#20 Wolfpack Starts Road Stretch with Trip to Pittsburgh
10/13/2017 9:14:00 AM | Football
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RALEIGH, N.C. - The NC State football team will open the second half of its schedule with a road trip to Pittsburgh Saturday afternoon at Heinz Field. Kickoff is set for noon, and the game will be televised on Regional Sports Network (RSN).
Off to a 5-1 start, winning five straight, the 20th ranked Wolfpack finds itself tied with Clemson for first place in the ACC's Atlantic Division. Both teams are 3-0 in conference play (Clemson plays Friday night at Syracuse).
The trick now for the Pack is to try and tune-out national accolades, and remain on the same steady course that has produced the school's first top-20 ranking since 2003.
"The focus here is what are we going to do in week seven, and that's all we're talking about," said NC State head coach Dave Doeren. "The way I look at college and pro football is to look at what we did last week and focus on what we have to do this week to get better. If you do that, then you're staying ahead of the teams that are trying to catch up to you. We can never think that we've made it because we haven't. We're at the halfway point right now and we want to continue this ride. The only way to do that is to improve. We've put ourselves in a great place, but that doesn't mean that we're satisfied at all. We've got to focus on where we want to go."
It is, however, quite a role reversal for Doeren's program, which spent most of the last four years climbing the ladder to national relevance. The Wolfpack came close to achieving that goal with narrow defeats to ACC powers Florida State and Clemson last season, but national respect must be earned through eye-popping victories over such programs. Now that State has already knocked off both the Seminoles and Louisville this year, the Wolfpack suddenly finds itself as a team that is being hunted by others as opposed to the other way around.
It's new and it's different.
"We've got Pittsburgh this week and they want to knock us off," said NC State offensive tackle Will Richardson, the ACC's reigning Offensive Lineman of the Week. "Their biggest goal is to beat us because we've been doing so well this year. Coach always tells us not to get complacent. Our separation is in our preparation. We have to prepare just as we did against Louisville."
Pitt owns a rich recent history of playing the role of spoiler. The Panthers knocked of both Clemson and Penn State last season, two teams that finished in the top five of the final college football playoff rankings. And though coach Pat Narduzzi's squad is much younger than it was last season, Pittsburgh remains active and aggressive on defense as evidenced by the fact that the Panthers rank No. 1 in the ACC in takeaways with 11.
"They're a team that's going to press a lot and try to disrupt with blitzes and all those things," said Wolfpack receiver Stephen Louis, who had three receptions for 99 yards a week ago against the Cardinals. "Their defensive backs try to be physical and hold you up. For us it's going to be important to snap down hard and get their hands off."
Louis and Kelvin Harmon combined to catch nine balls for a whopping total of 232 yards in the Louisville game. Given Pitt's pressing style at the line of scrimmage, those two big-bodied wideouts could again be big weapons for NC State quarterback Ryan Finley, who has now thrown an NCAA-best 288 consecutive passes without an interception.
"Finley is a very smart quarterback," Narduzzi said. "He manages the game well. He does a great job of managing the game and doesn't try to do too much. Based on watching him and what he does, you can tell he's probably a 4.0 guy who pays attention to details."
Finley has yet to be sacked in three ACC games, a tribute to the veteran offensive line in front of him.
"For Finley to have games like that without getting hit is really big for us," Richardson said. "Everybody knows that the only time offensive linemen get their name called is when we get a holding call. It feels good to be getting some recognition."
And more recognition will be on the way if NC State can remain unbeaten in the ACC with a win on the road on Saturday.
The Wolfpack Sports Network begins pregame coverage with the Matthews Motors Pregame Show starting at 10 a.m. In the second hour of the pregame, network analyst Johnny Evans will answer questions from fans on 'Ask the Analyst.' Questions to Johnny can be submitted via Twitter@packradio or by clicking HERE.
