The Wolfpacker Show: NC State football vs. UConn preview
Game day is almost here for NC State football. The Wolfpack will kick off the season Thursday evening at UConn. The start is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. inside Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn. The game will be televised by CBS Sports Network.
Last year, NC State demolished the visiting Huskies in Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, leading 31-3 at halftime on its way to a comfortable 41-10 victory. That dropped UConn to 1-4 at the time, but the Huskies turned their year around and finished the regular season with a 6-6 record before losing to Marshall in the Myrtle Beach Bowl.
One of the big questions for NC State going into this game is how much to make of UConn’s turnaround. The Huskies also went 5-1 at home last year, including wins over a 10-win Fresno State squad that concluded the year in the top 25, a Liberty team that was ranked at the time and a Power Five opponent in Boston College that proceeded to upset the Pack on the road weeks after losing to UConn.
Is the improvement from the Huskies and change of venue enough to close an over 4-touchdown gap from a year ago?
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TheWolfpacker.com duo of Matt Carter and Ethan McDowell discussed many topics related to all of those questions.
Among the subject matters in the latest edition of TheWolfpacker Show:
• Is there some recency bias that may explain some of the nervousness surrounding the game from NC State football fans? A year ago the Wolfpack was a 12.5 point favorite going to East Carolina and needed two missed kicks to escape with a win. This year, the Pack is favored by 14.5 points at UConn.
• What’s to make of UConn’s turnaround from last season? Did the Huskies pad the wins against softer competition after getting blown out three straight weeks by superior opponents (Syracuse, Michigan and NC State), or did the stretch of five wins in six games legitimately signal a program shift?
• What should NC State expect when UConn is on offense? A year ago, the Huskies were as committed to running the football as almost any team in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), but with a new starting quarterback, will that be the same?
• Conversely, how should new offensive coordinator Robert Anae for NC State approach attacking the UConn defense? In the lopsided home win for the Pack over the Huskies last year, that was a rare game in 2022 in which NC State did what it wanted when it wanted on offense.
You can get all that plus more on the latest episode of The Wolfpacker Show.
You can listen to that podcast below or also view the show, courtesy TheWolfpacker.com’s YouTube channel.
