Did you forget that NC State already played a game this season? Do you wish you could forget? After all the offseason anticipation, the pain of the opening loss to UVA is already fading. The Wolfpack get a second opportunity to notch a win tonight vs the Richmond Spiders, their lone FCS opponent on the schedule.
One would assume that the Pack will be able to win this game, if they don’t then we’ve got bigger problems. It’s less about whether they win the game, but more about how they win. The TRT crew went over much of these in the latest episode of the Lotcast:
Lotcast 110 - Much to Solve for NC State
How does NC State move forward from the Virginia loss? The group discusses what they want to see from the Richmond game, offensive and defensive adjustments that we'd like to see, and general thoughts on the start to year two for both coordinators.
Last time, I wrote that the vibes are kinda weird going into this football campaign. People didn’t know how to evaluate the appropriate expectation level with all the new pieces. Now, the vibes are way worse, as the Pack will now have to build and buy back goodwill, and thus vibes, from the fan base. Dave Doeren has never lost to an FCS opponent, and it doesn’t seem like that’s at risk today. The goodwill will come if the team can demonstrate a higher skill level in their execution than they did against the Wahoos. Even still, it’s unlikely to move the needle all that much. Most people think Miami is one of the best teams in the country. The Hurricanes last night beat Florida A&M 77-7. Does that score make in believe more in Miami than they already did? Probably not. The same applies to NC State, although if they win 77-7 that will positively raise a lot of eyebrows.
A blowout to that magnitude is highly unlikely given Dave Doeren’s track record. In 2024, NC State the Pack beat Western Carolina 38-21. Fans may remember that State was actually LOSING this game 14-7 after the first quarter. Last year, their outing against Campbell went much smoother, 56-10. But that score didn’t serve as much of a bellwether for the team the rest of the season.
All that to say, we can’t take a ton from these games, we’re just looking at how the players execute. We would also hope they can get out comfortably and without injury to begin preparations for the game down in Nashville against Vanderbilt.
Let’s get to the weekly picks!
The team doesn’t have the utmost confidence that the Wolfpack offense will be able to produce a mountain of points to cover their 33.5 point spread. But we shall see in just a few hours now! Give your pick in the poll below, and any predictions in the comments!