Open Invite to The Wolfpack Fan(s)

[RockyTop140]

I'll jump in as well.

No one can deny the talent that Tennessee has on both sides of the ball, and James Pearce has a chance to have a monster game. However, I think Nico will struggle more than many people expect. I saw an interesting stat from the NCSU site insidepacksports.com about Nico Vs Pressure. Nico has faced pressure on 24 drop backs. He is 2 of 9 for 42 yards with 9 sacks and 7 scrambles. Small sample size sure, but this would be a cause of concern for me if I was a Tennessee fan. States defensive coordinator, Tony Gibson, will blitz you until you can't see straight.

I also think State has more talent then many posters on here realize. The problem for State is the majority of the talent was acquired for the transfer portal, and portal talent usually takes a while to mesh. Will it mesh enough before Saturday? No one really knows, and I think that's why the line is closer then many people think it should be.

My biggest concern for this game is Tennessees defensive line has their way with State's front. State was stopped on two 4th and 1's in obvious rushing scenarios against an FCS team. Not good.

I think Tennesee's biggest concern should be trying to stop KC Conception. No one has really been able to do it yet, and if Tennessee's secondary is shaky........watch out.

I've seen many posters on here predicting that Tennessee wins by 20+. I think there is a chance that happens, but the chance isn't very large. Vegas currently has the line at 7.5. Teams that are favored by a touchdown lose around 30% of the time. Just something to keep in mind.

In the end I think Tennessee eeks out a close one 28-24. I could be very wrong, but the truth is I just don't know what to expect from this team at this point in the season, and if any NC State fan tells you otherwise they're lying.

That’s an interesting stat line about Nico. Remember though, most if not all those pressures came in limited playing time last season when he was a true freshman. He’s had a full year and an offseason to practice as qb1 against what should be one of the best defensive lines in the country.

 

[DaddyChad]

Just hope both teams come out injury free. Best of luck to NC State fans after this weekend.

 

[ArmchairQB]

A little Wolfpack side topic... Dick Sheridan was a pretty darn good coach at NC State and had them beating Clemson and UNC. He left a few months after Jim Valvano died and never coached again. You have to think he just decided there were more important things in life, and he never looked back.

 

[number1volfanfrom76]

I come in peace. 37 yo, 2009 grad of State who lives in Charlotte. I will be there Saturday.

Coming into this season, I think most fans had these goals, in order.

Win 10 games
Make/win the acccg
Make the cfp

In order to do that, we see the need to accomplish 2 of the following 3 feats. In order; 1. Beat Clemson in DV in week 4. 2. Go undefeated(8-0) after Clemson. 3. Beat UT.

You all might have anecdotes of State fans talking about being super confident about this week but we as a fan base see them as the drunk guy at the bar who is mouthing off. COULD State win Saturday? Its possible. But not likely. I think most State fans reasons for hope are 1. UT hanging 50+ on an FCS team and still being mediocre is a thing. 2. UT looked great week 1 last year too and followed that up with a squeaker against Austin Peay and loss to UF. 3. We hope our rustiness was due to multiple transfers and looking ahead to week 2.

As far as personnel, offense, we are still getting to know them. Qb, 2 of top 3 rb, 2 of top 4 wr, te, and C are all transfers. The one offensive weapon we had last year is back, slot WR Kevin Concepcion. He'll catch passes down the field, take handoffs, reverses, screens etc. 120 yards of offense and 2 tds is par for the course for him. Your dc is going to key off of him this week. Our hope is that the wrs, te, and rbs State picked up will take some pressure off of him. After one game, that doesnt appear to be the case...120 yards and 3 tds on thursday.

Defense: state fans typically expect a top 4 acc defense every year. Tony Gibson 3-3-5 has been here since 2019 and for most of those years, hes had high level linebacker play, with multiple all acc selections and culminating in a acc dpoy/bednarik/butkus winner in Payton Wilson last year. We're not sure if we have anywhere close to that production this season but our heir apparent(Fordham) dropped a pic 6, recorded a tackle, and got ejected all in 5 plays on Thursday. From most accounts, most of the transfer NIL was spent on the 2ndary and that is seen as the strength of the defense at the moment.

As I mentioned, most State fans saw this as our hardest game coming into the season. This weekend reinforced that. A lot of us were flipping back and forth between UTCvsTenn and ClemvsUGA early Saturday. We ended up locked into the Clemson game bc that seems the more likely win in the next month that will help unlock the aforementioned goals.

PSA: Have a great time in Charlotte. Lots of good bar/brewery/restaurants to choose from near the stadium. Don't spend too much in the stadium...everyone hates David Tepper(Panthers owner). Don't give him too much extra money.

Welcome! Nice response. We are all looking fwd to a great game. We will be tested this time. Last wk, game was over after 2nd TD. UTC got their $ and butt whipping. NCST is a solid team, no doubt. Hope we put it away in the 3rd qtr.

 

[sjt18]

Here's my thoughts from a State fan...

I wouldn't put much stock in us having a close game or you have a blowout, it's just week 1.

State has skilled players outside of KC, so you're secondary will be tested. That being said, your DL can definitely disrupt any well laid plays if we can't come up with a good scheme to deal with them. We do have a lot of Transfers in key positions, QB, RB, Center, TE, WRs. All but the WRs are well tested and proven though from their previous schools. But everyone still has to mesh together no question.

Think you will see a lot more RPO action than you did in the WCU game, the coaches were holding that back for a few reasons. Not giving away too much for the next game and trying to settle McCall in with his new WRs. Obviously he was a little erratic but I think that's just rust from not play since mid year last season. But yeah he needs to be more accurate this game no doubt.

Now Tenn fans have never lacked for confidence in their teams, have some relatives that are fans, but the hype for Nico is thru the roof. He's a good young talent, but he is still a freshmen. 2 keys to game imo is control your DL the best we can and make Nico pass and read from the pocket. We do those things and I think this will be a 4th quarter game. We are very capable of scoring with you imo.

All that being said we have a terrible history playing at Charlotte for some reason. Hopefully the past doesn't predict future results yet again!

Hope for a good clean game, and good luck the rest of the season!

Thought about this a lot over the last couple of days after someone mentioned how great Concepcion is. He's a very good player. UT more than likely has 4 or 5 guys more talented than he is. Outside of UNC last year, his 100 yd games have come against nobodies.

Thornton has had injury issues over his career. But his best two career games came with Oregon against #10 Utah and #10 OU as a Fr.

McCoy's best games have come against LSU, Mizzou, and UF.

Brazzell is much less of a known commodity but his best games at Tulane came against some of the better teams they played.

Squirrel had 10 catches for over 100 against Bama's D.

IOWs, UT has guys that step up with the competition.

NCSU fans should remember Staes... the former ND TE who had over 100 yds vs your D a couple of years ago. He's been inconsistent but this system is going to help him.

UT has depth of talent behind these guys and TEs who can play as well. And there is a very real possibility that Fr Mike Matthews who was held out is the most talented in the group.

All that said... you should be more worried about UT's run game than the pass game. Everything for UT starts with the run. The Vols have a very good OL and some talented runners behind them... and Nico can run too.


Flip side- UT is more talented in the secondary than they've been over the last several years. They're not experienced. For that reason they're vulnerable. Banks also has a habit of not exactly matching wits in playcalling. So it is really difficult to say how that match up looks. As far as your WRs... do you think they're better than what UT has seen from LSU, Bama, TAM, UGA, Ole Miss, or even UK?

Maybe this will go completely unexpected and the Pack is actually an UGA level program... we'll see.

Interesting note- NCSU played 19 players on D vs WCU. UT played over 40 and will play 30 this Saturday. They rotate 3 or even 4 deep on the DL without much drop off. They'll play 2 and 3 deep in the secondary.

If NCSU plays only 19 guys vs UT... it will get really, really ugly because of UT's tempo.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

In case anyone missed it… SIAP

 

[wolfTrip]

What’s the feeling about how many Pack fans will turn out in Charlotte?

State announced they sold their allotment today. No idea what that means in terms of the overall crowd. For example: I have no idea which section my tickets are in. We are a 7 person group, 5 in red, 2 in orange.

 

[Franklin_Vol09]

F NCState fans. When we played them last in Atlanta, I took my elderly dad with me to watch the game. They threw trash and popcorn and flicked him a bird and cussed him out inches from his face. If it was t for my dad grabbing me and begging me no to do anything, I would have dropped several NCState fans that day. Adults and students.

I will never ever be nice to that fan base. They can all eat a ……….

 

[Hacksaw]

In case anyone missed it… SIAP

So they're Rocky and we're Apollo Creed?

 

[DirtyDawg]

F NCState fans. When we played them last in Atlanta, I took my elderly dad with me to watch the game. They threw trash and popcorn and flicked him a bird and cussed him out inches from his face. If it was t for my dad grabbing me and begging me no to do anything, I would have dropped several NCState fans that day. Adults and students.

I will never ever be nice to that fan base. They can all eat a ……….

WTH, that is awful. How the hell can people do shite like that? I can certainly understand your feelings about this, but honestly that kind of behavior has little to do with being an NCState fan. Those people are classless A-holes!!! Just truly terrible people!

 

[RDU VOL#14]

So they're Rocky and we're Apollo Creed?

In a weird way I’d say that’s true . Rocky won a Heavy Weight Title during the Carter Administration. The last time NC State won any sort of football championship Jimmy Carter was also president. There’s some symmetry there.

 

[DC_Vol]

WTH, that is awful. How the hell can people do shite like that? I can certainly understand your feelings about this, but honestly that kind of behavior has little to do with being an NCState fan. Those people are classless A-holes!!! Just truly terrible people!

Hope they weren’t barking in that elderly man’s face!

 

[LouderVol]

To be turned down by Dave Doeren, who the whole fanbase was angry we were even showing interest from, was one if not the lowest point of our program's history.

Schiano was a much lower point.

and IIRC we had reached out to Doeren, then Curie went rogue, and we ghosted Doeren. after which he signed an extension with NCST. not how I would classify him as turning us down, he never had a real offer.

 

[chuckiepoo]

WTH, that is awful. How the hell can people do shite like that? I can certainly understand your feelings about this, but honestly that kind of behavior has little to do with being an NCState fan. Those people are classless A-holes!!! Just truly terrible people!

Almost as bad as co-opting AC/DC in their hype video.

 

[LouderVol]

I agree with this 100%. If you guys have success running the football you can compete with any team in the nation IMO. It keeps the offense rolling and makes Nico’s job much easier. Nico will have a field day if the running game gets going. Sadly for NC State I expect Sampson will have a very good day!

I haven't seen any stats to confirm this, but it feels like the run is our go-to hurry up option. especially if we made a big play, or got a first down, its highly likely we go with an instant run, often up the middle. If we can get 4 yards, on a team that averages about 6 yards a rush, on that first up-tempo play, we are cooking.

imo that's what we rely on to get the opposing team rattled by the speed. that run is our punch in the "everyone has a plan until they get punched in the nose".

 

[statefan22]

Thought about this a lot over the last couple of days after someone mentioned how great Concepcion is. He's a very good player. UT more than likely has 4 or 5 guys more talented than he is. Outside of UNC last year, his 100 yd games have come against nobodies.

Thornton has had injury issues over his career. But his best two career games came with Oregon against #10 Utah and #10 OU as a Fr.

McCoy's best games have come against LSU, Mizzou, and UF.

Brazzell is much less of a known commodity but his best games at Tulane came against some of the better teams they played.

Squirrel had 10 catches for over 100 against Bama's D.

IOWs, UT has guys that step up with the competition.

NCSU fans should remember Staes... the former ND TE who had over 100 yds vs your D a couple of years ago. He's been inconsistent but this system is going to help him.

UT has depth of talent behind these guys and TEs who can play as well. And there is a very real possibility that Fr Mike Matthews who was held out is the most talented in the group.

All that said... you should be more worried about UT's run game than the pass game. Everything for UT starts with the run. The Vols have a very good OL and some talented runners behind them... and Nico can run too.


Flip side- UT is more talented in the secondary than they've been over the last several years. They're not experienced. For that reason they're vulnerable. Banks also has a habit of not exactly matching wits in playcalling. So it is really difficult to say how that match up looks. As far as your WRs... do you think they're better than what UT has seen from LSU, Bama, TAM, UGA, Ole Miss, or even UK?

Maybe this will go completely unexpected and the Pack is actually an UGA level program... we'll see.

Interesting note- NCSU played 19 players on D vs WCU. UT played over 40 and will play 30 this Saturday. They rotate 3 or even 4 deep on the DL without much drop off. They'll play 2 and 3 deep in the secondary.

If NCSU plays only 19 guys vs UT... it will get really, really ugly because of UT's tempo.

I think you don't really understand how inept NC State's offense was last year. Conception was the ONLY guy they had on offense. No one else even came close in terms of talent/production. They rotated between 2 quarterbacks, both who had massive struggles. You would think this would make it extremely easy to guard Conception, but no, he still found ways to rack up massive numbers.

As far as the competition comment goes, I agree, State definitely didn't face the best completion. But against the second best defense on the schedule (Clemson), Conception racked up 134 yards on 7 touches with two TD's. And like I said previously, all of this production came while opposing defensives knew he was State's only way to generate explosive plays. Now that State has more talent around him, defensives can't key off against him anymore.

I can't say I am super familiar with the Tennessee roster, but if Tennessee has 4 or 5 guys more talented then him on offense they shouldn't lose a game on their schedule.

Also, if the secondary is vulnerable, does the reason really matter? Whether is be a talent deficiency, or lack of experience, it should be something of concern when playing a guy like Conception. This will be the biggest stage KC has played on yet, and I am extremely interested to see how he does.

When it comes to the defense, they are a giant mystery. State will play more players than 19 on Saturday out of pure necessity, but not that many more. The goal will be to have very long drives on offense to give the D a breather. In order to do that their front has to have an improvement from last week.

Anyways, I am pumped for this game and it should be a good one. Thank you all for being open to fair discussion about the game. It's very refreshing to see.

 

[ntxVOL]

I think you don't really understand how inept NC State's offense was last year. Conception was the ONLY guy they had on offense. No one else even came close in terms of talent/production. They rotated between 2 quarterbacks, both who had massive struggles. You would think this would make it extremely easy to guard Conception, but no, he still found ways to rack up massive numbers.

As far as the competition comment goes, I agree, State definitely didn't face the best completion. But against the second best defense on the schedule (Clemson), Conception racked up 134 yards on 7 touches with two TD's. And like I said previously, all of this production came while opposing defensives knew he was State's only way to generate explosive plays. Now that State has more talent around him, defensives can't key off against him anymore.

I can't say I am super familiar with the Tennessee roster, but if Tennessee has 4 or 5 guys more talented then him on offense they shouldn't lose a game on their schedule.

Also, if the secondary is vulnerable, does the reason really matter? Whether is be a talent deficiency, or lack of experience, it should be something of concern when playing a guy like Conception. This will be the biggest stage KC has played on yet, and I am extremely interested to see how he does.

When it comes to the defense, they are a giant mystery. State will play more players than 19 on Saturday out of pure necessity, but not that many more. The goal will be to have very long drives on offense to give the D a breather. In order to do that their front has to have an improvement from last week.

Anyways, I am pumped for this game and it should be a good one. Thank you all for being open to fair discussion about the game. It's very refreshing to see.

We are very deep at WR and RB. So deep that we may not have a 1000 yard rusher just because so many will be pushing for playing time, same story at WR. On top of that, we have 3 very talented TEs. This team is loaded at the skill positions on offense.

 

[Imvolin423]

Surprised more people don’t have a question mark beside our secondary. I know I do. QBs tend to have a highlight reel kind of day against us. I think we win, but don’t think it’ll be as decisive as some think.

I agree. Nc state will challenge us with their WRs. Will be interesting to see if we can stay disciplined at safety and in one on ones. We will this game regardless but curious to see if they can prevent big plays

 

[sjt18]

I think you don't really understand how inept NC State's offense was last year. Conception was the ONLY guy they had on offense. No one else even came close in terms of talent/production. They rotated between 2 quarterbacks, both who had massive struggles. You would think this would make it extremely easy to guard Conception, but no, he still found ways to rack up massive numbers.

The best player on bad units often has distorted numbers. He's a talented guy but that's just a reality. UT has had guys like that over the years of suffering.

As far as the competition comment goes, I agree, State definitely didn't face the best completion. But against the second best defense on the schedule (Clemson), Conception racked up 134 yards on 7 touches with two TD's. And like I said previously, all of this production came while opposing defensives knew he was State's only way to generate explosive plays. Now that State has more talent around him, defensives can't key off against him anymore.

No disrespect to him or the guys around him. But you aren't the first OOC opposing fan who has come here thinking UT has never seen talent like yours. The truth is that UT sees talent like yours or better in most conference games. UT will plan to defend ALL of your guys. They wouldn't likely give Concepcion the kind of attention you're thinking even if there weren't talented guys around him. I mentioned before that Grimes lack of production was surprising.

UT sees lots of guys like him or better. Not a knock on your guy. There's just a lot of SEC teams with great WRs.

I can't say I am super familiar with the Tennessee roster, but if Tennessee has 4 or 5 guys more talented then him on offense they shouldn't lose a game on their schedule.

If they played in the ACC you'd be right. But look at UGA's WR talent... Ole Miss... Bama... Mizzou... OU... Texas... Right now UT's WR group might be considered a top 5 group in the SEC... might. The Vols have a ways to go before being considered a top SEC team. The SEC and Big10 are a long way ahead of the other conferences now. Think of it as playing 5 or 6 teams with Clemson's talent instead of just one.


FWIW, there's a different between being talented and being a great WR. Concepcion could be a better WR. UT's guys have good skills... they're bigger... they have guys who are faster.

Also, if the secondary is vulnerable, does the reason really matter? Whether is be a talent deficiency, or lack of experience, it should be something of concern when playing a guy like Conception. This will be the biggest stage KC has played on yet, and I am extremely interested to see how he does.

A talented guys who makes a mistake can sometimes make up for it if they have extreme talent. An experienced guy with mediocre talent will sometimes just get beat physically. Believe me. UT has seen a lot of this over the last 15 years. This is Heupel's most talented secondary. They're fast. They're long. They have great hips. They have good depth. Physically... they look good coming off the bus. They're not proven.... so they're a question.

Good news though. The Vols get a Ricky Gibson back. He was the starter until he got nicked up and held out of the UTC game. Very fast. Very talented.

When it comes to the defense, they are a giant mystery. State will play more players than 19 on Saturday out of pure necessity, but not that many more. The goal will be to have very long drives on offense to give the D a breather. In order to do that their front has to have an improvement from last week.

Pretty much. As a Vol fan, I hope Banks doesn't do what he's done too many times before. He's responded to that kind of O by playing safe to keep the game between the 30s. My hope is that if NCSU tries that Banks goes man and sends everyone else.

Anyways, I am pumped for this game and it should be a good one. Thank you all for being open to fair discussion about the game. It's very refreshing to see.

Great board. I've been here a long time.

 

[Proud Army Wife]

The only two games that really matter are Iowa and Chatt. Most of those pressures were vs Iowa in his first game as a starter and who had a top 5 defense last year and despite the pressure and sacks he still scrambled for first downs and TDs. The thing about Nico is that when he leaves the pocket he can and will find WRs downfield so your DBs will have added pressure to maintain coverage.

That’s the thing about Nico, he’s a dynamic qb who takes what the defense gives him.

 

[aRmo]

Thought about this a lot over the last couple of days after someone mentioned how great Concepcion is. He's a very good player. UT more than likely has 4 or 5 guys more talented than he is. Outside of UNC last year, his 100 yd games have come against nobodies.

Thornton has had injury issues over his career. But his best two career games came with Oregon against #10 Utah and #10 OU as a Fr.

