Kirk Herbstreit made an appearance on SportsCenter this morning ahead of tonight’s showdown between No. 5 Clemson (4-0, 2-0 ACC) and No. 10 NC State (4-0, 0-0).
The ESPN college football analyst was asked how Dabo Swinney and the Tigers can avoid an upset tonight at Death Valley.
“Can this offense keep it going? They’ve been playing much better than they did last year when they went up against North Carolina State,” Herbstreit said. “DJ Uiagalelei has done a very good job of getting the ball thrown downfield. A lot of those 50-50 balls this year, they’re hitting. They’ve done a good job of Beaux Collins on one side, Joseph Ngata on the other, adjusting back to the ball. So if you’re NC State, you’ve got to find a way to shut down that vertical passing game and make DJ be patient, make Clemson have to run the ball more with Will Shipley.”
On the other side of the ball, Herbstreit discussed NC State quarterback Devin Leary and the Wolfpack, who beat Clemson by a score of 27-21 in double-overtime in Raleigh last season.
“And then Devin Leary, I don’t know if the nation knows how good this guy is – I know he beat Clemson and got some attention – this guy has got moxie. He’s got a little bit of an attitude about him and confidence about himself, and believes,” Herbstreit said.
“That’s the difference with NC State. Now you’ve beaten Clemson, you don’t hope you can win the game – you know you can win the game. There’s a belief I think on this team, and they bring in a veteran defense. So, I don’t know. I’m looking forward to it. I think it’ll be a good matchup. The winner of this game puts themselves in a very good position.”
Tonight’s game is set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. on ABC.
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