Pack Carries Momentum up to Virginia

Game Notes | Game Program

	NC State (2-1) at Virginia (1-1)
Date	Saturday, Oct. 10
Time	12:00 p.m.
Location	Charlottesville, Va.
Stadium	Scott Stadium
TV	ACC Network
Streaming	WatchESPN
Radio in NC	Wolfpack Sports Network
National Radio	Tunein, Sirius 136, XM 382
Live Stats	VirginiaSports.com
Social Media	Twitter: @PackFootball \| Instagram: PackFootball

RALEIGH, N.C. – Winning can cure a lot of things, and for the NC State Wolfpack a ranked road win was just what the doctor ordered.

Coming off a 45-24 loss at Virginia Tech in its first road contest of the season, the Wolfpack (2-1) put together a strong showing it is come-from-behind 30-29 win at #24 Pitt last weekend. Now NC State hopes to carry the momentum of that win up to Charlottesville, Va., as the Pack closes its three-game road stretch against Virginia at Scott Stadium.

The game will kick off at 12 p.m., and will be televised on the ACC Network.

"It was great to go on the road and beat a top-25 team in Pitt, particularly when we were coming off of a game where we really performed as bad as we probably could have," said head coach Dave Doeren. "To see the fight and resiliency of our staff and our players and how they worked through that and learn from it, very proud of them."

All three phases of the game came away with positives in that game. Obviously the offense with its early and late scoring. The Pack defense had a goal line stand after a first-and-goal, and also held Pitt to two TDs in their five red zone trips. The Pack specialists continued to kick the ball well also.

"The positives of the game offensively: obviously the finish, the two-minute drive at the end," said Doeren. "Minute-30-plus, no timeouts, the way they operated; the poise of Devin Leary. The way the guys caught the football. The protection by linemen against a really good front, the backs and the tight ends. [It] was a great moment.

"We stopped the run, less than 100 yards rushing, two and a half yards of carry," said Doeren. "Overcame busted coverage the second play of the game, didn't rattle the guys. I thought they played really well after that series, held Pitt."

Leary was making his start of the season. He came away with new highs in both passing yards (336) and touchdowns (four). For his efforts he was named the ACC Quarterback of the Week.

"There's been a lot of good quarterbacks here, and I think it takes a lot out of a guy on the road against a defense like that, to take a team down the field and score game winning drive like he did," said Doeren.

Leary was reunited with one of his favorite targets who also turned in a key performance at Pitt, as WR Emeka Emezie had a career-best two TD catches, including the game-winner, and went over 100 yards receiving for the first time this season.

"I was happy for him," said Doeren. "He's a hard worker, and he expects a lot from himself. He wants to win, he wants to be part of the reason we are winning and, sometimes as we all know in our society, people want that the day they want it."

The Wolfpack road show continues against a third straight Coastal Division opponent in Virginia, a team that played in the ACC Championship game last season.

"They're very veteran football team, a lot of seniors and juniors and grad transfers or graduates on their team and they're starting lineups," said Doeren. "Even where they've lost starters they're replacing them with third and fourth year players and that's a tribute to what they've been able to do there, and their developmental program.

"They're very sound. They're big, they remind you of a Big 10 team when you look at how big they are. They're strong. Impressed how they don't beat themselves, they're a low penalize team."

NC State is playing its third straight road game – the last two have been against ranked opponents. It marks the first time the Pack has played three straight road games since 1986.

The matchup with Virginia will mark only the second time NC State and Virginia have met since the 2012 season. In his eighth season at the helm of the Wolfpack, Doeren is facing the Cavaliers for just the second time and this will mark his first visit to Scott Stadium – the Pack last played at UVA in 2011.

"We just got to continue to learn from the last game," said Doeren. "Keep a big chip on our shoulder and play harder each week, and play smarter each week and take the mistakes off the film that we just had on it."

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Players Mentioned

Emeka Emezie

Devin Leary