NC State College Football Preview 2024: Key Players, Game Schedule, Season Predictions

NC State College Football Preview 2024

In the long history of North Carolina State football, there’s been just one season with more than nine wins—2002 under Chuck Amato.

There still aren’t any ten-win seasons—last year’s team would’ve done it had it won the Pop-Tarts Bowl over Kansas State—and there are 13 nine-win campaigns.

Head coach Dave Doeren is responsible for four of those nine-win seasons and three more eight-win seasons in his 11 years in Raleigh.

Along with the ten-win thing, it’s one of college football’s weirder glitch-facts. NC State has a slew of ACC football championships, but it hasn’t played in the ACC Championship Game since its inception in 2005.

Clemson and Florida State have been regulars, and Virginia Tech owned it for a few years.

Boston College played in a few of them, Georgia Tech has a win and a few appearances, Wake Forest won in 2006, and Duke, North Carolina, Miami, Pitt, Virginia, and Louisville made it over the years. Even Notre Dame had a turn, and it’s just dabbling in the ACC.

Syracuse. That’s the only other ACC program—forgetting the new schools in the mix—other than NC State to not play in the ACC Championship Game in its 19 seasons of existence.

It almost happened last year.

The divisions were gone, but the 13-10 loss to Louisville in late September turned out to be the difference between playing in the ACC Championship and finishing third.

But that’s NC State under Doeren. It has been really, really close to having nice things.

This year’s team could make another good run. The offense will be better, the defense will reload, the schedule isn’t awful—no Florida State—and with a little luck and the right break, it’s possible the 2024 team busts through all of the ceilings.

A ten-win season, an ACC Championship appearance, and a trip to the expanded College Football Playoff are all reachable goals.

NC State Football Preview 2024: Offense

- It was a strange year for the NC State offense. It didn’t get anything out of the running backs, but the ground game wasn’t bad. The passing game wasn’t great or explosive, but there weren’t a ton of turnovers.

The defense was so good that it didn’t take much from the offense to win, but the team was 0-3 when scoring fewer than 20 points and 9-0 when scoring that many or more.

- The passing attack should be crisper. From Jacoby Brissett, to Ryan Finley, to Devin Leary, to Brennan Armstrong, NC State has been on a nice run of good quarterbacks. At least in terms of college resumé, Coastal Carolina transfer Grayson McCall is the best of the bunch.

McCall doesn’t have a huge arm, but he’s deadly accurate and can move. Kevin Concepcion led the team with 71 catches and ten scores, Dacari Collins is a dangerous deep threat, and UConn transfer Justin Joly should be a huge factor after catching 56 passes last season.

- The Wolfpack running game relied on QB Brennan Armstrong and WR Kevin Concepcion. Those were the two leading rushers, respectively, but that’s partly because the backs didn’t get the ball enough. In comes Jordan Waters from Duke after coming up with almost 1,400 yards and 20 touchdowns over the last two years.

The NC State line has been great over the last several years, and this one will be terrific again. OT Anthony Belton is an All-America and NFL Draft first round candidate. He’s the star of the bunch, but he’s not along with three other starters back and Notre Dame transfer Zeke Correll working at center.

NC State Football Preview 2024: Defense

- The defense that was so good loses a few massive pieces, but it’ll be terrific again. It was the third best in the nation in third down stops, was fourth in interceptions, and was good enough overall to get to nine wins.

The secondary and defense spread out the 17 interceptions among eight players. S Devan Boykin made 54 tackles with three picks, Aydan White is one of the ACC’s best corners, and the transfer portal is loading up the depth and options. Ohio State transfer Ja’Had Carter will be one of the team’s statistical stars at one safety job.

- The best linebacker in college football is gone, but there are still a few good pieces. Payton Wilson did a little bit of everything, and it’s not like the Wolfpack can replace him. No. 2 tackler Jaylon Scott is done, too - he and Wilson combined for 212 tackles.

Caden Fordham will make plenty of plays in the middle, and the D will get a bit creative on the outside - Sean Brown is a safety who’ll move around where needed.

- The line will be its usual nasty brick wall self. Davin Vann is the best player in the backfield, and Travail Price has good size on the other side. With CJ Clark taking off, Brandon Cleveland and Colorado transfer Chazz Wallace have to hold up in the middle.

