One Final Go-Around for Senior Class

Game Day Central | Season Rewind | News & Notes

	NC State (8-4, 6-2) vs. Arizona State (7-5, 6-3)
Date	Friday, Dec. 25
Time	3:00 p.m. (ET)
Location	El Paso, Texas
Stadium	Sun Bowl Stadium
TV	CBS
National Radio	Wolfpack Sports Network, Tunein
Social Media	@PackFootball, PackFootball

EL PASO, TEXAS – One of NC State's top recruiting classes in program history will take the field one final time in the Red and White when NC State faces Arizona State in the 2017 Hyundai Sun Bowl on Friday, Dec. 29 from El Paso, Texas.

Kickoff will be at 3 p.m. (ET) and the game will be televised nationally on CBS. The Wolfpack Sports Network will also have the call.

Twenty NC State seniors (14 scholarship players and six who started their careers as walk-ons) will representing the Wolfpack in a fourth straight bowl contest.

This group has collectively played in 797 games and almost 27,000 snaps from scrimmage (plus countless special teams snaps). They combined for 32 touchdowns, 318 receptions and 178.5 tackles for loss to name a few of their contributions.

The 2017 senior class, which is Dave Doeren's first true recruiting class at NC State (aka #Pack14), came in after a 3-9 season and ended up leading the Wolfpack to four straight bowl games and the most ACC victories in 23 years this season.

The Wolfpack enters its bowl game after one of the most successful regular seasons in school history.

NC State finished 8-4 and in second place in the ACC Atlantic division, posting the league's third-best overall record.

NC State finished ranked in the final College Football Playoff rankings for the first time in school history at #24. The Pack also posted six ACC victories for the first time since 1994 and tied the school record for conference wins in a single season.

The Wolfpack is not satisfied with its regular season results, as a win over Arizona State would give the Pack its ninth of the season, a mark topped only once in the 125 years of NC State football.

NC State will be facing an unfamiliar opponent in Arizona State out of the Pac 12.

The game marks only the third time the two teams will face each other on the gridiron. The two teams first met in 1960, with Arizona State claiming a 25-22 home win. The last time the teams met was in 1974, a 35-14 NC State win in Tempe.

Arizona State is vying for their third straight win to end the 2017 season, and a Sun Devils victory would be their eighth of the season, a feat they are trying to accomplish for the fourth time in the last six seasons.

The Sun Devils are the 14th highest-graded offense in the FBS this season according to Pro Football Focus, including the 10th highest-graded passing attack in the nation. Arizona State ranks first nationally in red zone scoring at 95.8% (46-of-48), with the lone blemishes being kneel downs in a pair of wins.

On offense, ASU QB Manny Wilkins needs just 82 more passing yards to become only the ninth Sun Devil in history to reach 3000 passing yards in a season. RB Demario Richard is just 23 yards shy of becoming only the third player in school history to have multiple 1,000 yard seasons.

Over on defense, LB Christian Sam 127 tackles so far are the most at Arizona State since 1988

NC State's trip to the 2017 Hyundai Sun Bowl marks the 31st postseason appearance in Wolfpack history and the program's 13th bowl game since 2000. The Wolfpack posts a 16-13-1 overall record in postseason bowls and is 8-4 in its last 12 bowl trips.

This marks the Wolfpack's fourth consecutive bowl trip under head coach Dave Doeren and the sixth postseason qualification in his seven years as a head coach. In 2014, NC State earned a berth in the Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl, defeating Central Florida, lost to to Mississippi State in the 2014 Belk Bowl and defeated Vanderbilt in last year's Independence Bowl.

NC State's 2017 senior class is just the seventh team in school history to play in four straight bowl games.

Prior to the NC State-Arizona State matchup, the Wolfpack Sports Network will begin pregame coverage with the Matthews Motors Pregame Show starting at 1:00 p.m. (ET).

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