The Wolfpacker predictions: NC State football at Wake Forest
Saturday’s contest at Wake Forest is yet another significant game in determining how NC State’s season will ultimately be viewed and carries bowl implications.
The Wolfpacker editors Matt Carter and Jacey Zembal offer their predictions:
Matt Carter
I said last week that the only reason to pick NC State was to have faith in its veteran leadership to overcome the many built-in Boston College advantages. Those seniors rewarded that faith, particularly on defense where collectively the senior class had probably its best performance of the year.
It’s going to take another similar effort on defense to pull out a win Saturday at Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons’ offense is rolling after scoring 64 points at Syracuse with 1,000 yards of total offense (okay, that’s an exaggeration but 734 total yards may as well be 1,000). This comes after piling up 625 yards versus Louisville and 587 yards against Notre Dame.
It’s also a far cry from the Wake Forest team that did not have more than 367 total yards in a contest in its previous four-game stretch, including just 344 total yards at Appalachian State. Will the real Deacs stand up?
The guess is the most recent Wake offense is going to be a far closer version to what NC State will see Saturday. The silver lining is that in the last five games, and six of the last seven, Wake’s defense has given up at least 453 total yards in every contest. In the last three, while its offense has exploded, the defense has allowed 523, 710 and 621 total yards, respectively.
Picking NC State again would be a leap of faith. The odds from Las Vegas have the Deacons a 1.5-point favorite. I am going to keep the faith and bet that NCSU’s defense has a better chance of slowing down Wake’s offense than vice versa.
Prediction: NC State 35, Wake Forest 27
Jacey Zembal
Wake Forest is a perfect example of staying patient and trusting player development, most notably senior quarterback John Wolford.
Health permitting, I long have thought that current redshirt sophomore quarterback Kendall Hinton of Southern Durham High would have been the guy for the Demon Deacons at the most important position in football. Hinton seemed poised to overtake Wolford in 2015, and then got hurt in the third game of the 2016 season. Even after all that, it was still a mild surprise that Wolford was named the starting quarterback going into this season.
Now, admittedly, Wolford didn't have a lot of help around him in the past, and he took a beating while doing it. Opponents had 39 sacks against Wake Forest last year, and 40 in 2015. The Demon Deacons have only allowed 15 sacks this season.
Getting pressure on Wolford is the key. When he isn't running for his life, he has shown he can direct a very productive offense.
Wolford has passed for 2,354 yards and 20 touchdowns, and surprisingly rushed for 536 yards and 10 touchdowns. Perhaps his best statistic is having just three interceptions. This isn’t NC State’s first rodeo against a quality quarterback this season.
Wake Forest has closed the gap, but NC State still should have more pure talent, and that should be the slight difference Saturday.
Prediction: NC State 31, Wake Forest 28
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