NC State Newsstand: Clemson Insider shares opinions on NC State
NC State’s 2022 football season is squarely on the horizon, and there is no shortage of news as we creep closer to that point. As The Wolfpacker continues to cover the home stretch of the offseason, our daily ‘Newsstands’ will be a way for our readers to catch up on what they missed from the day before.
Subscribe to The Wolfpacker today for a limited-time $1 deal for a year of premium access
The Wolfpacker’s Wednesday morning newsstand
Fall camp starts today for NC State football. From now until Oct. 1, fans will be anticipating the Wolfpack’s week-five matchup with Clemson. The Wolfpacker caught up with Matt Connolly, On3’s Clemson beat reporter, to talk about his thoughts on NC State.
Here’s more from our story ‘On3 Clemson insider shares thoughts on NC State.’
More often than not, you’re seeing NC State and Clemson atop the preseason [ACC] polls this year. From what you’ve heard and from what you’ve seen so far in the preseason, how is Clemson regarding NC State as a threat in the Atlantic Division?
Connolly: “I think they definitely respect them. Not that they didn’t beforehand, but I think that even more so now, that they respect and appreciate the program that NC State has. I think it has been a team that has always given Clemson some problems, with finally going over the edge last year and beating them instead of just Clemson always finding a way to win. I think it definitely upped the rivalry maybe even a little bit more.”
“I think it’s a program that Clemson already had a lot of respect for but even more so now after the way last year went. With that said, it’s also a team Clemson really wants to beat. They’re not used to losing ACC games and, especially with NC State coming to their house this year, I think they’ll be really up for that game.”
And [Clemson] lost in that super dramatic overtime fashion last year. Is there a sort of lingering animosity about how that went down, and [do] they want to kind of get revenge for that?
Connolly: “I think at that point, they had one loss and they were still kind of thinking ‘Hey, we can get back to the playoff, we can still win the ACC, we can kind of still do everything,’ and, when they lost that game to NC State, I think, in some ways, it was kind of a wake up call, like ‘We’re going to have to figure some things out, or we’re not going to have a good year at all. Forget playoff, forget winning the league, we just need to try to figure out how to possibly win 10 games,’ which they ended up doing. So I think, in some ways, that was kind of a turning point.
Top 10
- 1Breaking
Oklahoma nabs OC
Sooners tab Ben Arbuckle as OC
- 2
Sam Pittman
Will return to Arkansas as head coach
- 3New
CBB Top 25
AP Poll shake up after Feast Week
- 4Hot
Harsin wears Bama gear
Former Auburn HC sports LANK shirt
- 5
BCS formula predicts CFP
Predicting the College Football Playoff Top 25
“It definitely hurt losing that game. It was a painful loss, but it was also kind of like a wake up call of ‘Hey, just because we’re Clemson, it doesn’t mean we can just roll the ball out.’ Losing to a good team that won the national championship in Georgia by a touchdown was one thing, but losing to NC State, a team that Dabo [Swinney] has obviously had a lot of success [against] before, I think it was a little different and hurt a little more. So yes, that’s definitely a game that they’ll want to turn around and win this year.”
Tweets of the Day
Fall practice starts today!!!
NC State men’s basketball hosted a few underclassmen visitors this week.
NC State football offered J’Zavien Currence, a class of 2026 athlete yesterday.
Quote of the Day
This quote is from Wolfpack defensive end-commit Isaiah Shirley talking about recruiting his peers in our story ‘Isaiah Shirley pitches NC State’s authenticity to top recruits.’
“I want people to do what’s best for them too at the same time. I just believe it’s NC State.”
– Shirley on convincing recruits to join Pack23.
Today’s top headlines
Where does NC State stand with North Carolina’s top rising seniors?
