NC State will use slight in betting line as motivation ahead of game versus Kentucky
Kentucky has won four games in 2020.
The four opponents it has beat have a combined record of 9-31. Yet, the Wildcats are 2 1/2-point favorites over No. 23 N.C. State heading into Saturday’s TaxSlayer Gator Bowl.
Of the remaining bowl games, Kentucky is the only school with a losing record, yet favored to win its bowl game. Could be SEC bias versus an ACC opponent, but the Wolfpack look at it as continued disrespect that’s come its way all season. N.C. State use it as motivation just like it has done all season.
“This is nothing new,” N.C. State junior linebacker Isaiah Moore told the media on Thursday.
Moore can go back as far as the summer to pinpoint moments of what the Pack perceived as disrespect and used it as fuel. N.C. State was picked to finish 11th in the ACC. After going 8-3, it finished tied for fourth with North Carolina.
The preseason All-ACC polls left off a lot of N.C. State players. The Wolfpack had 10 players selected to the All-ACC team last week. Dave Doeren thought there could have been more. The boulder-sized chip will grow two sizes as much by the time the team arrives in Jacksonville.
The Wildcats ended the regular season with a big win over two-win South Carolina, while N.C. State finished 2020 on a four-game winning streak. Yet, oddsmakers see fit to give the Wildcats the advantage. The Wolfpack’s last Gator Bowl appearance might have something to do with that.
In 2018, N.C. State was blown out by Texas A&M, 52-13. Moore, one of the few current players who saw action in that game, said he understands why outsiders tend to favor the SEC, saying some think the conference is “the closest thing to the NFL.”
In 2018 he got an up-close-and-personal look, and admits there was plenty of talent on the Aggies’ roster that day.
“They had great size, great athletic ability,” Moore said. “It’s a great conference, they produce a lot of NFL guys. We produce a lot of NFL guys here at N.C. State as well.”
Doeren was complimentary of Kentucky’s size up front on both sides of the ball. Kentucky’s defense has been stringy through the air, allowing 220.0 passing yards per game and picking off 13 passes. The Wolfpack passing attack started to flourish down the stretch under Bailey Hockman, who ended the season with consecutive 300-yard passing games.
Behind their big offensive line, the Wildcats have averaged 187.4 yards rushing per game and Doeren said Kentucky is “dedicated to running the football” and is determined to make it a physical game.
Moore, one of those 10 All-ACC selections, said a downhill attacking offense is the type of scheme he prefers to play against. What else would you expect from a middle linebacker?
But perhaps expectations have been slightly high in favor of a Kentucky team that didn’t beat an opponent with a winning record. On the flip side, the Wolfpack played five ranked opponents, the most it has played since 1997. N.C. State beat two of those ranked opponents along the way, and played its best football late in the season, trending in the right direction, but hadn’t yet reached the summit.
Bowl matchups are typically evenly matched, but this year eligibility requirements were tossed, so the Wolfpack ended up with an opponent that, even with a win, won’t finish the season above .500. Yet, the experts are rolling with the Wildcats and Doeren and company are right at home with that call.
“I kind of feel like we’ve been disrespected a lot throughout the season that way,” Doeren said. “There wasn’t a whole lot of notoriety about anything in our program, and we continue to find ways to win games and do good things. So, it just adds to the fuel that we have to prove people wrong.”
Hockman, who passed for 1,820 yards and 12 touchdowns this season, said the team has accomplished so much already, that beating an SEC team that’s favored would just be one more chapter to this unusual season.
“There’s just multiple things this team has overcome and done,” Hockman said. “To me and to the rest of the players, I think we just look at it as it’s just another step to help propel the program and help make the program better than what it has been in the past and what it can be in the future. It’s just another step. They can put us down all they want, but we know what we have in the locker room and that’s it.”
Moore, always the voice of reason this season, took a different approach, saying this game, regardless of the betting line, is a big test for the guys inside the locker room. Less to do with Kentucky, more to do with basically winning the next game.
“We’ve been trying to prove ourselves all year long,” Moore said. “We want to prove ourselves right. We believed in January what type of team we had and what type of team we wanted to be. We felt like we’ve put the work in and see where the chips fall.”
NC STATE VS. KENTUCKY: GATOR BOWL
When: Noon, Jan. 2
Where: Jacksonville, Florida
Watch: ESPN