Tag: North Carolina State

Sporting News sends the Iowa Hawkeyes bowling against N.C. State in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl

Sporting News put out a preseason bowl projection and has the Iowa Hawkeyes going bowling with the North Carolina State Wolfpack.

It’s early and the season hasn’t even kicked off yet, but we do have postseason bowl predictions already underway! It is never too early to start wondering how much time will be needed to be blocked off over Christmas break to watch or travel south for a winter vacation in order to see the Iowa Hawkeyes’ bowl game.

Sporting News’ Bill Bender recently came out with his preseason bowl predictions and he has Iowa appearing in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl against the North Carolina State Wolfpack on December 30.

This says one of two things. Iowa is going to outperform expectations this year or North Carolina State is going to underperform. I say this because Iowa was not ranked in the top 25 while the Wolfpack came in at No. 13.

The Hawkeyes have never appeared in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl or any of its previous names (Belk Bowl, Meineke Car Care Bowl, or the Continental Tire Bowl). The Wolfpack have appeared in the game three times under the different bowl names and have a 2-1 record.

This wouldn’t be the first matchup of the schools as they have met three previous times, the most recent being in 1992. North Carolina State holds a 3-0 record over the Hawkeyes.

It’s early and Iowa Hawkeyes coaches, players, and fans are all setting their expectations on a higher bowl destination, but should this come to fruition, there is some solace in the possibility of Kirk Ferentz receiving a mayo bath.

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ACC to adopt a new football scheduling model in 2023

ACC football will adopt the 3-5-5 scheduling model starting in 2023.

What we once thought was possible is now official as the ACC announced their new scheduling model that will start in the 2023 season.

The ACC has opted to eliminate divisions and move forward with the 3-5-5 scheduling format. Each team in the conference will play three conference teams permanently, rotating between five other conference opponents yearly. The conference opponents Clemson will take on permanently are Florida State, North Carolina State, and Georgia Tech.

The model was officially voted to take place from 2023 to 2026, which should give the conference adequate time to explore the model.

It will be exciting to see how everything plays out with this new change.

Here’s a list of the permeant opponents for all ACC schools:

Clemson: Florida State, Georgia Tech, NC State

Boston College: Miami, Pitt, Syracuse

Duke: North Carolina, NC State, Wake Forest

Florida State: Clemson, Miami, Syracuse

Georgia Tech: Clemson, Louisville, Wake Forest

Louisville: Georgia Tech, Miami, Virginia

Miami: Boston College, Florida State, Louisville

North Carolina: Duke, NC State, Virginia

NC State: Clemson, Duke, North Carolina

Pitt: Boston College, Syracuse, Virginia Tech

Syracuse: Boston College, Florida State, Pitt

Virginia: Louisville, North Carolina, Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech: Pitt, Virginia, Wake Forest

Wake Forest: Duke, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech

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2023 NFL draft film room: North Carolina State QB Devin Leary

See for yourself what makes North Carolina State’s Devin Leary one of the top quarterback prospects in the 2023 NFL draft

It’s never too early to look ahead to the next group of top prospects, so if you’re looking to get a head start on the 2023 NFL draft class, we’ve got you covered.

What makes North Carolina State’s Devin Leary one of next year’s top quarterback prospects?

Watch the tape and see for yourself:

NC State’s Ikem Ekwonu is long shot to reach Cowboys, maybe Cowboys should reach up for him

A tackle worthy of taking in the first round who already has experience playing on the interior? Tyler Browning (@DiabeticTyler) sizes up the Wolfpack star.

It’s been 11 seasons since the Cowboys left the draft’s first round with an offensive tackle. Is it time for another?

North Carolina State’s Ikem Ekwonu is a highly decorated and versatile offensive lineman who brought home second-team All-ACC honors from the Associated Press at both guard and tackle in 2020. He was the recipient of the team’s Jim Ritcher Award for top offensive lineman and was a first-team preseason All-ACC choice. In 2021 he became a bona fide stud and earned the moniker of “the most feared lineman in the ACC,” from The Athletic.

