NC State football tabbed to play Kansas State in Pop-Tarts Bowl
No. 18 NC State is headed south for a bowl game later this month. The Wolfpack were tabbed to play against Kansas State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl on Dec. 28 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla.
It will be the first-ever meeting between the Wolfpack and Wildcats. The bowl features an edible mascot that will be presented to the winning team on the field in Orlando.
Kansas State was led by quarterback Will Howard this season as he threw for 2,643 yards with 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions this fall. It is unclear whether or not he will play in the bowl since he entered his name in the transfer portal.
The Wildcats’ backup quarterback, Avery Johnson, threw for 301 yards with three touchdowns on 23-of-35 passing this fall.
Kansas State’s run game is led by DJ Giddens, who has 195 carries for 1,075 yards with nine touchdowns. The sophomore has four 100-yard games on the ground this season, including three over the final trio of games. He also recorded 207 rushing yards and four touchdowns in the Wildcats’ 44-31 win over UCF in late-September.
Since Dave Doeren took over as the Pack’s coach, his teams have also appeared in the Belk Bowl, Gator Bowl, Independence Bowl and St. Petersburg Bowl.
NC State has appeared in 34 bowl games since 1946, including 16 since 2000. Doeren is 3-4 in his seven bowl appearances at the helm of the red and white, and his last postseason victory came in the 2017 Sun Bowl, a 52-31 win over Arizona State.
The Wolfpack have most commonly played in the Peach Bowl with seven previous appearances, but it has not appeared in that contest since 1994.
NC State is led by graduate quarterback Brennan Armstrong, who has thrown for 1,621 yards with 11 touchdowns and six interceptions this fall. He is also the team’s leading rusher with 126 carries for 544 yards and six scores on the ground.
Freshman wideout Kevin Concecpcion has been critical for the Pack this fall as well as he has 64 receptions for 767 yards and 10 touchdowns. He has added 38 carries for 297 yards on the ground to be the Pack’s second-leading rusher.
Graduate linebacker Payton Wilson has paced the Wolfpack defensively with 138 total tackles with 17.5 tackles for a loss, six sacks, six passes defended, three interceptions and a forced fumble.
The Wolfpack is looking for its 10th win of the season, which should it be victorious against the Wildcats, it would be just the second time in program history that NC State had double digit wins in a single season (11 in 2002).
