time keeping teams out of the end zone. Sure, they may come out fired up, but NC State is going to be fired up as well. The offense will score early and often, and the defense will force at least two turnovers.