OUR FINAL TAKE: NC State vs. Charleston Southern
Several members of the Inside Pack Sports staff predict the winner of the NC State-Charleston Southern matchup.
James Henderson (IPS Publisher)
State 49, Charleston Southern 10
I think CSU can pass it so they’ll put up a few points, but NC State’s offense should be able to light up the scoreboard on that defense.
This will be a “get right” spot for both offense and defense.
Steve Williams (IPS Football Recruiting Analyst)
State 42, Charleston Southern 6
This is a game State should win handily. More importantly, the Pack has to simply get better offensively, and I think they will. I look at this game as a building block for the rest of the season.
Bryant Carson (IPS Football Analyst)
State 34, Charleston Southern 9
I would personally love to see State be aggressive for the entire game, throwing the ball and getting reps to as many of the younger, inexperienced, and explosive players as possible. However, I think it's much more likely we see State build up a decent lead by somewhere in the early or mid part of the third quarter and then it'll be Jack Chambers/run/run/run time.
Phillip Danford (IPS Football Analyst)
State 55, Charleston Southern 10
This has been a challenging week. Moods both inside and outside of the Murphy Center need a pick-me-up. So I think NC State looks to dominate an overmatched opponent and reaffirm that self belief that was so prevalent this time last week.
Ethan Barry (IPS Writer)
State 56, Charleston Southern 10
Get-right game for the Pack and I think they take out the frustrations on Charleston Southern. The backups won’t be in as early as we’d like them to be, I think you still see Leary in the 3rd quarter, but this one is never in doubt and everybody feels good about the Pack again.
Jake McSwain (IPS Writer)
State 52, Charleston Southern 7
State gets a pass last week for a lot of reasons. If this weekend goes poorly there is genuine cause for concern. It's time for this team to take care of business and handle an inferior opponent the way a top 15 team should. Look for the offense to score at will and for the defense to produce more turnovers.
Jake Caccavaro (IPS Writer)
State 52, Charleston Southern 10
I've got the Wolfpack winning by 42 in a game that might feel like even more of a blowout than the score indicates. I fully expect the offense to click after looking quite dysfunctional against ECU.
Until he consistently gives me a reason to jump ship, I'm still a Devin Leary believer. I think he'll have the receivers on the same page and has the first-game jitters completely knocked off. NC State's receivers are gonna get open, Leary is gonna hit them, and the Wolfpack is gonna roll. Demie Sumo should hit 100 total rushing/receiving yards, too.
I won't even bother talking about the defense because they're going to flat-out dominate. Actually, scratch that - I'll add that I think the defense will force four turnovers.
BP Cox (IPS Photographer)
State 45, Charleston Southern 10
So week one against rival East Carolina turned out to be a wake up call for the Wolfpack. While I might have bought into a lot of the preseason hype, and while it was an ugly game for State, I keep reminding myself those are the types of games we have seen State lose over and over again. But this time they didn’t. I’ll take it.
I look for Devin Leary to come out slinging to set the tone and put Charleston Southern away early. I think Carter & Toudle will show up big for the receivers and Sumo will have a big day on the ground.
Hopefully this will be a pace-setting game for the offense moving forward.