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Welcome to the first of many posts where we predict with exacting accuracy what will happen in an upcoming NC State season. Now, you may be asking how we can be so accurate with our predictions when the three of us have different results predicted for the various games of the season.
And the answer is: yes.
This 2023 football season is one of the most interesting in recent memory. I'm still smarting over the sting of how last year played out. We spent nearly a full calendar year in hype mode when nearly that whole team decided to come back to try and win an ACC championship, only for it to result in an(other) eight-win season.
But now, coach Dave Doeren seems to have reloaded in a way that is unique during his tenure. Adding new OC Robert Anae and QB Brennan Armstrong has the offense poised to look exactly what fans have been hoping for for years now. Time will tell whether that actually plays out, but Armstrong is one of several pieces in places that have the on-paper chance of meeting last year's total, if not exceeding it.
Will they live up to this renewed level of hype? We shall see, let's see how the crew predicted each game:
​ | Alec Lower | Essad Malik | Trey Lower |
Week 1 (Thu, 8/31) @ UConn | W | W | W |
Week 2 (9/9) vs Notre Dame | L | L | W |
Week 3 (9/16) vs VMI | W | W | W |
Week 4 (Fri, 9/22) @ UVA | W | W | W |
Week 5 (Fri, 9/29) vs Louisville | W | W | W |
Week 6 (10/7) vs Marshall | W | W | W |
Week 7 (10/14) @ Duke | W | L | L |
Week 8 (10/28) vs Clemson | L | W | L |
Week 9 (11/4) vs Miami | W | W | W |
Week 10 (11/11) @ WF | W | L | W |
Week 11 (11/18) @ VT | W | W | W |
Week 12 (11/25) vs UNC | W | L | W |
​ | ​ | ​ | ​ |
Predicted Record | 10 - 2 | 8 - 4 | 10 - 2 |
Vegas had the over-under on NC State's season at 6.5. That seemed surprisingly low with the obvious amount of talent on the roster and staff. Almost to a disrespectful level, to be honest. Ten wins might make for a historic season, but at the least, it seems that eight wins is well within reach given the schedule. The back half of the schedule will be tough, but having many of the challenging opponents at home should help the Pack.
Now let's think just about Week 1 predictions, as the Wolfpack make their way up to a surprisingly resurgent UConn team:
Name | Prediction | Comments |
Alec Lower | 31-6 (W) | I expect a suffocating defensive effort and an experimental offensive effort. There will be some ugliness and it will be close early, but things will start to click eventually. |
Essad Malik | 40-17 (W) | Armstrong comes out slinging early, UConn struggles to keep up after halftime. |
Trey Lower | 27-13 (W) | Despite Armstrong's familiarity with the offense, the receivers struggle and State's defense bails them out with a late score, great as usual. |
Let's go ahead and get this season started already! Go Pack!
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