We continue our series with NC State.
Louisville | Virginia | Miami | Duke | Georgia Tech | Boston College | Pittsburgh | Florida State | Virginia Tech | Clemson |Syracuse | North Carolina | Wake Forest
We have been running through the best case and worst case scenarios for each team. I am going to look at the best and worst case scenario for NC State. Now, I have been seeing a lot of views of NC State from the media. I’ve seen them as a dark horse candidate for winning the ACC Coastal ( Cole Cubelic), to them being a 6-6 team. I actually have something a little bit different, as you will see… So, here goes.
BEST CASE SCENARIO:
The best case scenario for NC State, I think is 10-2. In this best case scenario rely’s on all of the bounces of the football going their way. It also means that some teams on NC State’s schedule not living up to their hype and players not being as good as they should be.
1) South Carolina (in Charlotte), when you look at this game, South Carolina returns their Quaterback, top 2 rushers, and their leading Wide Receiver on offense and their top 2 tacklers on defense. The issue with that, when you look at the statistics, you aren’t blown away from this offense. They did not rush for over 1,000 yards, didn’t throw for over 3,000 yards (as a team), and had no wide outs who went over 1,000 yards. South Carolina also losses their top sack artist, who provided 9 out of the teams 20.5 sacks from last season. NC State might not be tested by this team, however, it is all about perception with NC State and they need this game.
2) Marshall (Raleigh): When you look at this game, you are seeing a team that went 3-9 from last season. The Thundering Herd returns it’s Quaterback and their leading rusher. However, they lose their top receivers and will be relying on 2 redshirt freshman wideouts. Marshal also loses it’s top 3 tacklers and their top 2 pass rushers. There is no scenario where NC State loses this game….
3) Furman (Raleigh): This is a game against a Division 1-AA team. There is no reason NC State can/will lose this game. Furman is not even a GOOD D-1AA program. Last year Furman went 3-8 in Division 1-AA and NC State will not lose this game
4) Florida State (Tallahassee): So, this is the second game that NC State is going to be focused on. When you look at this game, being 4 weeks into the season, Florida State might look much much different later in the season. But when you look at it, Florida State returns it’s QB who was solid in this 1st season. Florida State does lose it’s top running back, however they do replace him with a 5 * running back (Cam Atkins) and Patrick Jacques. FSU also loses it’s top 2 wide receivers. In the best case scenario I still think that FSU beats NC State. NC State has not fared well in Tallahassee lately.
5) Syracuse (Raleigh): Syracuse is coming off of a 4-8 season. Dino Babers in coming into his 2nd season at SU and does not have his players into the system as of yet. If you listened to Brian Harrison’s preview of SU football he made the comment about it taking a year and a half to get the offense into full gear. This is about where the Babers offense should be almost clicking. SU returns their starting QB, Eric Dungey who is talented. They also return their leading rusher, which in this offense is just there to keep defenses honest. However, the lose their top target from last season (who was a beast by the way). The defense, which had issues getting to the quaterback last year, loses their top 2 pass rushers.
6) Louisville (Raleigh): This is the true game where in the best case and worst case scenario things become interesting. We saw how bad Louisville was playing at the end of the season. Louisville does return the Heisman Trophy winner, Lamar Jackson. They lose their top 2 targets from last season, but Bobby Petrino can develop offensive talent. The offensive line is a year older and according to Ourlads.com all the starters are either JR’s or Redshirt JR’s. Since the game is in Raleigh, in this scenario I have NC State winning this one.
7) Pitt (Pittsburgh): This is the 2nd game that can go either way in my opinion. It is on the road with a very well coached team. Pitt will be replacing their Quaterback, Nathan Peterman. They also lost James Connor, who was an inspiration on the field for this team. Pitt also loses Ejuan Price who had 13.5 sacks last season. They also lost their Offensive Coordinator, Matt Canada who went to LSU. Pitt also might be in some turmoil with a player being dismissed and 2 more being suspended for the first 4 games. By this point, Pitt might be in give up mode or fighting for a bowl game. In this scenario, they have given up.
