Textile Bowl Renewed: NC State Visits Clemson

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Game 6: NC State Wolfpack (4-1, 1-0 ACC) vs. #3 Clemson Tigers (6-0, 3-0 ACC)
October 15, 2016 • 12 p.m. • ABC/ACC Network Extra
Clemson, S.C. • Memorial Stadium (81,500)

TV: ABC/ACC Network Extra | Radio: Wolfpack Sports Network, Tunein, Sirius 84, XM 84
Live Stats | Game Notes | @PackFootball Twitter | Ask the Analyst

RALEIGH, N.C. - 'Older, stronger, faster' are just some of the adjectives that best describe the NC State football program in its fourth year under head coach Dave Doeren. On Saturday, the Wolfpack (4-1, 1-0 ACC) will test itself against the ACC's ultimate measuring stick when it travels to Clemson for a noon kickoff.

At 6-0 and ranked third in both major college football polls, the talent-laden Tigers are right where most preseason prognosticators thought they'd be at midseason, despite playing the nation's seventh-toughest schedule.

The cast of main characters on the Clemson offense remain the same as they have been the last three years. Deshaun Watson, now a junior, again brings his dynamic run-pass abilities to the quarterback position. Redshirt junior tailback Wayne Gallman bulls through defenses with his gashing runs. The gazelle-like Mike Williams is back making big plays at one of the wide receiver positions, and senior tight end Jordan Leggett remains a match-up headache for opposing defenses.

Of late, the Clemson offense has been scoring so quickly that many Tiger fans have learned that they could risk missing two touchdowns simply by taking a trip to the restroom or concession stand.

In a win over nationally-ranked Louisville two weeks ago, Clemson had five scoring drives that lasted less than a minute. Fourteen of its last 25 scoring drives have been under two minutes. So dizzying and rapid have been the offensive explosions, the Tigers' defense was forced to spend 38 minutes on the field in last week's 56-10 drubbing of Boston College.

"They're a great football team, everybody knows that," Doeren said. "They're very balanced and have great personnel on both sides of the football. They're very aggressive and take shots down the field. Gallman runs hard and he's quick. Deshaun was the most accurate deep ball thrower in college football a year ago, and he has great targets that will go and get the ball for him."

That pretty much sums it up.

Last year in Raleigh, NC State played a splendid game offensively, but just simply couldn't keep up on the scoreboard in a 56-41 loss to the then-ranked No. 3 Tigers. Watson had five touchdown passes, four of which covered 35 yards or more. The Pack suffered a severe blow right before halftime when star tailback Matthew Dayes left the game with a toe injury, an issue that would force him to miss the rest of the season. At the time Dayes limped to the locker room, NC State was actually leading 20-19.

Fortunately for the Wolfpack, Dayes is now healthy and better than ever. The senior has rushed for 100 yards or better in four of five games this season, and nine of 12 games dating back to 2015. Dayes ranks third in the ACC and 16th in the FBS, rushing for an average of 112.6 yards per game. Not even sloppy weather conditions brought on by Hurricane Matthew could slow down Dayes, who rambled for 126 yards in last Saturday's 10-3 Wolfpack victory over Notre Dame.

Beyond the numbers he puts up, the senior co-captain inspires teammates through his competitive nature on the field.

"It definitely rubs off on everyone else around him," said center Joe Scelfo. "I noticed that when I first got here, and he'll bring it out of everyone else. That's how you know you're a good leader when you can bring that edge that he has out of everybody. When you've got someone who's fighting for every single yard like that, it just pushes you even more, up front especially."

Thanks to the work of Dayes, the offensive line and others, NC State held the ball for more than 10 minutes in the fourth quarter to close out a victory over Wake Forest two weeks ago. Last Saturday, the Wolfpack owned the football for 11:13 of the third quarter by employing the running skills of back-up quarterback Jalan McClendon – he had 49 of his 56 rushing yards in the quarter.

While it's easier said than done, NC State would love nothing more than to keep Clemson's high-powered offense sitting on the sidelines for long stretches on Saturday.

Either way, the Wolfpack defense will be up against the most formidable challenge it will face all season.

"Probably the most challenging thing is they're really precise and don't beat themselves," said Pack defensive end Kentavius Street. "This is an offense that has a lot of experience. Deshaun Watson has been playing some good ball for them. This is an offense that has really meshed well with great chemistry."

Among active quarterbacks at the FBS level, Watson ranks third in career completion percentage (.660) and fourth in career passing efficiency (159.27).

"He's a great player and seeing interviews with him, its sounds like he's also a great person," Doeren said. "He's got a great skill-set, he's got good talent around him, obviously he understands what they want him to do and he doesn't make a lot of mistakes. We've got to do a good job of making plays on the ball and rattling him to the best of our ability."

Clemson and NC State are the last two unbeaten teams remaining in the ACC's Atlantic Division, so Saturday's winner will own sole possession of first place in the division. Not only will the Wolfpack be trying to hand the nation's 3rd-ranked team its first loss, it will also be looking to snap Clemson's 19-game winning streak at Memorial Stadium.

"Out of all the places I've been to in the ACC, that's my second favorite place to play outside of ours," said Wolfpack safety Josh Jones. "It's loud and a great atmosphere. You love the home games, but you get excited for away games like that."

With a noon kickoff, the Wolfpack Sports Network begins its pregame coverage at 10 a.m. with the Matthews Motors Countdown to Kickoff. In hour two of the pregame show from the radio booth, former Wolfpack All-American Johnny Evans takes question from fans on 'Ask the Analyst.' Questions about Pack football can be sent to Johnny via Twitter@packradio or by clicking HERE.

A complete recap of the NC State-Clemson game will be available Sunday on the Dave Doeren TV Show. Click HERE for a complete list of air times.

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Players Mentioned

Matthew Dayes

Josh Jones

Jalan McClendon

Joe Scelfo

Kentavius Street