10 takeaways from NC State football's 2020 schedule

Before we knew who NC State Wolfpack football was going to play, with the exception of one non-conference opponent. Now we know who that plus-one opponent will be, plus the dates for all the contests.

Here is an analysis of the Wolfpack's new-look 2020 football schedule.

Logistically it made the most sense, and that probably is what made Liberty the NC State plus-one opponent in 2020. Two of the other original four non-conference games were canceled by their respective leagues — Delaware (Colonial in the FCS) and Mississippi State (SEC). A third would have required a venue switch since NC State was scheduled to play at Troy, and the ACC mandated that any plus-one game be played in the state of the participating conference team.

Liberty was already on the book to play NC State Nov. 21, and thus it appears the decision was made to simply keep that game in place. Liberty will also play at Virginia Tech (Nov. 7) and at Syracuse (Oct. 10).

The only time NC State has ever played Liberty was when it hosted the Flames in 2011 for the season opener and won 43-21 in what was Mike Glennon's first start at quarterback.

If you were to list the coaches synonymous with Virginia Tech football, it obviously starts with former head coach Frank Beamer. From 1987-2015, Beamer won 238 games in Blacksburg and finished in the final top 10 of the rankings seven times, including in 1999 when the Hokies played for the national title.

After Beamer is Bud Foster, the dean of defensive coordinators in college football. He was with Beamer every step of the way in Blacksburg, moving up to the coordinator job in 1995. Foster stuck around for the first four seasons under new head coach Justin Fuente before retiring this offseason.

It's quite possible after Beamer and Foster, the next most revered coach around Virginia Tech is Charley Wiles, who from 1996 till 2019 was Foster's right-hand man on the defense and the Hokies' popular defensive line coach. Fuente decided to overhaul his defensive staff following Foster's retirement, and Wiles is now at NC State.

Wiles is not the only new NC State defensive assistant with a recent background at Virginia Tech. Cornerbacks coach Brian Mitchell coached the cornerbacks the past four years for the Hokies before being hired at NC State in December.

NC State has not played Virginia Tech since 2015, and the Hokies were not on the Pack's original 2020 schedule. Thus it has to play some catch-up in its preparations, but it will have a couple of insiders on staff to quickly prepare for the opener if it happens on Sept. 12.

One underrated aspect of the schedule is evaluating who your opponent plays the week before you get them. In the case of NC State in 2020, only one team has a bye prior to playing the Pack, and that is Miami. That is probably fine with the Wolfpack, since it took has a bye before that Friday game in Raleigh.

Here is a full look at who the 10 ACC opponents play the week before they suit up against the Wolfpack:

Wake Forest — vs. Clemson

Pittsburgh — vs. Louisville (Note that NC State has a bye before it plays Pitt.)

Virginia — at Clemson

Duke — at Syracuse

UNC — at Florida State

Miami — Bye

Florida State — vs. Pittsburgh

Syracuse — at Louisville (Friday)

Georgia Tech — vs. Duke

When he was the head coach at NC State, Tom O'Brien enjoyed the subtle jabs at the ACC football schedulers over the fact that his team typically had to start conference play on the road. O'Brien had the data to back it up though. In the final five years of his six-season tenure in Raleigh, NC State started league play with a road contest.

The league office has been kinder to Dave Doeren in that regard. Only twice in his previous seven seasons has he began the conference slate on the road, ironically both times at Florida State (2017 and 2019). Perhaps the league is making up for lost time with this schedule.

Three of NC State's first four games and four of the first six, all ACC contests, are on the road.

If you are looking for some similar set-ups to being a season, in 1992 NC State played four of its first six contests away from Carter-Finley Stadium, with one being a 24-14 win over No. 15 Iowa in the Kickoff Classic on a neutral field. That team finished the year 9-3-1, including 6-2 in the ACC, and was ranked No. 17 in the final Associated Press poll. That was former head coach Dick Sheridan's final season before he retired.

The last time NC State started with three of its first four games on the road was 1970, the last of Earle Edwards' 17 seasons as head coach. That squad would finish 3-7-1.

For the second time in three years, NC State is playing a game in December that is not a bowl game.

The Pack will host Georgia Tech on the first Saturday in December. In 2018, NC State hosted East Carolina on Dec. 1 and crushed the Pirates, 58-3. That game was a late, in-season addition to the slate as both teams had an opening following the cancellation of games due to Hurricane Florence.

The Wolfpacker contributor Tim Peeler wrote about NC State's rare history of playing regular season games in December.

Just having Duke on the schedule is a rare occasion in itself. The annual rivalry showdown ended in 2003 after ACC expansion. Since then the two teams have played each other just three times, the last being in 2013. Duke has not played at Carter-Finley Stadium since 2009.

To spice it up even more, NC State will now play Duke and UNC on back-to-back Saturdays. Doeren had a similar set-up in his first year with the Wolfpack, losing 27-19 to the Heels on Nov. 2 and then 38-20 at Duke, who would make an improbable run to the ACC title game that season, a week later.

NC State fans may remember that Duke contest as when a Blue Devil freshman defensive back named DeVon Edwards almost single-handedly beat the Wolfpack with three non-offensive touchdowns — a kickoff return for a score in the third quarter that gave the Blue Devils a 17-13 lead and then two pick-sixes in the fourth quarter to turn a close game into a comfortable Duke victory.

It was not in back-to-back weeks, but in 2008 NC State memorably played Duke, Wake Forest and UNC on three consecutive Saturdays. The Pack won all three, starting at Duke 27-17. It then topped Wake Forest 21-17 at home before crushing No. 25 UNC 41-10 in Chapel Hill.

Some NC State fans have bemoaned the lack of October home games in recent years and missing out on some of the best weather to enjoy a football game. The obstacle has been the state fair located across the street from Carter-Finley Stadium. Those two Saturdays are traditionally blocked off NC State's schedule, usually with a road game and a bye date.

The state fair has been canceled this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but NC State still ended up with just one October home contest — Duke on Oct. 17. It is the fourth straight year that has happened and seventh in the last nine seasons.

NC State only has two home games in September and October combined. You'd have to go back to 1965 to see the last time that has happened. The good news for NC State is that team was co-ACC champions, the last of a three-year stretch under Edwards where the Pack either won or tied for the league title.

The good news is NC State will probably be able to travel by bus for all but two games this year (Pittsburgh and Syracuse), limiting expenses.

Here are the travel by miles for each month:

• September — 186 miles

• October — 705 miles

• November — 639 miles

The best part of NC State's schedule is four of its final five games are at home, and if you extend it further, five of the final seven with one of those two road contests being at UNC, a short 23 miles away.

That's not unusual however. Partially because of the state fair, NC State has had years where it finished with a slate of home contests. In 2019, three of the final four were in Carter-Finley. A year before, four of the final five were at home after the East Carolina game was added to the end of the season.

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