Saturday, Oct. 8 • 3:30 pm • ACC Network
Radio Coverage begins at 1:30 pm on the Wolfpack Sports Network
wolfpack vs. the orange
• The game will mark the 10th time the Pack and the Orange have met as Atlantic Coast Conference foes and the 16th meeting overall in the series.
• NC State posts an 13-2 record against Syracuse, with the only losses coming in Raleigh, 10-24, in 2013 and a 2018 shootout at Syracuse, 41-51.
• This will mark the first meeting between NC State and Syracuse when both teams are ranked.
• In 1997, the Wolfpack defeated the heavily-favored and 13th-ranked Orange (with QB Donovan McNabb) in overtime, 32-31, and the next year knocked off No. 11 Syracuse when they came to Raleigh, 38-17.
• Dave Doeren’s first ACC victory at NC State was against Syracuse in 2014.
Close on the road
Although the Wolfpack has won three of the last four games on the road at Syracuse, the games have been close. In fact, since Syracuse joined the ACC for the 2013 season - also Dave Doeren’s first year at NC State - the series has been a close one.
In those nine games, NC State posts a 7-2 mark, but the scoring margin has been just 10 ppg (13.0 ppg differential at home and 9.7 at Syracuse).
Pack Picks
NC State has not had a single interception in a game this season.
The Wolfpack has, however, had multiple interceptions in five of its seven contests!
NC State has intercepted nine passes in 2022 - a mark that leads the ACC and ranks seventh in the FBS (fourth in the Power 5). And that tally includes two pick-free games vs. UConn and Clemson.
The Pack picked a pair versus East Carolina, Charleston Southern and Florida State and had three picks in the win over Texas Tech.
you don't know jack
When ACC preseason Player of the Year Devin Leary went down with an injury in the third quarter of the Florida State game, transfer Jack Chambers came in and finished that scoring drive and led the Pack to two others in the fourth quarter to pull out the 19-17 win after the Pack had been down two touchdowns at halftime.
Prior to Saturday, Chambers had played just 28 snaps for the season (and 24 of those were vs. Charleston Southern), so really, nobody knew Jack.
Here’s a Jack Chambers primer:
- Joined the Wolfpack in May after earning his undergraduate and master’s degree from Charleston Southern.
- Is actually a walk-on at NC State.
- Is 25 years old.
- Was a second-team Big-South selection in 2021.
- Passed for 5,761 yards at CSU while rushing for 1,318.
- Was strictly a baseball player in high school prior to his sophomore of high school, he hadn’t played football since fifth grade. His sister, Amanda, convinced him to go out for the team and he ended up starting at corner that year.
- From an athletic family - his father Robert was a golfer at University of Tampa and his sister Amanda played softball at Georgia Southern and is now a coach at Christian Brothers University.
re-dunn-dant
Once again, Christopher Dunn has put together one of the top consecutive field goal streaks in school history and one of the longest active streaks in the FBS.
He already holds the school’s second-longest (19) and third-longest (14) stints of consecutive makes and now with 11 straight this season, has the sixth-longest in school history.
Here's a look at the longest current FG streaks in the FBS:
DRAKO!
Have a game, Drake Thomas!
After leading the team with 14 tackles, two tackles for loss, two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry against Florida State, Thomas was named the ACC Linebacker of the Week and the Bednarik Award Player of the Week.
break out the syrup
NC State’s coaches give out bottles of syrup to the offensive line each week - one bottle for every pancake block. This week, the entire offense could have eaten stacks for days with all of the bottles that would’ve been awarded, as the offense combined for 34 pancakes blocks.
The Wolfpack rushed for a season-high 182 yards against the Seminoles - most against an ACC opponent since running for 270 yards vs. Wake Forest in the 2020 season opener.
The offensive line tallied 29 pancakes - led by C Grant Gibson and RT Tim McKay with career highs of eight each. LT Anthony Belton also tied his career-best with six.