8) Notre Dame (South Bend): This is the third game in a row that can go either way. With Notre Dame, you have no idea what is going to happen. Brian Kelly seems to be on the hotseat after last seasons debacle. While ND loses both QB’s, they bring in Brandon Wimbush. And if you believe the hype, he almost beat out both Kizer and Zaire out going into last season. Wimbush is talented, and they bring back their top RB and WR. Depending on if Alize Jones can get eligible the offense might be a problem. I still have NC State winning this game but it’ll be interesting.
9) Clemson (Raleigh): This game is an interesting one. We all know what Clemson loses on offense. It is a lot, they will be breaking in new QB, RB, and their #1 WR. With all of that said, Clemson recruits on another level then what NC State does. They have a QB battle of 4* and 5* players. Then there is that defense. That defense is going to be scary. They have players that will end up in the NFL and that defensive front is scary good. I have Clemson coming to Raleigh and walking out with a win.
10) Boston College (Boston): Last year the Eagles came into Raleigh and walked away with a victory. It was one of 2 inexplicable games that the Wolfpack lost last season. BC isn’t very good on offense. They ranked 120th in passing offense, and 96th in rushing offense. BC lost their QB, who was a grad transfer. This year, they are going to be relying on a redshirt freshman QB. The BC defense always has been tough. And they seem to have a solid defense again. It doesn’t look good for BC, and even in the worst case scenario I don’t see BC winning, but I thought that last year….
11) Wake Forest (Winston-Salem): Now, this is another game that might be tougher then expected. In the best case scenario, NC State goes back to the house of horrors that Winston-Salem has been over the past 15 years. The Wolfpack seems to be more talented the Wake, however, Wake has a QB competition that is interesting between Hinton and Wolford. Both QB’s can play. Both have skills that can cause defenses problems. But Wake lost it’s DC to Notre Dame, but that defense is always stingy. But in this scenario, NC State wins.
12) University of North Carolina (Raleigh): And finally NC State hosts UNC. I have a biased against UNC, I admit it. I would never cheer for UNC and I hate that blue. UNC will be breaking in a new QB. If it’s Brandon Harris, grad transfer from LSU, UNC is going to have issues. Everyone says that Harris has all of the physical tools. However he never really produced at LSU. Maybe a different system will allow Harris to thrive, I doubt it. UNC loses it’s top 2 running backs, not that Larry Fedora liked to run the ball in the first place. They also lose Bug Howard and Ryan Switzer. Both of those WR’s were clutch. Switzer working in the slot and going over the middle along with his punt return ability. Howard with his 6’4″ 215 lb frame who could go deep. With all of these loses on offense it’s going to be a step back this season. Oh, notice how I didn’t mention the defense? Over the last few years UNC hasn’t played defense very well. With the loss of their Defensive Coordinator, Gene Chizik, who made that defense passable. UNC won’t be able to stop many teams….
WORST CASE SCENARIO:
Now we go to the worst case scenario. This won’t be as long as the best case. But in the worst case scenario NC State goes 4-8.
1) South Carolina: if NC State loses this opening game it could spiral out of control. They could lose this game and that good will the Dave Doeren has built up at the end of last season could be gone and that seat becomes a little warm.
NC State still beats Furman and Marshal which means they can right the ship but that might be too little too late when it comes to the fanbase.
2) Syracuse: It is possible that NC State goes to Syracuse and loses. Syracuse did beat Virginia Tech and at times looked like a competent football team with an identity.
3) Louisville: Lamar Jackson goes off, kinda like he did last year and the year before in Raleigh. NC State has a problem with mobile QB’s who can run
4) Pitt: Pitt is in a transition. However they do have some talent in the backfield. Ollison is a 1,000 yard rusher when James Connor missed his one season with a knee and his cancer fight. They also bring in a former 5* quaterback from USC in Maxx Browne.
5) Notre Dame: Again, ND might have turned a corner and is a formidable team once again. Maybe they find a pass rush and are able to figure out what they are doing on offense.
6) Wake Forest: Winston-Salem has been a house or horrors for the Wolfpack. Before 2015 NCSU had lost 5 straight in Winston-Salem.
7) UNC: It is possible that UNC has their QB situation figured out. This is a rivalry game which means anything can really happen…
