NC State game predictions: Week 5 vs. Clemson

NC State football head coach Dave Doeren acknowledged earlier this week that Saturday’s matchup might be the biggest game of his career. It’s a road game at one of the most intimidating venues in college athletics — a matchup in Memorial Stadium (aka Death Valley) against No. 5 Clemson.

Saturday will be a revenge game for the Tigers after losing in Raleigh last season, but it is also a massive opportunity for the Wolfpack to make history in its first top-10 matchup in program history.

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Here are The Wolfpacker’s predictions for this weekend:

Matt Carter’s prediction for NC State vs. Clemson

The terrible news is that Hurricane Ian’s rapid intensification left portions of Florida badly battered, and that is, by far, the most important takeaway of the week. Those Floridians in the path of destruction deserve all of our thoughts, prayers and support in their time of need.

In the far less important consideration of the impact of Ian on the NC State at Clemson game Saturday, the news is more encouraging.

The forecast has changed, as is often the case (remember that when listening to our preview podcast), and now Saturday looks to be significantly drier in Clemson. Even ESPN’s College GameDay may now be dry, as one prediction seen Thursday had the town of Clemson receiving less than a tenth of an inch during the day Saturday, with almost all of that coming before daybreak.

That means this is looking like a straight-up game between Clemson and the Wolfpack.

For the Pack, that’s desirable because the feeling here is that the Tigers had an advantage in a wet and windy contest that would have made passing the football a useless proposition. 

However, NC State has had its fair share of big games in recent history. Perhaps not to this proportion, but in 2017 a lot was on the line when the Pack traveled to Notre Dame. NC State was 6-1 and ranked No. 14 in the Associated Press poll playing at undefeated and 9th-ranked Notre Dame.

Sources had told The Wolfpacker that ESPN College GameDay would be coming the next week when the Pack hosted Clemson if both teams won that weekend. The Wolfpack suffered some key injuries during the game in South Bend and ended up on the wrong end of a lopsided 35-14 score.

A year later NC State was undefeated at 5-0 and ranked No. 16 when traveling to No. 3 Clemson. The Tigers crushed the Pack, 41-7.

Last season, the Atlantic Division title was on the line when the No. 16 Wolfpack visited No. 12 Wake Forest, but the program lost a 45-42 thriller to the Demon Deacons.

It is hard to pick NC State to win when the Pack has a lack of history of winning these games. The feeling here is Clemson’s offensive improvements are legit, and the Tigers will prevail.

Prediction: Clemson 30, NC State 21

Previous Predictions: 

Week 1: NC State 34, East Carolina 17 (actual: NC State 21, East Carolina 20)

Week 2: NC State 48, Charleston Southern 7 (actual: NC State 55, Charleston Southern 3)

Week 3: NC State 30, Texas Tech 17 (actual: NC State 27, Texas Tech 14)

Week 4: NC State 45, UConn 7 (actual NC State 41, UConn 10)

Ethan McDowell’s prediction

The Wolfpack is exactly where it expected to be at this point in the year. At 4-0, the program has an opportunity to make history, and this is not your typical underdog storyline.

Despite what will be an extremely loud environment in Death Valley, the appearance from College GameDay and all of the other factors that make this one of the most anticipated games of the college football season, the Pack knows exactly what it needs to do to return to Raleigh with a victory.

The Wolfpack defeated Clemson last year and snapped a long losing streak against the Tigers. Almost the entire core from last year’s win returns for this year and, considering the wealth of experience on both sides of the ball, I highly doubt the game will be too big for the Wolfpack, despite the unprecedented stage they’ll run onto this weekend. 

For now, it looks like Clemson could be more or less dry by kickoff Saturday, which is absolutely a positive for the Wolfpack. If the conditions limited the passing attacks by both teams, the Tigers would have had a significant advantage due to DJ Uiagalelei’s dual-threat skills. The weather forecast looks favorable, and I’m looking forward to seeing what Devin Leary and the Wolfpack receivers can do against Clemson’s defensive backs. 

The Tigers’ defense is probably the best unit the Pack will face all year, and their defensive line is probably the best in the nation. NC State has the offense needed to put up points on any opponent, but the team will need an A+ performance from Leary to win. We have not consistently seen that caliber of play from Leary or the Pack’s receivers, so I am hesitant to pick the Wolfpack to win.

I think the Wolfpack will be in this game from start to finish. The defense will be ready and, despite a drastically improved Clemson offense, will do enough to slow the Tigers down. At the end of the day, I think the Pack will fall just short of history.

Prediction: Clemson 28, NC State 24

Previous Predictions: 

Week 1: The Wolfpack 38, East Carolina 10 (actual: NC State 21, East Carolina 20)

Week 2: NC State 52, Charleston Southern 6 (actual: NC State 55, Charleston Southern 3)

Week 3: The Wolfpack 35, Texas Tech 20 (actual: NC State 27, Texas Tech 14)

Week 4: NC State 52, UConn 6 (actual NC State 41, UConn 10)