Pack Hits Road for Final Time in 2020

GameDay Central | Game Notes | Game Program

	NC State (6-3, 5-3) at Syracuse (1-8, 1-7)
Date	Saturday, Nov. 28
Time	12 p.m.
Location	Syracuse, N.Y.
Stadium	Carrier Dome
TV	ACC Network
Streaming	WatchESPN
Radio in NC	Wolfpack Sports Network
National Radio	Tunein, Sirius 135, XM 382
Live Stats	Cuse.com
Social Media	Twitter: @PackFootball \| Instagram: PackFootball

RALEIGH, N.C. – Coming off its second top-25 win of the season, NC State will hit the road for the final time this 2020 season as the Wolfpack heads up to Syracuse on Saturday.

The game will kick off at noon, and will be televised on the ACC Network.

NC State comes into the contest with a two-game winning streak, and a 6-3 record on the season overall.

Last weekend, the Pack rallied in dramatic fashion in knocking off previously unbeaten #21 Liberty 15-14 at Cater-Finley Stadium.

"I was extremely proud of the staff and our players for the win," said head coach Dave Doeren. "It's just fun to be part of a group that finds so many different ways to overcome adversity and finds ways to win the game.

"Winning is hard. That's something where it's always one or two or three plays in a game that can swing it."

The biggest play of the contest was a blocked field goal by LB Levi Jones with 1:18 to preserve the Wolfpack win. In addition to that special teams, the Pack defense led the charge in forcing three interceptions, recording three sacks, and having the first defensive safety since 2010 in the third quarter.

"On defense, it was a great performance," said Doeren. "That was a powerful offense that had scored a lot of points on everyone they played.

"I think we frustrated and contained a very agile and talented quarterback."

While NC State was up for the challenge playing a ranked team that had previously defeated a pair of ACC schools, this weekend swings to the opposite end as NC State can not just look at Syracuse's 1-8 season record.

The Orange have lost six straight games (by an average of 19.0 points), and their lone win of the year was back in September against Georgia Tech (37-20).

"That's a team that's had a lot of injuries," said Doeren. "Offensively, they've had issues at quarterback with the different injuries and guys in and out. We're going to have to see who plays for them at that spot. They've played a lot of different guys there."

One area Doeren noted the Pack has to be concerned about is the ability of Syracuse to force turnovers. The Orange lead the ACC with 20 forced turnovers on the season, 11 interceptions and nine fumbles. The Pack is ninth in the ACC with a turnover margin of -0.11, having had 14 giveaways.

"They made a change to the 3-3-5 on defense and are running a lot of blitzes," said Doeren. "There's a lot of movement on their defensive front."

"So, we've got to do a good job of handling the disruption and the movement."

The game will mark the eighth time the Pack and the Orange have met as ACC foes, and the 14^th meeting overall in the series. NC State posts an 11-2 record against Syracuse all-time, and Doeren's first ACC victory at NC State was against Syracuse in 2014.

"I know coach [Dino] Babers has them playing hard," said Doeren. "They are always a tough team when we play them up there, and it's a team that will play hard and have an edge to them."

Each of the Pack's last two wins in the Syracuse series have been one-score victories: 2019 (16-10) and 2017 (33-25) – both played in Raleigh.

"We still haven't played a game yet where all three phases clicked on the same night or day," said Doeren. "I think there's confidence now in all three phases that they can do those things (help lead the team to a win), and now it's about putting it together and more than anything eliminating helping the other team."

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