Ekwonu is a physical mauler, has a nasty hand strike and loves finishing people in the ground. He brings position flexibility which is key as he’d have a place to play until Tyron Smith hangs up his cleats. He is very difficult to get around when he drops his anchor, and he stays square with the pass rusher.

Iowa women’s gymnastics headed to NCAA Raleigh Regional

After a third-place finish at the Big Ten championships, Iowa women’s gymnastics earned a spot in the NCAA Raleigh Regional.

Iowa women’s gymnastics is set to head east as part of the NCAA Raleigh Regional at host site North Carolina State. The Hawkeyes earned their 14th straight regional appearance as a team.

Iowa earned its postseason berth after registering one of the top-36 regional qualifying scores. Iowa’s regional qualifying score of 196.585 ranked 22nd in the latest Road to Nationals poll.

The Hawkeyes will take part in session two beginning at noon on Thursday, March 31 from Valvano Arena at Reynolds Coliseum against No. 6 LSU, No. 11 Missouri and North Carolina State. The third session features No. 3 Michigan, No. 14 UCLA and Maryland.

Towson recorded a regional qualifying score of 196.265 to rank 33rd, while North Carolina finished with a RQS of 196.225 to rank 35th. Those two teams will compete in a dual on Wednesday to enter the third session.

Each of the top two teams in Thursday’s sessions will advance to the regional final on April 2. From there, the top two teams will advance to the NCAA Championships on April 14-16 in Fort Worth, Texas. The top all-around competitors and the top event specialist on each event will also receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships if they are not on an advancing team.

Iowa enters the NCAA Raleigh Regional after an impressive showing at the Big Ten Championships. The Hawkeyes posted a team score of 196.950, which represented the third-best score in program history. Senior Lauren Guerin shared the floor title for a second consecutive season after posting a score of 9.950. As a team, Iowa posted its second-highest floor score of the season and the program’s fourth-best score all-time with a 49.525.

Iowa also posted a 49.075 on bars, scored a 49.100 on beam and ended their final rotation with a 49.250 on vault at the Big Ten Championships.

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Texans take NC State OT Ikem Ekwonu in Pro Football Focus post combine mock draft

The Houston Texans upgrade their tackle situation by drafting NC State OT Ikem Ekwonu in the latest Pro Football Focus post combine mock.

The Houston Texans have the No. 3 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft and various needs across their roster, and apparently offensive line is the most pressing among them.

According to Brad Spielberger from Pro Football Focus, the Texans fix their tackle situation with the selection of North Carolina State tackle Ikem Ekwonu at No. 3 overall.

It’s entirely possible Ekwonu is the first player off the board in this year’s draft, as he has posted three straight 80.0-plus season grades capped off with an elite 91.6 in 2021. Ekwonu’s technique is still a bit raw, as evidenced by issues in pass protection earlier in his college career, but he didn’t allow more than two quarterback pressures in any game in 2021 en route to a career-best 78.1 pass block grade. 

Taking a tackle that high, whether Ekwonu or Alabama’s Evan Neal, suggests that the Texans have either traded two-time Pro Bowler Laremy Tunsil by the draft or intend to do so before finalizing their 53-man roster at the end of preseason. There is no logical way Houston takes another tackle, especially when the club is heavily considering keeping former 2019 first-round pick Tytus Howard at a bookend position.

Would the Texans move Ekwonu inside to guard? Even if Houston had Tunsil, Howard, and Ekwonu on the roster after preseason, it would then presume the Texans would look to let Howard walk after his contract expires at the end of the 2022 season.

The mock is nevertheless fascinating as chaos hits the draft right off the top with the Jacksonville Jaguars selecting defensive end Aidan Hutchinson from Michigan. At No. 2 overall, the Detroit Lions go with a quarterback and pick Liberty’s Malik Willis.

Oregon defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux goes No. 4 overall to the New York Jets. The New York Giants gets Neal at No. 5. Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton doesn’t go until No. 10 overall to the Jets, who have another selection thanks to their trading of safety Jamal Adams to the Seattle Seahawks.

