NC State to open 2024 football season on a Thursday vs. Western Carolina
NC State football will kick off its 2024 football season a couple of days earlier than previously expected. The Wolfpack’s season-opening showdown with Western Carolina is now scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 29, the ACC announced Monday afternoon.
This matchup against the Catamounts inside Carter-Finley Stadium will be the second time in three years the program starts its season with an in-state opponent after beginning its 2022 campaign against East Carolina. Western Carolina is the Pack’s only FCS opponent on the 2024 calendar.
With the game now set to kick off Aug. 29 instead of Saturday, Aug. 31, NC State will now have a couple extra days to prepare for its showdown with Tennessee in Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium— the program’s headlining 2024 non-conference matchup.
In the first installment of a three-day schedule rollout, the ACC shared its week zero and week one matchups. No kickoff times have been shared for any of those games. On the same Thursday the Pack starts its season, UNC will travel to Minnesota and Wake Forest will host North Carolina A&T.
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During the week zero slate, Florida State and Georgia Tech will kick off ACC play with a conference game in Ireland. Other notable week one games include Clemson vs. Georgia, Stanford vs. TCU, Miami at Florida and Virginia Tech at Vanderbilt.
NC State is 7-0 against Western Carolina across the program’s history. The schools last faced off in a 2019 contest inside Carter-Finley Stadium, which ended in a 41-0 shutout win for the Pack. That is the only time the programs have met during head coach Dave Doeren’s tenure. Across NC State’s 7 victories, the offense averaged 47 points per game.
Western Carolina finished the 2023 season 7-4, losing its only FBS contest 56-13 against Arkansas.
The conference will announce any other specialty Thursday or Friday night games Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 4 p.m. on the ACC Network, with their full schedule released set for Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 5 pm. on both the same channel and ESPN2.