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| #20 NC State (5-1, 3-0) at Pittsburgh (2-4, 0-2) | |
| Date | Saturday, Nov. 14 |
| Time | 12 p.m. |
| Location | Pittsburgh, Pa. |
| Stadium | Heinz Field |
| TV | RSN |
| Streaming | ACC Network Extra |
| Radio in NC | Wolfpack Sports Network |
| National Radio | Tunein, Sirius 112, XM 202 |
| Live Stats | PittsburghPanthers.com |
| Social Media | @PackFootball, PackFootball |
RALEIGH, N.C. - The NC State football team will open the second half of its schedule with a road trip to Pittsburgh Saturday afternoon at Heinz Field. Kickoff is set for noon, and the game will be televised on Regional Sports Network (RSN).
Off to a 5-1 start, winning five straight, the 20th ranked Wolfpack finds itself tied with Clemson for first place in the ACC's Atlantic Division. Both teams are 3-0 in conference play (Clemson plays Friday night at Syracuse).
The trick now for the Pack is to try and tune-out national accolades, and remain on the same steady course that has produced the school's first top-20 ranking since 2003.
"The focus here is what are we going to do in week seven, and that's all we're talking about," said NC State head coach Dave Doeren. "The way I look at college and pro football is to look at what we did last week and focus on what we have to do this week to get better. If you do that, then you're staying ahead of the teams that are trying to catch up to you. We can never think that we've made it because we haven't. We're at the halfway point right now and we want to continue this ride. The only way to do that is to improve. We've put ourselves in a great place, but that doesn't mean that we're satisfied at all. We've got to focus on where we want to go."
It is, however, quite a role reversal for Doeren's program, which spent most of the last four years climbing the ladder to national relevance. The Wolfpack came close to achieving that goal with narrow defeats to ACC powers Florida State and Clemson last season, but national respect must be earned through eye-popping victories over such programs. Now that State has already knocked off both the Seminoles and Louisville this year, the Wolfpack suddenly finds itself as a team that is being hunted by others as opposed to the other way around.
It's new and it's different.
"We've got Pittsburgh this week and they want to knock us off," said NC State offensive tackle Will Richardson, the ACC's reigning Offensive Lineman of the Week. "Their biggest goal is to beat us because we've been doing so well this year. Coach always tells us not to get complacent. Our separation is in our preparation. We have to prepare just as we did against Louisville."
Pitt owns a rich recent history of playing the role of spoiler. The Panthers knocked of both Clemson and Penn State last season, two teams that finished in the top five of the final college football playoff rankings. And though coach Pat Narduzzi's squad is much younger than it was last season, Pittsburgh remains active and aggressive on defense as evidenced by the fact that the Panthers rank No. 1 in the ACC in takeaways with 11.
"They're a team that's going to press a lot and try to disrupt with blitzes and all those things," said Wolfpack receiver Stephen Louis, who had three receptions for 99 yards a week ago against the Cardinals. "Their defensive backs try to be physical and hold you up. For us it's going to be important to snap down hard and get their hands off."
Louis and Kelvin Harmon combined to catch nine balls for a whopping total of 232 yards in the Louisville game. Given Pitt's pressing style at the line of scrimmage, those two big-bodied wideouts could again be big weapons for NC State quarterback Ryan Finley, who has now thrown an NCAA-best 288 consecutive passes without an interception.
"Finley is a very smart quarterback," Narduzzi said. "He manages the game well. He does a great job of managing the game and doesn't try to do too much. Based on watching him and what he does, you can tell he's probably a 4.0 guy who pays attention to details."
Finley has yet to be sacked in three ACC games, a tribute to the veteran offensive line in front of him.
"For Finley to have games like that without getting hit is really big for us," Richardson said. "Everybody knows that the only time offensive linemen get their name called is when we get a holding call. It feels good to be getting some recognition."
And more recognition will be on the way if NC State can remain unbeaten in the ACC with a win on the road on Saturday.
The Wolfpack Sports Network begins pregame coverage with the Matthews Motors Pregame Show starting at 10 a.m. In the second hour of the pregame, network analyst Johnny Evans will answer questions from fans on 'Ask the Analyst.' Questions to Johnny can be submitted via Twitter@packradio or by clicking HERE.
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