Early ‘Power 5 challenges await NC State football in 2020
N.C. State usually opens the season with fluff outside the ACC and then gets a reality check after a quick start.
The Wolfpack will be diving into the deep end to start the 2020 college football season. It will open with an ACC game (at Louisville) for the first time in 15 years and then host an SEC school (Mississippi State) in the home-opener.
The Wolfpack will travel to Louisville on Sept. 3 for a Thursday night opener with the Cardinals, a surprising 8-5 a year ago. Much will be expected of the Cardinals in Year 2 under coach Scott Satterfield, who will likely be ranked in the preseason top 25.
The home opener on Sept. 12 is a matchup with Mississippi State and its new coach Mike Leach. The Bulldogs went 6-7 last year and fired their coach, Joe Moorhead, after a two-year experiment.
N.C. State opened the 2005 season with a home loss to Virginia Tech. You have to go back to 1989 for the last time N.C. State started with a win over an ACC foe (10-6 over Maryland).
N.C. State went 4-8 last year (1-7 in the ACC) in coach Dave Doeren’s seventh season. Doeren has remade his coaching staff and will have new coordinators on both sides of the ball for the 2020 season.
Best game
Sept. 12, Mississippi State
Dealer’s choice here but Mississippi State’s visit to Carter-Finley Stadium got more interesting when the Bulldogs hired the eccentric Leach.
The former Washington State and Texas Tech “Air Raid” savant takes over a Bulldogs program with plenty of talent but stumbled through a 6-6 regular season and then lost to Louisville in their bowl matchup.
Any Leach team is going to be able to throw the ball. This will be an early chance to see if Doeren is able to fix the pass defense (which ranked No. 108 in the country in 2018 and No. 103 in 2019).
The last time N.C. State beat an SEC team at home was 1999 (10-0 over South Carolina).
Toughest stretch
Oct. 31-Nov. 14
With some luck, N.C. State can reduce the number of injuries from 2019. Still, there’s a good chance the 2020 season could look like last year with the Wolfpack waiting on a young group of players to mature.
Doeren has made sweeping changes on the defensive side of the ball and the team needs stability at quarterback and an identity on offense.
That means there are going to be coin-toss games to determine if the Wolfpack can get to six wins and back to a bowl game. After an open date on Oct. 24, N.C. State gets a three-game stretch against Atlantic Division foes Wake Forest, Boston College and Syracuse.
If the Wolfpack has any shot at making the bowl math work, it needs to win at least two of these games. Doeren is 3-4 against both Wake and BC and has a 5-2 mark against the Orange.
The Deacs will be their usual problem under coach Dave Clawson, BC breaks in a new coach and the Orange tries to rebuild after flopping to 5-7 in 2019.
One to skip
Troy, Sept. 19
Sometimes you have to throw some unhealthy ingredients into the schedule sausage to make it work. This road trip to southeast Alabama is one of those byproducts the butcher squeezes into the casing so the meat keeps.
In order to get Troy to come to Raleigh in 2015 (to get to six home games), former athletic director Debbie Yow agreed to play a game on the road against a Sun Belt conference team.
Fortunately for Doeren, one thing he has been really good at is pounding teams from outside the “Power 5” structure (he has a 23-2 record against such teams), including road wins at Old Dominion, South Alabama and South Florida.
Must win
Oct. 10, Duke
N.C. State and Duke rarely get together on the football field anymore. The Wolfpack and Blue Devils, 5-7 last season, figure to be in the same boat for the 2020 season.
The teams haven’t played in Raleigh since 2009 (a 49-28 Duke win) and not at all since a 38-20 Duke home win in ‘13. N.C. State might be 2-3 when the Blue Devils come to Raleigh. Any logical bowl path includes a home win here.
It would also improve Doeren’s station in life to beat Wake Forest at home on Oct. 31.
Schedule
Thursday, Sept. 3: at Louisville
Saturday, Sept. 12: Mississippi State
Saturday,Sept. 19: at Troy
Saturday, Sept. 26 Delaware
Saturday, Oct. 3 Florida State
Saturday, Oct. 10: Duke
Saturday, Oct. 17: at Clemson
Saturday, Oct. 24: Open
Saturday, Oct. 31: Wake Forest
Saturday, Nov. 7: Boston College
Saturday, Nov. 14: at Syracuse
Saturday, Nov. 21: Liberty
Friday, Nov. 27: at UNC
This story was originally published January 22, 2020 at 10:35 AM.
