TV, betting odds and facts to impress your friends for Wake Forest at NC State
Dave Doeren is almost, always guaranteed to win the first one.
Since taking over as the head coach at N.C. State, Doeren is 6-1 in season openers. The Wolfpack will kick off the 2020 season Saturday night in Carter-Finley Stadium against Wake Forest (0-1).
The Demon Deacons played a game last weekend against Clemson, falling to the Tigers, 37-13. That gave Doeren and his staff a chance to sit and watch, scouting his first opponent.
Wake Forest has a three-game win streak over N.C. State. Doeren has used the word “rivalry” quite a bit when talking about the Deacs.
“People talk about the improvements teams make from week one to week two,” Doeren said. “I know that’s something that they have as an advantage. Looking at their systems, they are very sound.”
Quarterback Sam Hartman takes over for the departed Jamie Newman. Last weekend against the Tigers, Hartman completed 11 of 21 passes for 182 yards. Clemson held Wake Forest to 37 yards rushing. N.C. State linebacker Isaiah Moore knows the team has to watch out for the run-pass option (RPO) offense Wake runs.
“They have a very unique system with a long mesh on their zone read,” Moore said. “We’ll have to be prepared for that and fill our gaps and hold our gaps for as long as we can. It’s something that we’ve seen before, Wake has kept is consistent the last couple of years. At the end of the day we have to get 11 men to the football every play.”
The two teams have split even 3-3 in their last six meetings. Three times before, Doeren has had the luxury of playing Wake Forest coming off a bye week. He is 2-1 in those contests. Since State’s slate got rescheduled, Doeren has once again had extra time to scout the Deacs.
“They have their systems, they are very sound,” Doeren said. “They don’t beat themselves, they don’t turn the football over, they don’t get penalized. And they have a very unique style of RPO.”
How to watch
Saturday’s game will be broadcast on the ACC Network at 8 PM.
Betting odds
On Friday, ESPN had N.C. State listed as a 1-point favorite. It had the over/under at 52.5.
Game notes
This will be the first time since 2005 that N.C. State opens the season at home versus a conference foe. That year they hosted No. 8 Virginia Tech.
The Wolfpack has played Wake Forest more than any other opponent, with 113 meetings between the schools.
Junior running back Ricky Person will be a fifth captain for the game Saturday night. “He’s been through a lot,” Doeren said about Person. “Ricky had a lot of those ups and downs due to things out of his control. I’m happy for him and what that will do for him.”
N.C. State’s cornerbacks room could pass for an intramural basketball team. Six of the corners are six-foot or taller. Malik Dunlap (6-3), Shyheim Battle (6-2) and Teshaun Smith (6-3) are the tallest. “It helps us to get hands onto people,” Smith said. “I was actually talking about that in practice. I was looking down at our group and it’s a huge height advantage over wide receivers.”
Playing in the Carter might help N.C. State end the losing streak to Wake Forest. The Wolfpack is 8-2 in its last 10 games against the Deacons. However, Wake Forest came from behind to defeat N.C. State, 27-23, the last time the two teams played in Raleigh.
