Are NC State and Wake Forest rivals?
N.C. State and Wake Forest first met on the football field in 1895 and the two teams have played every year since 1910.
They were Triangle neighbors until Wake Forest moved to Winston-Salem in 1956. So there’s history and still relative proximity. But does that make the old Big Four foes rivals?
Receiver Tabari Hines is uniquely qualified to answer the rivalry question. The last time Hines played in this series, he was a receiver for Wake Forest. He caught eight passes for 139 yards with three touchdowns in a 30-24 win for the Demon Deacons in 2017.
Hines graduated from Wake Forest and transferred to Oregon for a year and now is back in the ACC to finish off his career with the Wolfpack (4-3, 1-2 ACC). He will be on the opponent’s sideline for Saturday’s game (noon, ESPN) at BB&T Field with No. 23 Wake Forest (6-1, 2-1).
There’s no question to Hines how Wake Forest treats the annual matchup.
“I believe they just get up for this game,” Hines said of Wake Forest. “They take this game seriously. They consider it a rivalry.”
N.C. State has lost nine of its past 11 games in Winston-Salem. Hines is hoping to convince his new teammates to approach the in-state rivalry game the same way his old team does.
“I don’t know if N.C. State considers Wake Forest a rival but I know being in that locker room they consider it a rivalry,” Hines said. “They get up for this game. I imagine they’ll definitely get up for this game, because I’m on the other side, so we’ve just got to bring the juice and match their energy.”
It’s not unlike how N.C. State’s old teams under Chuck Amato would relish the chance to play Florida State. There were a lot of Florida recruits on those N.C. State teams in the early 2000s who felt like they were overlooked by FSU. There’s some of that dynamic in play with Wake and State.
The Deacs have been a particular scourge to Dave Doeren’s program in the past two years. N.C. State was 7-3 and ranked No. 25 when it lost in Winston-Salem in 2017. Quarterback John Wolford had a near perfect game, with Hines being his primary target, in a game which featured four NFL defensive linemen for the Wolfpack but no sacks on Wolford.
Last year’s 27-23 loss in Raleigh was especially painful since it cost the Wolfpack, then No. 14 in the College Playoff Playoff rankings, a shot at a major bowl.
N.C. State finished each season at 9-4. A win over Wake, and they were favored in each game, would have pushed the Wolfpack to 10-3. There’s a big difference in how a program is viewed nationally when it wins double-digit games. N.C. State has only done that once in its history (Amato’s 2002 team).
Quarterback Jamie Newman, in his first college start, led a fourth-quarter comeback for the Deacs last year. It’s Wake Forest this time that’s in the top 25 and in the running for a spot in the Orange Bowl.
With so many of last year’s key players from N.C. State in the NFL, and many of the returning veterans injured, Doeren isn’t sure how much he can use those heartbreaking losses as motivation with this team.
“Some of our guys were a part of those games, but not many,” Doeren said. “So I don’t know how much I can lean on that and have anything come out of it.”
Doeren, who has a 3-3 record vs. Wake, said you can get caught up in the buildup for rivalry games and that wouldn’t help his young team.
“With our football team, and even in the UNC week, we have to be our best us,” Doeren said. “If I spend all of my time talking about ‘the rivalry, the rivalry, the rivalry,’ it’s about how we’re going to play in this game that matters.”
N.C. State will be without seven injured players who were expected to start this season. The depth in the secondary has been stretched thin, which could be an issue against Wake’s potent passing game. Receiver Sage Surratt leads the ACC, and ranks second in the country, with 125.9 receiving yards per game.
Surratt’s nine touchdown catches lead the ACC and teammate Scotty Washington has the second-most with seven. Four of N.C. State’s top five cornerbacks will be sidelined with injuries on Saturday.
The Deacs rank No. 7 in the country pass offense. Newman didn’t start in Wake’s previous game, a 22-20 win over Florida State on Oct. 19. Sam Hartman, who was the starter last year before he got hurt and opened the door for Newman to make his successful debut against N.C. State, would start on Saturday if Newman can’t play.
Either way, Doeren said N.C. State understands how good Wake’s offense is and the type of season the Deacs are having. It should look familiar. The two schools have basically switched roles from the previous two years.
But Doeren wants his team to stay focused on the task at hand, not settling old scores.
“To me it’s more about regardless of who we play, it’s going to be how we play,” Doeren said. “I think that’s the thing with our football team right now. Not that I don’t care who we play, I do obviously, but I care a lot more about how we play as a football team right now.”
This story was originally published November 1, 2019 at 5:20 PM.
