While all games are big, this one is a BIG one. The 21st ranked NC State Wolfpack take the short trip to Winston Salem to face the 13th ranked Wake Forest Deamon Deacons Saturday night in a game where the winner will be in the driver’s seat for the Atlantic Division championship.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 pm inside Truist Field in Winston Salem, NC, and can be viewed on the ACC Network.
The Wolfpack enter the contest 7-2 overall and 4-1 in the ACC. Just recently, NC State defeated Florida State 28-14 last Saturday in Tallahassee, FL. Devin Leary padded the stats with a touchdown pass in each quarter and a total of 314 yards. Darkhorse Trent Pennix continues to be a bright spot in the Wolfpack offense leading in receiving yards with 97 and one touchdown.
Wake Forest returns to action after dropping their first game of the season last Saturday in a back and forth affair against UNC 58-55. Neither offense could be stopped before the Tar Heels came up with a few timely stops to come up with the upset win. Quarterback Sam Hartman continues to stay in Player of the Year talks – putting up 398 yards through the air for five touchdowns, but also two interceptions. Hartman also rushed for 78 yards and two scores on the ground. The Deamon Deacon defense has trended in the wrong direction as of late, giving up 58, 56 and 37 in three of their past games.
Game Notes
- This will mark only the second meeting when both teams come in nationally ranked. The only previous matchup was in 1992, as No. 13 NC State downed No. 25 Wake Forest 42-14 at Carter- Finley Stadium.
- Wake Forest and NC State sit in 1st and 2nd place respectively in the ACC’s Atlantic Division. Wake Forest posts a 5-0 league mark, while the Wolfpack is 4-1.
- Since 2001, the Wolfpack has posted a 2-8 mark in games played at Wake Forest – winning in 2001 and 2015.
- Quarterback Devin Leary has thrown 17 touchdown passes against ACC opponents this season – the top mark in the league’s conference-games-only stats.
- NC State is tied with Georgia for the FBS lead in rushing TDs allowed this season.
- Wolfpack quarterback Devin Leary had a streak of 228 pass attempts without an interception broken with an end-of-half hail Mary at FSU. In that span, he threw 20 TDs. That was the third-longest INT-free streak in school history, the ninth-best in ACC history and the longest streak in the nation this season.
UNC Continues to Shine into the Final Stretch