Key To The NC State Football Season

Get the running backs working.
This has been a bit of a strange problem for the Wolfpack over the last few years.

Last season the running backs had a bit of a limited role. The 2018, 2019 and 2021 teams failed to average four yards per carry, and it’s been six seasons since Nyheim Hines went off as the last 1,000-yard rusher. The combination of Duke’s Jordan Waters and Oklahoma’s Hollywood Smothers have to get things going.

NC State Key Player

Sean Brown, LB Jr.
Seriously, how do you possibly replace a star like Payton Wilson? He made 402 career tackles with 15 sacks and seven picks, and he was big. Brown is more like a safety playing linebacker. He’s not going to hit like Wilson, but he can move. He’ll be asked to do a little of everything for a rebuilding linebacking corps.

NC State Football Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss

Top Transfer In: Grayson McCall, QB Sr.
The former Coastal Carolina star has thrown for over 10,000 yards in his career with 88 touchdowns and just 14 interceptions. The three-time Sun Belt Player of the Year is accurate - hitting 70% of his passes - experienced, can run, and he has the potential to take the NC State offense up several notches.

Top Transfer Out: CJ Clark, DT Jr.
The five-year former NC State nose tackle made 40 tackles with four sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss over the last two seasons. The stats don’t really matter, though. He’s a big body who holds up against the run and takes on the role of an anchor, and now he’ll do it for Miami.

NC State Key Game

at Clemson, Sept. 21
If you’re going to do this, NC State, and you’re going to be a major player in the ACC with a shot at playing in the conference championship, pull this off.

More on this at the end, but the Wolfpack miss a slew of key teams on the ACC schedule. Beat Clemson for a second year in a row, and it all opens up big with just one road game in the next two months.

10 Best NC State Football Players

1. Anthony Belton, OT Sr.
2. Kevin Concepcion, WR Soph.
3. Aydan White, CB Sr.
4. Grayson McCall, QB Sr.
5. Davin Vann, DE Sr.
6. Timothy McKay, OG Sr.
7. Jordan Waters, RB Sr.
8. Red Hibbler, DE Sr.
9. Caden Fordham, LB Jr.
10. Zeke Correll, C Sr.

NC State 2023 Fun Stats

- Time of Possession: NC State 32:27, Opponents 27:22

- 4th Quarter Scoring: Opponents 76, NC State 45

- Fumbles: Opponents 13 (lost 7), NC State 10 (lost 3)

NC State Football 2024 Win Total Prediction: What to Expect This Season

It’s NC State, so assume another season with eight wins, probably nine, and a tough loss here and there when the offense misfires.

But the schedule is good enough to do more.

With Grayson McCall, the offense should be sharper. The lines are good, the defense will replace the key parts in a hurry, and the consistency under Dave Doeren should keep going.

Dealing with Tennessee and Clemson away from Raleigh in the first four games is a concern, but there’s not a lot to worry about after that.

The Pack don’t get Notre Dame, and they miss Florida State, Louisville, Miami, Pitt, and Virginia Tech—along with Boston College, SMU, Syracuse, and Virginia. That’s not bad.

There’s a run of five home games in six dates, with a week off after making the long road trip to Cal. This is when everything has to roll before closing with trips to Georgia Tech and North Carolina.

So rough early, rough late, all fun in the middle.

Set The NC State Win Total At … 8.5

Likely Wins: Louisiana Tech, Northern Illinois, Stanford, Western Carolina

50/50 Games: at Cal, Duke, at Georgia Tech, at North Carolina, Syracuse, Tennessee, Wake Forest

Likely Losses: at Clemson

2024 NC State Football Schedule

Aug 29 Western Carolina
Sept 7 vs Tennessee (in Charlotte)
Sept 14 Louisiana Tech
Sept 21 at Clemson
Sept 28 Northern Illinois
Oct 5 Wake Forest
Oct 12 Syracuse
Oct 19 at Cal
Oct 26 OPEN DATE
Nov 2 Stanford
Nov 9 Duke
Nov 16 OPEN DATE
Nov 21 at Georgia Tech
Nov 30 at North Carolina

Missing: Boston College, Florida State, Louisville, Miami, Pitt, SMU, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech