Finally … Pack Football is Coming Home

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	NC State (3-1) vs. Duke (1-4)
Date	Saturday, Oct. 17
Time	3:30 p.m.
Location	Raleigh, N.C.
Stadium	Carter-Finley Stadium
TV	RSN
Streaming	WatchESPN
Radio in NC	Wolfpack Sports Network
National Radio	Tunein, Sirius 134, XM 194
Live Stats	GoPack.com
Social Media	Twitter: @PackFootball \| Instagram: PackFootball

RALEIGH, N.C. – There's no place like home.

After three straight road games, and bringing home back-to-back road wins, the Wolfpack (3-1) will return to Carter-Finley Stadium this weekend to host cross-Triangle rival Duke (1-4).

The game will kick off at 3:30 p.m., and will be televised by RSN.

"I'm definitely thinking that being around a fan base would be nice for our players," said NC State head coach Dave Doeren. "I think that they would love to have some real crowd noise as opposed to pumped in.

"It's not going to be a big crowd (4,000 fans), but it's going to be a crowd that's very loyal to these guys and it'd be nice for them to have more than what we had at the last game"

NC State opened the 2020 season back Sept. 19 with a 45-42 shootout inside Carter-Finley Stadium against Wake Forest. That day, the home crowd was limited to just 400 player guests.

The Pack then packed their suitcases and played three straight road contests on three straight Saturdays: at #20 Virginia Tech, at #24 Pitt, and last week at Virginia.

After falling at VT, the Pack is coming back to Raleigh with back-to-back wins from Pitt (30-29) and Virginia (38-21).

"I think our guys have learned there's different ways to win games, but the one thing that's common in all three of our wins is that we prepared well," said Doeren. "Our guys have a lot of confidence, but they've also been humbled this year.

"I love the team accountability that we have where the guys are holding each other to a standard that they expect and not afraid to call each other out when they're not getting what they want, effort-wise, and I think that's raised our level of play."

If the offense helped lead the charge through the air in the win at Pitt, it might have been the Pack's defense that was key last week at Virginia.

The Wolfpack defense caused four turnovers in the game (3 INTs and 1 fumble). It is the first time the Pack forced at least four TOs in a game since the 2017 Sun Bowl against Arizona State – a span of 30 games.

"I thought our defensive line really battled, the linebackers fit the ball well, we tackled well," said Doeren. "We forced four turnovers, we played really well on third down.

"The kids played 100 snaps on defense, so they played a lot of football in that game."

In the Pack's secondary against the Cavs, seven players all either freshmen or sophomores, combined to play 482 defensive snaps.

The Pack will get one upplerclassman back against Duke, starting nickel junior Tyler Baker-Williams. He started the first two games and played all 143 snaps, but had to miss the last two contests due to contact tracing.

"We will have Tyler Baker-Williams back this week so it's nice to add someone to the secondary," said Doeren. "It's been a group that's been losing players and so we're excited that he's back with us.

"We're going to have to have a rotation at nickel, but it's great to have him back. He was playing as good as any guy on our roster in training camp so it's a nice, nice thing to get him back in the lineup."

Even though the Blue Devils are an ACC foe right down the road, they might be a new opponent to those coming to Carter-Finley. Duke will be making its first visit to Carter-Finley Stadium since 2009.

The Blue Devils are led by 14^th-year head coach David Cutcliffe. After losing their first four games of the season, Duke got in the win column with a 38-24 win at Syracuse last weekend.

"I know they'll be very well-coached," said Doeren. "I know they've had a tough go of it with turnovers but they are a really talented group on the defensive line.

"Really good football coaching staff and I know their kids are smart and they're tough and they will play really hard against us."

Despite a distance of only about 20 miles, NC State and Duke have not met in Carter-Finley Stadium while Doeren has been the head coach of the Pack. The only time he has coached against Duke was a road game in 2013 – his first year at NC State.

"I'm excited that we get to play them and look forward to being a part of a game that goes so far back," said Doeren. "It's a natural rivalry, you have a team that's within 30 minutes."

Duke has won the last two meetings in the series overall (2013, 2009), but the Pack posts a 15-4 mark against the Blue Devils since 1990.

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Players Mentioned

Tyler Baker-Williams

North Carolina State University Athletics