NC State Newsstand: ECU game predictions
NC State’s 2022 football season is here, and there will be no shortage of news for the rest of the year. Our daily ‘Newsstands’ will be a way for our readers to catch up on what they missed from the day before.
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The Wolfpacker’s Wednesday morning newsstand
NC State football’s week-one matchup against East Carolina is just one day away. Before the Pack takes the field for the first time this season, The Wolfpacker staff made its score predictions for the game yesterday.
Here’s Matt Carter’s prediction from our story ‘NC State football game predictions: Week 1 at ECU.’
Matt Carter prediction for NC State at East Carolina
The last time these two teams met, NC State rolled to a 34-6 win over East Carolina in Raleigh in a score that accurately reflected the difference between the two squads. That was the season opener in 2019.
A lot has changed since then.
Both teams ended up not being that good in 2019. That was expected for East Carolina. Mike Houston had just begun his tenure rebuilding the mess of a program he inherited from Scottie Montgomery.
Montgomery was the replacement for Ruffin McNeill, the popular East Carolina alum who went 42-34 in six seasons as the Pirates’ head coach from 2010-15 and led ECU to four bowl games, highlighted by a 10-win campaign in 2013 just two years before he was shockingly fired.
Montgomery went 9-26, winning exactly three games each year, before being let go prior to the 2018 season finale, a 58-3 beatdown loss to NC State in Raleigh.
Thus, realistically Houston’s team had little chance in 2019. That squad went just 4-8 overall and 1-7 in the American Athletic Conference.
NC State also went 4-8 in 2019. That was surprising, however. The Pack had back-to-back nine-win seasons prior to that. Injuries, though, wreaked havoc on head coach Dave Doeren’s squad.
Now East Carolina and NC State meet again, both in far better places. Houston has done admirable work slowly rebuilding the Pirates’ program into a respectable bowl-bound squad last year. Doeren has NC State back to nine-win seasons and the best-ever preseason ranking in school history.
Top 10
- 1
Elko pokes at Kiffin
A&M coach jokes over kick times
- 2Trending
Dan Lanning
Oregon coach getting NFL buzz
- 3
Bryce Underwood
Michigan prepared to offer No. 1 recruit $10.5M over 4 years
- 4Hot
5-star flip
Ole Miss flips Alabama WR commit Caleb Cunningham
- 5
Second CFP Top 25
Newest CFP rankings are out
The combination of being a season opener and in Greenville tightens the margin a little, but figuring that East Carolina has completely closed a four-touchdown gap from 2019 to present day, considering where both programs were then and now, is difficult to fathom.
NC State prevails and delivers the game ball to McNeill — on the NC State staff as special assistant to the head coach since July 2020 — who for the first time, will be on the visiting sideline in Greenville.
Matt Carter’s prediction: NC State 34, East Carolina 17
Tweets of the day
NC State sent out recruiting graphics to many of its top class of 2024 recruits, including four-star receiver Alex Taylor.
The Wolfpack will wear white helmets, white jerseys and red pants tomorrow.
Wolfpack women’s soccer remained undefeated with a win over Elon.
Quote of the day
This quote is from Al Myatt of Bonesville.net, a beat reporter for ECU who spoke with The Wolfpacker this week.
“The Pirates are playing with house money. A win over a nationally-ranked, in-state opponent would be huge, but a loss doesn’t derail the goals in the AAC. The atmosphere at Dowdy-Ficklen stadium Saturday will be … well, State fans who were there in 2010 and 2016 will remember what it was like.
“There will be everything that a great college football atmosphere should have and that factor will be strong in ECU’s favor. State’s start will determine if it can take the crowd out of the game.”
Today’s top NC State headlines
View from the other beat: East Carolina
Ranking NC State’s position groups headed into week 1
NC State has struggled to win in Greenville
Relationships are very important to 2024 WR Channing Goodwin
