#23 Pack and #14 Tar Heels Meet on Saturday

Game Notes | Game Program

	#23 NC State (4-1) at #14 UNC (3-1)
Date	Saturday, Oct. 24
Time	12:00 p.m.
Location	Chapel Hill, N.C.
Stadium	Kenan Stadium
TV	ESPN
Streaming	WatchESPN
Radio in NC	Wolfpack Sports Network
National Radio	Tunein, Sirius 81, XM 381
Live Stats	GoHeels.com
Social Media	Twitter: @PackFootball \| Instagram: PackFootball

RALEIGH, N.C. – For the second straight week, NC State will tangle with a Triangle foe, as the 23rd-ranked Wolfpack head over to Chapel Hill to face the 14^th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday.

The game will kick off at noon, and will be televised by ESPN.

"Now we get to play a really good cross town team game that's been going on since 1894, and I know it's a game that means a lot to both schools, fan bases, boosters, and football clubs and teams and coaching staff," said NC State head coach Dave Doeren.

"It's going to be a hard fought game."

Both teams come in a combined 7-2 on the season, and both come in with a national ranking in this year's contest, a first since 1993.

The game will mark only the third time the two teams have met when both were ranked in the top-25. In 1993 the Wolfpack was ranked 19^th while the Tar Heels were 18^th and in 1979 the teams were ranked 15^th and 19^th.

"(It's) our chance to play against a top-20 team on the road again and chance for our team to overcome some things injury-wise and really go up there and fight against a veteran team," said Doeren.

Those injury questions have to start at the quarterback position for NC State. Starter Devlin Leary went down in the third quarter of the Pack's 31-20 win over Duke last weekend, and after surgery this week he will miss 4-8 weeks.

Leary was 3-0 as the Pack's starting QB this season, but RS-junior Bailey Hockman has plenty of experience, as he started the first two games of the 2020 season along with two games last season.

"He's got to play confident football, he's got to run the system," said Doeren. "I know he'll prepare the right way, and it's his time.

"Now it's his opportunity to go show himself, and everyone out there what kind of player you can be."

It will not just all be about the Pack's offense, as the defense will be going against a UNC offense that brings in a host of talented players with a lot of preseason accolades.

""It's going to be a good football game, a great opportunity to play against a really good offense," said Doeren. "They're an explosive offense, receivers do a nice job. Got a blend of size and speed. You know Sam (Howell) is a tremendous quarterback. Their two tailbacks are really good players too."

That Wolfpack defense has been a crucial part of the current three-game winning streak.

Over the last two games, the Pack has forced seven turnovers (four at Virginia, three against Duke). NC State forced just one turnover combined in the first three games of the season, and the seven forced TOs in back-to-back games are the most for a Pack squad since the middle of the 2016 season.

"The defensive front is playing a lot better," said Doeren. "Our linebackers, as you know, are making a ton of plays and the secondary has kept things in front of them.

"We are playing faster than we did last year."

The game will mark the 110^th meeting in the series between the Wolfpack and the Tar Heels. The rivalry began in 1894, and is the Pack's oldest among ACC teams.

Since the year 2000, NC state has won nine of the 13 games (including nine of the last 12 and three of the last four). Under Doeren, the Wolfpack is 4-3 against UNC, and Doeren has not lost a game at Kenan Stadium brining in a perfect 3-0 record.

"I know how big this game is to NC State," said Doeren. "Former players, boosters, alums, all those things. I take a lot of pride in being able to deliver that to our fan base.

"Anytime you play a rival that's been going back since 1894, anytime you play a game like this, and you win it, whether it's home or away, it's emotional."

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Players Mentioned

Bailey Hockman