2025 Week 6 Predictions - NC State vs Campbell: camel riding

Recap from Last Week, Week 5 vs VT

I feel like I should have known better. Back in 2020, early in the season, NC State went to Blacksburg to play Virginia Tech. Many of the Hokies players were out with COVID, including starting quarterback Hendon Hooker (remember him?). The backup QB, name unimportant to the story, hurts his hand in the second quarter, with VT already winning 24-7 at that point. The third string QB starts warming up on the sideline, and I swear I knew in that moment NC State was going to lose. The dude had a look on his face that showed how locked in he was. He immediately led the team down the field for a 75 yard touchdown drive on back to back possessions, en route to a 45-24 drubbing.

The narrative going into that game was eerily similar to the one NC State faced last weekend. Virginia Tech just lost its head coach (in 2020, they were without their DC). Both times, the Hokies were missing lots of players, whether withdrawing for the portal or due to illness. And, most importantly, both times the fans going into the game were unnecessarily confident the Wolfpack would pull out the win, simply because of the opposition being shorthanded. This shows how you can never guarantee any wins, you have to go out and execute. And NC State did not, in fact, execute last Saturday night.

Interim head coaches often have a way of invigorating a team with new life. Looking back on it, obviously the signs were there as Admiral Ackbar was trying to warn us.

The frustrating part is that this game was winnable like 10 different times, and shouldn't have come down to a bad fourth down conversion attempt. Now, instead of potentially being a dark horse to compete for an ACC title, this is the only award we get:

Seeing these types of things happen over and over makes me feel silly for believing things could change. Well, you know what they say about the definition of insanity...

Updated look at the team's predictions against their preseason picks week over week.

How well do these predictions add up for the season so far?

Predictions: Week 6 vs Campbell - 10/4/25

Last week, we thought, "okay, not all is lost, we still have more to play for in the ACC. It's a stretch, but not mathematically impossible." Now, those hopes are all but dashed. However, Dave Doeren has a special way of rallying his team around playing for each other and pushing through regardless if they don't have lofty goals in their reach anymore. This is how he's reached 8 wins consistently. But now, given the remaining schedule, 7 wins might be the ceiling, and that leaves you with such a milquetoast feeling about the future and prospects for success.

I would say the game against Campbell is an opportunity to exorcise the bad juju and get some momentum back in the season, but who are we kidding. The game will be unreasonbly close, with the Wolfpack pulling away in the second half. ECU lost 24-17 against NC State, then went on to beat Campbell 56-3. By that factor, NC State should beat by something like 63-6. But we all know they won't, and what does that say about our opinions and expectations for where the Dave Doeren era is now?

And now, on to our Week 6 predictions!

So, what do you think will happen this week? Let us know in the comments below, and respond in the poll with your pick!

AI Image of the Week

When you have the opportunity to create a picture of a wolf riding a camel, waving a cowboy hat while riding through the old west and holding onto reigns that are in no way connected to said camel, you just have to do it, right?

I have also always found it amusing that Campbell's mascot is the Camels. It feels very on the nose, and yet so fitting.

I will continue creating images in cartoon fashion until NC State decides it wants to anything other than a funny distraction on Saturdays, like we used to enjoy on Saturday mornings. When they take themselves seriously like they're ready for primetime, they will be drawn as such.