NC State enters Saturday’s rivalry game against UNC with a chance to do something the Wolfpack haven’t accomplished since 2003.
With a win over the rival Tar Heels at Carter-Finley Stadium, the Pack will finish ahead of UNC in the ACC standings.
The last time State could look down at the folks in light blue at the end of football season was in 2003. The Tar Heels finished ahead of the Wolfpack in 2004, and the ACC shifted to a two-division format, with the two in-state rivals separated — State in the Atlantic Division, Carolina in the Coastal.
There was one season when the Heels and Pack competed in the same set of standings — the COVID-scrambled 2020 campaign. Both teams tied at 7-3 in ACC play.
This year, the ACC scrapped the divisional plan, and, as recently as the start of this month, UNC was a heavy favorite to finish ahead of NC State. The Heels have been ranked most of the year, cracking the top 10 in mid-October. Heading into Saturday’s game, the Tar Heels still had a shot at playing in this year’s ACC Championship Game.
NC State, meanwhile, seemed to be struggling through a disappointing season. The same week that UNC broke into the top 10, State managed just three points and lost by 21 to a Duke team that had a freshman backup quarterback making his first career start. In the ensuing weeks, State’s quarterback, MJ Morris, decided to redshirt the rest of the season.
Despite all of that, however, State has put together a four-game winning streak, beating Clemson and Miami at home, then hitting the road to top Wake Forest and Virginia Tech, an impressive month by any measure. It was State’s first win at Wake since 2015, the Pack’s first at Tech since 2004. It was also their first win over Miami anywhere since 2008 and their first time beating Wake and Clemson in the same season — despite playing every year except 2020 — since 2002.
State has been playing well on both sides of the ball. The offense has topped 20 points each week, as the Pack won four straight against ACC foes for the first time since 2017. The defense has held two of the four foes to six points.
“You never know what to expect,” said State coach Dave Doeren. “Like, you know, the media in general makes such a big deal out of preseason. Even the first three games it’s like the whole world ends when a team wins. It’s a long season. There’s a lot a lot of stuff, November is a key month. That’s why I get frustrated when you see coaches get fired before the end of the season. So many things can happen.
“I don’t know at this stage in my career I try not to predict because there’s certain things out of my control that changed things. … You just can’t predict everything you know, and I’m just proud of how we’ve gotten better. We’re peaking at the right time. Offense, defense, special teams, all the guys are pitching in, and coaches are doing a good job.”
Meanwhile, Carolina has seen its season come apart at the seams after a promising start for the second straight year. Since mid-October, the Heels have lost to Virginia, Georgia Tech and Clemson. A wild double-overtime win over Duke that saw the Tar Heels defense get gashed during a Blue Devils rally in the second half was the only win over a Power Five team the Heels have managed since Oct. 14. It’s the second straight year the Heels have seen a late collapse. UNC lost four straight after starting the year 9-1 last season.
Drake Maye struggled against Clemson’s defense on Saturday, and, despite rushing for 178 yards, Omarion Hampton fumbled twice at the goal line. The defense struggled to stop Clemson a week after imploding against Duke.
“We played good defense for six weeks and then we haven’t,” said UNC coach Mack Brown. “I think we’ve gotten tired some. Tonight we were up and down defensively, but we were more inconsistent on offense. Our offense usually runs up and down the field. Tonight, we didn’t.”
Now, the Heels will try to turn things around against a State team that has beaten them two years in a row and is on a roll. Oh, and the Pack is also a game ahead of Carolina in the ACC standings, sitting in third place at 5-2.
“I told them, ‘Got a rival game next week. Put this one behind you, try to learn from it. As coaches, we’ll figure out what we could have done better. You look at your part, be critical. Be careful on the way home, sleep tonight, and let’s get ready to start over tomorrow,’” Brown said.
Doeren seems to be relishing the game a bit more than his counterpart in blue.
“It’s going to be a fun rivalry week,” he said. “You got two good football teams with the same record (8-3 overall) coming in, so it’ll be a lot of fun.”
