Louisville comes to town today for NC State’s ACC opener and to give the Wolfpack its first “real test” of the year. Unfortunately for the Pack, if we were to beat ‘The Ville’ then the rest of the world will then proclaim that the 1-4 Cardinals (who started the season ranked in the Top 20) aren’t any good. Nonetheless, State has a chance to set a course that could turn 2015 into something special and position the Pack for some games in the coming weeks that will loom super large for our fanbase
Louisville fans recognize the importance for their program; the following is from Card Chronicle:
Excitement Level: 8.0
Lower than it would have been had it not been for yesterdays events, but this is still a huge game with enormous ramifications for the remainder of Louisville’s 2015 season. It’ll also set the stage for how excited we get to be about going to Tallahassee in two weeks.
What to know
Game Time: 12:30 p.m.
Location: Carter-Finley Stadium: Raleigh, N.C.
Television: ACC Network/WRAL 5 (Local – Raleigh)
Announcers: Tim Brant (play-by-play), Dave Archer (analyst) and Roddy Jones (sideline)
Favorite: NC State by 3.5
All-Time Series: Louisville leads 4-1
Last Meeting: Louisville won 30-18 last season at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium
Uniforms: Louisville will wear all white. NC State will wear red helmets, black jerseys and red pants.
Weather
Better than previously expected https://t.co/OQLCDscz3h
— statefansnation (@statefansnation) October 3, 2015
Notables & Analysis
***** I found the following comments from Card Chronicle to be the most insightful part of their analysis:
The NCSU offensive line looks a little rough on paper with the amount of penetration plays that State has allowed. Those numbers are a little misleading as Brissett has still had instances where he holds the ball too long and I think that some of the coverage sacks have been because of the lack of talent at wide receiver. The line has also dealt with a couple of injuries that have forced more new players to play. If there’s an area on this team where the argument of “they haven’t played anyone” might be fair, it’s on the offensive line. They haven’t faced a lot of talented fronts but they have had plenty of issues with being pushed around more than they should. Louisville’s front seven was supposed to be the strength of the entire team so this could be the week we finally see that.
***** One streak is going to end today — U of L has intercepted at least one pass in 17 straight games, the longest such streak in the country. Jacoby Brissett hasn’t thrown an interception in 189 consecutive attempts over the last 7 games. He currently has the 7th longest streak without an interception in ACC history.
***** I guess a program really does take on the personality of its coach. PackInsider did a nice job of chronicling some of the pregame talk from Louisville linked here.
TO THE CARTER pic.twitter.com/DGcKwHxBwi
— Pack City (@wolfpackcity) October 3, 2015
