Pack in Road Action at #20 Virginia Tech

Game Notes | Thursday Football Notebook | Game Program

	NC State (1-0) at #20 Virginia Tech (0-0)
Date	Saturday, Sept. 26
Time	8:00 p.m.
Location	Blacksburg, Va.
Stadium	Lane Stadium
TV	ACC Network
Streaming	WatchESPN
Radio in NC	Wolfpack Sports Network
National Radio	Tunein, Sirius 105, XM 382
Live Stats	HokieSports.com
Social Media	Twitter: @PackFootball \| Instagram: PackFootball

RALEIGH, N.C. – After opening the 2020 season with an offensive shootout last weekend, the Wolfpack (1-0) will now take the show on the road and travel up to Blacksburg to face the #20 Hokies (0-0) Saturday night.

The game will kick off at 8 p.m., and will be televised on the ACC Network.

The scoreboard at Cater-Finley saw a lot of action in last weekend's 45-42 season-opening win over Wake Forest. The Pack offense racked up 463 yards and found the end zone six times to break a three-game losing streak to the Demon Deacons and win a season opener for the seventh time in Dave Doeren's eight seasons at NC State.

"I was really happy for the players and the staff," said Doeren. "A lot went into this offseason and a lot went into everything about dealing with the crazy spring, summer and fall we've had so far.

"For all that work to come out in the game we had, how well we played at times, you want them to savor that. For them to have that feeling, obviously I love to have that feeling as well."

The biggest surprise for Wolfpack fans when they turned on their TVs to watch last weekend (capacity was limited to just 350 player guests at Carter-Finley Stadium) was R-Jr. Bailey Hockman got the start at quarterback for the Pack. The lefty replaced R-So. Devin Leary in the lineup after Leary missed about 20 practices due to contact tracing.

Hockman completed 16-of-23 passes for 191 yards with a touchdown, and ran for another TD. Hockman and the Wolfpack offense opened the game with three straight TD drives, and then two straight TD drives coming out of the locker room.

"Proud of Bailey and what he did," said Doeren. "Bailey did some really good things in the game and will continue to be our starter. It's his team right now."

"He's bought into what we do here. He's been a valuable asset to all the quarterbacks even when he wasn't the guy."

The Wolfpack will not only face the challenge of playing on the road for the first time in 2020, but Virginia Tech finds themselves ranked #20 in the Associated Press poll this week as they prepare to play their first game of the season.

NC State will be looking for its first road win at a ranked ACC foe since downing #11 Florida State in 2017.

"They have nine starters back on offense, eight on defense and all three specialists return for them, so a very experienced team," said Doeren. "A team that's been in 27 straight bowl games.

"They're a physical team, they're a blue collar team, a very proud football team and we look forward to competing against them and going up there and playing a game in a great stadium, a great environment."

Virginia Tech as faced some of the same challenges the Wolfpack faced in early September due to COVID-19.

This game was originally scheduled to be the season opener for both teams, but NC State was forced to reschedule the contest due to a pause in the Pack's football activities.

The same situation then happened in Blacksburg. The Virginia Tech-Virginia game that was to take place last weekend was also rescheduled because the Hokies had to pause football activities as well.

"ACC football is four quarter football," said Doeren. "We know we're going to be playing a team, we went through the same thing that we are coming out of and that will affect your conditioning.

"We expect to see a lot of their players rotating but I know they're not going to change who they are. They're a tough group and they're well coached."

The trip to Blacksburg will be the first road trip of the 2020 season for the Pack, and will certainly look different then past road games.

"First COVID road trip, so you're taking eight buses instead of flying," said Doeren. "We're spreading out the team. You're wearing a mask on a bus for four hours.

"We'll continue to do same thing we did here, use the social distancing rules that we have to have to keep our guys where they need to be testing wise."

It is expected attendance at Virginia Tech's Lane Stadium will be capped at 1,000.

NC State and Virginia Tech have met 49 times in a series that dates back 120 years. The Wolfpack and Hokies have played just five times since VT joined the ACC in 2004, the last time coming when the Pack dropped a 28-13 in Blacksburg in 2015.

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Players Mentioned

Bailey Hockman

Devin Leary

North Carolina State University Athletics