If you are looking for a statistical preview of NC State’s road trip to Clemson Saturday, you shouldn’t miss this in-depth write-up by 1.21 Jiggawatts, I’m here to
Last Saturday, NC State came out firing on all cylinders. The offense was a thing of beauty as it stormed out to a 24-7 lead over #1 Florida St. who eventually clawed their way back to win the game but the first quarter was all most NC State fans needed to blow their optimism through the roof. I saw heard comments and saw tweets that would make you think we somehow turned into Alabama. Talk of dominating Clemson and running through the rest of the schedule on their way to 9 or 10 wins littered the #WolfpackTwitter conversation. While I appreciate the sentiment and love the passion NC State fans have I’m here to temper those expectations a little bit.
Sure Jacoby Brissett came out like one man world-beater and the offense has enough talent at all of the skill positions to break a play open at any moment but optimism is a State fan’s worst nightmare. Historically we have a good track record of playing as the underdog and playing up to our competition so the solid performance against FSU should not be too surprising but it also shouldn’t be used as the measuring stick for where the program is at this point in time.
There are so many questions going into this game: (feel free to answer in the comments)
- Will NC State be emotionally ready after a hard-fought FSU game?
- How will the young NC State team handle a hostile Death Valley?
- Will the offensive line be able to hold of Clemson’s experienced front 7?
- Is Deshaun Watson that good or was UNC’s defense that bad?
- Can NC State’s defense make enough plays to keep the pressure off of the offense?
- Will NC State be able to score 40+pts for the 5th game in a row?
This Clemson game will be a much better indicator of what we should be able to expect for the rest of the season. Clemson has arguably a better defense than FSU and we will be in their house so while Clemson sits at 2-2 they are still the clear cut 2nd most talented team in the ACC. Not only will this provide us with a glimpse of what the future holds, it also could be a preview of some epic future battles between the two programs who have shown the most potential in the Atlantic division. Jameis Winston & Rashad Greene can’t stay at FSU forever!
I expect us to learn a lot for this game. In my opinion the emotional question is the biggest one. Old NC State would come out and lay an egg in the game. Unfortunately, it is just something we’ve all seen before but if Doeren really is changing the culture of NC State Football as we all hope (and it appears), I expect a competitive performance. If the offense can keep up the momentum I think we’ll have a bit of shootout and the score to to be somewhere around 45-35 favoring Clemson.
What is your score prediction?
