The strangeness of Saturday evening was evident from the beginning to the end.

A typical first game of the season for a media member would involve leaving earlier than normal for the anticipation of the inevitable traffic issues on both Edwards Mills and Trinity Roads that would last all the way till the assigned parking lot at the state fairgrounds.

Saturday in 2020 involved debating if you needed to leave too early and then firsthand confirming that today was nothing more than the quiet traffic around Carter-Finley Stadium and PNC Arena that has become all-too-accustomed lately.

There was a temperature check going into the stadium, and then making sure only four people were getting on an elevator at the same time for Vaughn Towers versus the usual cramming as many as possible.

The fake crowd noise did not exactly match the moments and emotions of the game, and with the press of a button it was muted shortly after the game was over, bring the eerily quiet stadium to full reality.

Know what else was also a bit unusual Saturday, especially when compared to 2019? NC State’s offense.