McCoy's best games have come against LSU, Mizzou, and UF.

Brazzell is much less of a known commodity but his best games at Tulane came against some of the better teams they played.

Squirrel had 10 catches for over 100 against Bama's D.

IOWs, UT has guys that step up with the competition.

NCSU fans should remember Staes... the former ND TE who had over 100 yds vs your D a couple of years ago. He's been inconsistent but this system is going to help him.

UT has depth of talent behind these guys and TEs who can play as well. And there is a very real possibility that Fr Mike Matthews who was held out is the most talented in the group.

All that said... you should be more worried about UT's run game than the pass game. Everything for UT starts with the run. The Vols have a very good OL and some talented runners behind them... and Nico can run too.


Flip side- UT is more talented in the secondary than they've been over the last several years. They're not experienced. For that reason they're vulnerable. Banks also has a habit of not exactly matching wits in playcalling. So it is really difficult to say how that match up looks. As far as your WRs... do you think they're better than what UT has seen from LSU, Bama, TAM, UGA, Ole Miss, or even UK?

Maybe this will go completely unexpected and the Pack is actually an UGA level program... we'll see.

Interesting note- NCSU played 19 players on D vs WCU. UT played over 40 and will play 30 this Saturday. They rotate 3 or even 4 deep on the DL without much drop off. They'll play 2 and 3 deep in the secondary.

If NCSU plays only 19 guys vs UT... it will get really, really ugly because of UT's tempo.

They are practicing tempo tho, even their DB said "The tempo in the game will be easier than practice because they know where the ball will be placed."

 

[TrueOrange]

Does North Carolina even have internet capabilities?

It’s North Carolina, not West Virginia.

 

[TrueOrange]

I enjoyed the NWO wolfpack back in the WCW days

 

[TrueOrange]

Welcome. Nice post.
I’m originally from Western Carolina myself and love Charlotte.

- We have a true freshman as our 5th DB star position in that will lock up with Conception. He’s very talented and it will be a monumental task to stop him.

- Last year we did struggle against Austin Peay. That’s because Joe Milton. He’s gone.

- We could have scored 100 on Chattanooga. Chat had a barn burner with WCU last season. Like 52-50 or something?

- NC State added some talent, but we added more and extended our offensive potential. Because of the QB change. We’re still average in the secondary. Better than last year but still average in the SEC and NC State even with Roger’s and Conception I don’t think they can go up and down the field on our defense.

In summary it’s still the beginning of the season, but Heupel has a killer mentality like Steve Spurrier. Tennessee is deep. They’re fast. They’re experienced and very mature as a team.
NC State may have been looking ahead to Tennessee and perhaps that’s why they played poorly? Tennessee does not look ahead.

You have Clemson who is no longer a National Title contender. They’re not comparable to Tennessee. Tennessee very much is a Playoff Caliber team and NC State unfortunately will be playing them a year too late. If this were last year, it would have been very close. But this ain’t last year.

This game will be in hand way quicker than NC State is prepared for. Mostly because Nico will hurt NC State with his legs first. He’s a 4.4 guy at 6’6 and is more polished than any pocket QB around. He’s a Unicorn. Like Vince Young…with good mechanics and accuracy

NC State is playing the best team they have ever played under Doreen’s stint. You’ll see as the seasons goes on, but you’re playing a Top 3 team this weekend…

49-10 Vols

Wait, Doeren’s been there since 2013…so are we already anointing this year’s UT team as better than 2016 Clemson, 2018 Clemson (not to mention 2015 and 2019 Clemsons)? Because NC State had to play all of those teams under Doeren.

 

[sjt18]

They are practicing tempo tho, even their DB said "The tempo in the game will be easier than practice because they know where the ball will be placed."

May have been discussed here but one of the guys on a podcast related something interesting from Heupel. He said that UTC actually came out with different looks on D that they had not expected or practices for. He said that Nico knows the O so well that he was able to adjust on the fly without a lot of help from the coaches.

LOL. Those DBs are practicing for what UT ran against the Mocs. Wait til they turn it up to hyperdrive.