NC State football opens as underdog with Louisville on tap
NC State is riding an early season two-game winning streak, and the Wolfpack welcome Louisville to a sold-out Carter-Finley Stadium on Friday night.
While the contest is slated to be a black out among the Pack faithful, NC State opened as a three-point underdog against the Cardinals, according to the opening line at DraftKings. The Action Network lists the over/under at 54.5 points.
The Wolfpack is coming off an up and down 24-21 win over Virginia, which required a 33-yard field goal from kicker Brayden Narveson as time expired at Scott Stadium. Louisville, on the other hand, raced past Boston College 56-28 in its ACC opener at home Saturday afternoon.
NC State has failed to cover the spread through its first four games. The Wolfpack were a 14-point favorite at UConn — a 24-10 win — and were a seven-point underdog to Notre Dame, a 21-point loss. In the team’s lone FCS contest against VMI, NC State was a 40.5-point favorite, but fell just short of covering that. The red and white did not cover the 9.5-point spread in Charlottesville this past Friday night.
Louisville, meanwhile, is undefeated this fall, but is just 2-2 against the spread. The Cardinals covered a 43.5-point spread against Murray State in week two and were 14-point favorites against the Eagles this weekend, which Louisville covered easily in the rout. It didn’t cover a 7-point favorite to open the season against Georgia Tech and failed to edge Indiana by 10 points or more in week 3.
Friday night’s meeting between the Cardinals and Wolfpack will mark the 14th contest between the squads all-time. Louisville holds the advantage in the series, winners of eight of the 14 contests.
Louisville won last season’s meeting 25-10 in the Derby City, while NC State beat the Cardinals 28-13 the last time the two teams played in Raleigh during the 2021 campaign.
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Graduate quarterback Brennan Armstrong will lead NC State’s offense into the contest against the Cardinals. He’s accounted for 859 yards and five touchdowns on 81-of-135 passing this fall, while he’s added a team-high 225 rushing yards with a trio of scores on the ground.
And as Armstrong has found success, most of his damage through the air has been done in tandem with freshman wide receiver Kevin Concepcion. The Charlotte, N.C., native has 22 receptions for 238 yards and two touchdowns to pace the Wolfpack’s receiving corps.
For Louisville, quarterback Jack Plummer is 65-of-97 for 1,120 yards with 10 touchdowns and four interceptions through the air. The signal-caller is averaging 280 yards a game with the Cardinals, and has benefitted from downfield passing.
Georgia State transfer wide receiver Jamari Thrash has paced the Cardinals skill position players this season with 19 receptions for 400 yards and five touchdowns. Louisville running back Jawhar Jordan, who returned a kickoff for a 98-yard touchdown against the Wolfpack last fall, leads the team with 478 rushing yards and six scores on the ground.
