NC State's 7 p.m. kickoff at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Miss., against Mississippi State opened up as a pick 'em according to Vegas. Since then the line has moved to make the Wolfpack an almost field goal favorite.

Head coach Dave Doeren's team is coming off a 45-0 demolishment of South Florida, while the Bulldogs needed to rally from 20 points down in the fourth quarter to survive Louisiana Tech's upset bid, 35-34.

Can NC State score a road win against a SEC opponent? The Wolfpacker staff makes their guesses.

Some may recall when I provided my regular season win-loss record guess of 8-4 overall and 5-3 in the ACC, this was the one game I circled as a non-conference defeat.

It only took one week for me to start walking some of those predictions back.

NC State has not had a lot of luck against SEC teams lately, going 2-9 since beating Mississippi State in the 1994 Peach Bowl. Thus making an assumption these are two evenly matched teams in a road game for the Pack, I'd give the advantage to the SEC squad.

That was before I saw what NC State and Mississippi State did in their respective openers. There were moments where the Bulldogs looked pretty good against Louisiana Tech. There were also times where it looked like it would be lucky to get a bowl bid.

NC State on the other hand had almost no hiccups in a clean, crisp performance.

My theory for the disparity? Experience.

If I were buying futures stock, I'd be tempted on Mississippi State. It's easy to see with a litany of impact true sophomores on its roster where the Bulldogs became a pretty decent SEC team in a year or two. NC State though is a much more veteran roster, and with that comes a bit more experience and maturity.

I think the Pack builds a lead and then withstands a late push from the Bulldogs by recovering a late onside kick to seal a victory.

Matt Carter's prediction: NC State 33, Mississippi State 30

Previous predictions:

Week 1: NC State 41, South Florida 21 (actual: NC State 45-0)

The computers suggest these two teams are even on paper. But the first week impressions these teams made couldn’t have been more different.

NC State came out like a team on a mission to accomplish something special this season. The Wolfpack surgically picked apart South Florida’s defense and stymied its offense for 60 minutes in a dominating 45-0 victory.

Mississippi State, however, had to claw its way back from a 20-point fourth-quarter deficit against Louisiana Tech to simply avoid a week one upset to a Group of Five opponent. The Bulldogs deserve credit for scoring 21 unanswered points in the final 10 minutes to squeak out a one-point victory, but their lack of discipline should also be pointed out considering they committed 12 penalties for 95 yards and turned the ball over four times.

NC State should expect a cleaner performance this weekend from Mississippi State, which is now in year two under head coach Mike Leach. Leach’s air-raid offensive system presents a weekly challenge to all of its opponents, but if the Pack can bring the same energy on defense as it did in the opener, it should be fine.

The surprising strength of the Wolfpack’s defensive attack last Thursday was in the secondary, which was able to grab two of the three interceptions made throughout the night. The defensive backfield will be the key to victory for NC State. It must not get too aggressive in over-pursuing throws and needs to have a strong tackling performance against Leach’s methodical “dink-and-dunk” strategy.

The Pack rises to the occasion, and it finally starts getting some recognition as a potential contender in the ACC this year.

Justin H. Williams’ prediction: NC State 38, Mississippi State 28

Previous predictions:

Week 1: NC State 41, South Florida 16 (Actual: NC State 45-0)

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