NC State Football opens 2025 Season Against In-State Foe, ECU

RALEIGH, N.C. – The 2025 NC State Football season gets underway from Carter-Finley Stadium, Thursday, August 28^th at 7 p.m., when the Wolfpack take on East Carolina on ACC Network.

Fans unable to attend Carter-Finley can catch the action on the ACC Network HERE . Live Stats are available HERE.

This will mark the 12th time that NC State has opened the season vs. East Carolina. Nine of those previous openers vs. the Pirates have been at Carter-Finley Stadium. For the first time in program history, the Wolfpack will open the season with the team it last played. NC State and ECU met in the GoBowling Military Bowl on Dec. 28, 2024.

NC State holds a 19-14 overall record against the Pirates and 17-8 in Raleigh.

The Wolfpack will pay homage to its hometown with its Adidas "City of Oaks" uniform in the season opener. The uniform honors Raleigh in some obvious and subtle ways, including the city's unofficial logo - an acorn - featured next to the script "NC State" on the front of the jersey. That script was inspired by an old neon sign in downtown Raleigh.

The fabric of the jersey includes a background pattern that mimics the cap of an acorn. As the scales of an acorn cap are arranged in the Fibonacci sequence, a mathematical pattern that is found throughout nature. This detail celebrates the beauty and natural landscape of our hometown as well as the commitment to science, education, and technology that Raleigh is known for.

Wolfpack Notes

NC State has a distinct advantage that few FBS programs can boast, as head coach Dave Doeren is now in his 13th season at the helm of Wolfpack football. It marks the second-longest tenure in school history (Earle Edwards coached for 17 seasons between 1954 and 1970). It's also the second-longest current tenure in the ACC (behind Clemson's Dabo Swinney) and a mark that is tied for sixth among current FBS coaches.
The Wolfpack's season opener vs. ECU will mark the 21st consecutive sellout for NC State Football - the longest sellout streak in school history. The streak dates back to Sept. 17, 2022, vs. Texas Tech.
In Dave Doeren's 12 previous seasons at the helm of the NC State football program, NC State has lost just two non-conference contests in Carter-Finley Stadium, posting a 30-2 mark in non-ACC home games. One of those losses was vs. No. 10 Notre Dame in 2023, while the other was at the hands of East Carolina on Nov. 23, 2013 - Doeren's first season in Raleigh. The Wolfpack has won 27 of its last 28 non-conference home games.
Although NC State boasts a new coordinator on both sides of the ball this season, only one is a new face for the Wolfpack. On offense, 30-year coaching veteran Kurt Roper is now calling the plays. Roper has been on Dave Doeren's Wolfpack staff since 2019, coaching quarterbacks and running backs, and now oversees that side of the ball. He has previously served as the OC at Duke, Florida, and South Carolina. On defense, DJ Eliot has taken the reins and will coach the linebackers. A 27-year coaching veteran, the 2025 campaign will mark Eliot's 10th as a coordinator.
As a true freshman last season, quarterback CJ Bailey was thrown into the fire earlier than expected following an injury to the Pack's intended starter. Bailey posted some of the best numbers for a freshman at his position in school history, as his 2,413 passing yards ranked seventh among all 2024 FBS freshmen (second among true freshmen) even though he only started nine games. In NC State history, that total ranks second-best ever by a freshman and ranked 18th overall in school history.

NC State Football opens 2025 Season Against In-State Foe, ECU

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Players Mentioned

CJ Bailey