NC State's 7:30 p.m. kickoff at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh is against Furman, a top-25 ranked Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) team that is 2-0. The Wolfpack is considered a four-touchdowns favorite over the Paladins.
Head coach Dave Doeren has never lost to a FCS opponent in his nine years at NC State, going 7-0, but his team is looking to respond after a disappointing 24-10 road loss at Mississippi State.
Can NC State score a decisive win? The Wolfpacker staff makes their guesses.
Matt Carter
To answer the question posed in the lead — yes, NC State can, should and will score a decisive win.
Furman is a respectable FCS opponent, but there is probably not a single player on that team that NC State even approached on the recruiting trail. A quick perusing of their roster did not yield any recognizable names, even among the handful of North Carolinians playing for Furman.
Instead of arguing and complaining about how little anyone except perhaps a few coaches who want to benefit from a less stressful week enjoys these types of contests — and that includes players who once they leave and speak more freely acknowledge it's a long week when playing an FCS team outside of an opener — I am going to make a proposal.
The FCS used a spring schedule this past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Perhaps that can be a permanent move, and instead of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams playing spring scrimmages, they can play exhibition games against FCS squads who are already playing a schedule.
It would give FCS teams some nice exposure, and college football fans hungry for some action can watch a real game vs. an intra-squad scrimmage. Whether the game counts towards the win-loss record of the visiting FCS teams would have to be ironed out, but it beats the alternative of watching a game in the fall that will do little for NC State other than offer a chance to fine-tune its fundamentals and schemes against an actual opponent rather than themselves in practice.
Matt Carter's prediction: NC State 42, Furman 6
Previous predictions:
Week 1: NC State 41, South Florida 21 (actual: NC State 45-0)
Week 2: NC State 33, Mississippi State 30 (actual: Mississippi State 24-10)
Justin H. Williams
We won’t learn anything new about NC State this Saturday. At least that’s the hope.
The Wolfpack is preparing to play its lone FCS level opponent this season, Furman. If there is such a thing as a “gimmie” game, that is the case for the Pack this season. This opportunity could be viewed in two different ways.
On one hand, it would be great for NC State to face a Power Five-level opponent to get an idea what this team could look like for the rest of the season.
On the other, the Wolfpack should be able to gain some confidence on both sides of the ball after a disappointing result in the highly anticipated Mississippi State contest.
Of the two approaches, I choose to see it as the latter.
More devastating than the loss itself was the news that followed. The Pack lost two defensive starters for the season, including a team captain and arguably the best linebacker in the ACC. Redshirt sophomore linebacker Payton Wilson and senior safety Cyrus Fagan are no longer a part of what looked to be one of the conference’s better defenses.
All hope is not lost, however.
The Pack could still have a great defensive unit, even though there is no replacing Wilson, both for his presence on the field and in the locker room. More importantly Saturday, however, is the Wolfpack offense getting back on track.
After a strong performance in the 45-0 rout of USF in the season opener, NC State was held to just 10 points in the loss in Starkville last weekend.
What better way to gain some confidence than to tee off on an FCS-level defense for what could be a high-scoring night? Redshirt sophomore quarterback Devin Leary has had adequate performances through two weeks but still appears to be shaking off the cobwebs from missing eight games last season due to a leg break.
It’s not that Leary has been physically limited. The timing with his talented receiving corp just needs to be straightened out.
All of that gets accomplished this weekend, and NC State moves on to 2-1 with a renewed sense of confidence before the Clemson Tigers come to Carter-Finley Stadium on Sept. 25.
Justin H. Williams’ prediction: NC State 48, Furman 16
Previous predictions:
Week 1: NC State 41, South Florida 16 (Actual: NC State 45-0)
Week 2: NC State 38, Mississippi State 28 (Actual: Mississippi State 24-10)
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