The NC State Wolfpack is still searching for its first conference win of the season as they head into Week 8.
The Pack followed up a tough collapse against Wake Forest with a loss against Syracuse over the weekend, a game in which they committed three red-zone turnovers.
On the one hand, the Pack’s (3-4, 0-3 ACC) next opponent, the California Berkeley Golden Bears (3-3, 0-3 ACC) hasn’t won one either, but on the other, they’ll have to travel over 2,400 miles to the other side of the country to play.
It’s the first time the Wolfpack has played in the state since 1960. They made a trip to the Holiday Bowl in San Diego at the end of the 2021 season, but the game was cancelled due to COVID.
“It’s a long road trip to California,” said NC State coach Dave Doeren on Monday. “It’ll be different in a couple of ways. It’ll be a normal practice Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, but we will leave town Thursday after practice. Normally, we would travel on a Friday so we’re going to get out there a day early just to acclimate a little bit more to the time change and then we’ll have our Friday routine we’d usually do here out there.”
Remember when the Atlantic Coast Conference was on the… well, Atlantic coast?
Anyway, with ACC expansion happening this offseason, the conference added Cal, Stanford and SMU and so the Pack will be facing the first of the new faces of the ACC this week.
And this isn’t just the first time the Wolfpack has faced the Golden Bears as conference opponents, it’s the first time they’ve faced them ever.
Cal has been impressive in their ACC debut, as they lead the league in turnover margin, but they’ve also gotten the full ACC experience with some tough losses and with some questionable game-deciding calls.
“Very competitive team,” Doeren said of the Golden Bears “They’ve lost three one-possession games in a row that were down to the wire. Really impressed with their defense. I really like watching their two linebackers. They’re good football players. They’re active, they can run, hit, make a lot of plays in the defense. They’re playing hard. They lead the league in turnover margin. They don’t turn the football over offensively and they create a bunch of turnovers on defense.”
Offensively, Cal is led by quarterback Fernando Mendoza who’s thrown for 1,449 yards and eight touchdowns in six games, but he’s also thrown three interceptions and been sacked a staggering 24 times.
On the defensive side of the ball, linebackers Teddye Buchanan, Cade Uluave and Xavier Carlton have combined for 132 tackles and nine sacks while defensive back Nohl Williams leads the NCAA with six interceptions alone.
While the Golden Bears have been dominating in terms of turnover margin, the Pack have been the complete opposite.
NC State currently has the most turnovers in the ACC and are tied for the ninth most in FBS with six interceptions thrown and seven fumbles lost.
“We’re turning the ball over too much,” Doeren said. “We lead the ACC in turnovers. It’s the first thing that has to get fixed if we want to win games. We have to stop beating ourselves in that manner.”
The defense has been showing up, as they’re in the top third of the nation for turnovers with five fumbles recovered and six interceptions, but the offense needs to find a way to protect the football.
However, the Pack’s defense will more than likely be having a bit of a tougher time as they’ll be without starting middle linebacker and leading tackler Caden Fordham who was ruled out for the remainder of the season.
“He’ll be a leader wherever he is,” Doeren said. “In the building, on the sideline, in the meeting rooms, in the locker room. Part of it will depend on his recovery with how much he’s on the sideline because he is going to have to have surgery, but once he gets back to being healthy, he’ll be as active as he’s allowed to be. That guy cares deeply about his teammates, his coaches, his team, his university. He’ll do anything he can to help this place, I know that.”
In Fordham’s place, senior Devon Betty slid into the middle while freshman Kamal Bonner will have the chance to be a starter.
The Wolfpack will need a full-team effort on Saturday from the offense to the defense and even on special teams if they want to get themselves out of the hole they’ve dug through eight weeks of football.
“We have to do a better job with finishing games, taking care of the football, getting the turnover margin the way it needs to be and continuing to play really hard,” Doeren said.