Texans draft NC State tackle Ikem Ekwonu in CBS Sports’ post combine mock

The Houston Texans shore up tackle with the selection of NC State OT Ikem Ekwonu in the latest CBS Sports post combine mock.

The Housotn Texans have a bevy of needs across their roster. It is what happens when a club finishes 4-13 and posts its second straight season of four wins.

According to Ryan Wilson from CBS Sports, the Texans fix their offensive line woes early with the selection of North Carolina State tackle Ikem Ekwonu in the latest post combine mock draft.

If Ekwonu is our OT1, Neal is OT1A and it’s really close. He’s 6-foot-7, 337 pounds, but standing next to him he looks more like a svelte 265; he carries the weight well and that balance, power and athleticism showed up all the time in his game, which came against some of the best edge rushers in the country.

Adding Ekwonu with the No. 3 overall pick would mean the Texans either executed a trade deal to send Pro Bowl tackle Laremy Tunsil to a new NFL city for picks, or they intend to do so after the draft or at some point during training camp. Former 2019 first-round pick Tytus Howard moved between tackle and guard during 2021, but he found more success as a bookend for Houston, particularly at left tackle in place of an injured Tunsil, who only played five games for the Texans.

General manager Nick Caserio told reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine on March 1 that the Texans’ goal is to get their hands on as many prospects as possible to give themselves flexibility in the first and second found.

“There’s different ways to get players on your team, and I would say spending as much time on that group of players, knowing that group is just as important as knowing the top 50 players in the draft,” Caserio said. “Again, it really speaks to more of a comprehensive deep dive of knowing the overall board.”

If Houston would to take Ekwonu, regardless of how the Tunsil situation plays out, new offensive line coach George Warhop would have to determine whether to place the rookie at left tackle or move him to the right side.

FBS teams Notre Dame has losing record against

The Irish don’t lead every head-to-head matchup.

As winning a tradition that Notre Dame has, that tradition hasn’t always shined through. In fact, there are some schools that the Irish have lost to more times than they’ve beaten. A few other teams have beaten the Irish the only time they’ve faced them, and still others have more than one victory without having lost at all. Given how big the Irish are in more ways than one, that’s a sense of pride for anyone.

Who are the lucky few that can say with certitude that they have the upper hand on Notre Dame? For our purposes, we’ll narrow it down to the programs currently competing at the Football Bowl Subdivision level. Quick shoutout to the teams that never will have to worry about losing this distinction because they either don’t play in the Irish’s division anymore or they no longer exist. Those programs are Yale, Knox, Chicago and Great Lakes Navy.

Now, here are the FBS programs that have true bragging rights over the Irish:

Notre Dame offers interesting 2023 athlete from North Carolina

Could his Top-5 be changing soon?

It seems like Marcus Freeman is using the Notre Dame national recruiting pull to his advantage. The Irish are one of a few schools around the nation that doesn’t just recruit regionally, they have the reach all across the country.

Freeman once again used this clout as he went out to North Carolina and offered Keith Sampson Jr. a scholarship this evening. At six-foot-four-inches and 285-pounds, the Tar Heel State star plays on both sides of the ball, as a defensive tackle and tight end. Sampson Jr. must be one impressive athlete if he’s playing tight end at that size.

Just this past week, Sampson Jr. dropped his top five schools: Clemson, Ohio State, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina State, but in his tweet made it clear that his recruitment was still open. Hopefully the Irish offer gives this impressive athlete something to think about.

ACC, Clemson driving network analyst to the bottle

It’s no secret the ACC is having an especially disappointing season. Clemson’s loss at North Carolina State exacerbated the already glaring issues in the conference. After the four weeks of play the only undefeated teams remaining in the conference …

It’s no secret the ACC is having an especially disappointing season.

Clemson’s loss at North Carolina State exacerbated the already glaring issues in the conference.

After the four weeks of play the only undefeated teams remaining in the conference are Wake Forest and Boston College.

The ACC Network’s Mark Packer tweeted on Sunday morning that his weekly power rankings made him reach for an adult beverage at breakfast time.

Football season has finally arrived. Time to represent your Tigers and show your stripes!