NC State Wolfpack College Football Preview 2021: What Will Happen, Season Prediction
Now that’s more like it.
NC State hasn’t been a world-beater over the last eight years under head coach Dave Doeren, but it’s been consistently very, very solid.
Things fell apart in a weird rebuilding year in 2019, but that was a blip. Last year’s team had issues – and pretty much played everyone dead even – and it went 8-4. The 2018 team had issues, and it went 9-4.
Set The NC State Wolfpack Regular Season Win Total At … 7.5
Doeren went 3-9 in his first season in 2013 and then cranked up winning season after winning season. If you think coming up with six winning seasons in the last seven years is boring, can anyone else in the ACC other than Clemson make that claim?
Nope.
But no one’s going to jump up and down and scream that NC State has been the second-best ACC program over the last seven years – no, Notre Dame, you don’t count – mainly because that hasn’t been anything splashy.
The program’s last ACC Championship was back in 1979, there’s only been one top 25 finish under Doeren – it was 23rd back in 2017 – and the team has finished higher than fourth in the Atlantic just twice during the run.
Everyone comes back with experience across college football in this super-senior season, but getting back 16 starers to go along with a few nice transfers should make this one of Doeren’s best teams yet.
The Pack miss Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Virginia and Pitt, get North Carolina at home, and for whatever it’s worth in a take-your-big-shot sort of way, Clemson has to come to Raleigh.
The pieces are there and the schedule is manageable enough to get back to the nine-win bar the program hit in 2017 and 2018, but going to Miami, Mississippi State, Boston College, Florida State and Wake Forest might be just sneaky-tough enough to keep that from happening.
But don’t yawn if it’s yet another winning season with another bowl trip for the program that’s overdue for sensational, but might simply remain steady.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– NC State Wolfpack Schedule Analysis