The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1343401
10 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY MATT CARTER W hen the 2021 football schedule was released by the ACC in Janu- ary, NC State learned it will start and end its regular season with weekday games for the first time since 2016. The season opener will be Thursday, Sept. 2 at Carter-Finley Stadium against South Florida in what will be the fourth time the two teams have played. The Wolf- pack owns a 2-1 edge in the previous three matchups, including a 49-17 triumph in Tampa, Fla., in 2013 in the most recent meeting. The Bulls are coached by former Clem- son co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott and went 1-8 in 2020, Scott's first season at the helm. In 2016, also the last time NC State opened its season on a weekday, it defeated William & Mary 48-14 in a Thursday night contest. In week two, Dave Doeren's squad will play at Mississippi State. It was supposed to be the return game after the Bulldogs played in Raleigh in 2020. That affair was canceled when schedules were redone in light of COVID-19. The two teams have met in three bowl games, but not in the regular season since 1940. The Bulldogs went 4-7 a year ago, but capped the season by defeating a ranked Tulsa squad in the Armed Forces Bowl. MSU is coached by Mike Leach, who has 143 career wins with previous stops at Texas Tech (2000-09) and Washington State (2012-19). The ACC opener will be in week four when Clemson, the six-time reigning con- ference champ, visits Raleigh Sept. 25. It will mark the first time since 2013 that the Pack began league play against the Tigers. The two teams did not play in 2020. NC State also welcomes back to its schedule Boston College (Oct. 16) and Louisville (Oct. 30) after not playing either of those traditional Atlantic Division foes this past fall when the ACC scrapped divi- sions for the year. The final non-conference action takes place in week five, when Louisiana Tech comes to Raleigh on Oct. 2. The two teams met in 2013, in what was the debut of both Doeren for the Pack and Skip Holtz for Louisiana Tech. NC State prevailed 40-14. Holtz went 1-2 against NC State dur- ing his five-year run at East Carolina from 2005-09, and he piled up a 38-27 overall record in Greenville. In his eight years at Louisiana Tech, the Bulldogs have gone 61-41 overall and reached seven straight bowl games. They were 5-5 a year ago and lost to Georgia Southern in the New Or- leans Bowl. In a return to the normal ACC schedul- ing format, NC State's crossover games against the Coastal Division features rival North Carolina and one other opponent. This year that will be a rematch with Mi- ami. The Hurricanes prevailed 44-41 in a thriller in Raleigh in 2020, part of an 8-3 campaign for Miami that ended with a close loss to a ranked Oklahoma State team in the Cheez-It Bowl. This time the teams will play in Miami Gardens, Fla., on Oct. 23. It will be the second contest in a five-game stretch where four tilts will be on the road. The Wolf- pack's away games feature a slate of lengthy road trips. Four of the five range from 600 to 800 miles in traveling distance, with the exception being a date at Wake Forest on Nov. 13 for the final away game of the year. The regular-season finale is scheduled to be a Friday showdown against archrival UNC on Nov. 26. The two teams were originally supposed to meet on a Friday in 2020 before the schedules were rearranged. They played on a Friday in 2016, when NC State upset UNC 28-21. Calling that game on television was Mack Brown, now the Tar Heels' head coach. ■ T R A C K I N G THE PACK NC State's 2021 Football Schedule Revealed The Wolfpack will close the regular season with a home game against the archrival Tar Heels on Friday, Nov. 26. PHOTO BY ROBERT WILLETT, NEWS & OBSERVER/COURTESY ACC MEDIA NC State's 2021 Football Schedule Date Opponent (2020 Record) Sept. 2 South Florida (1-8) Sept. 11 at Mississippi State (4-7) Sept. 18 Furman* Sept. 25 Clemson (10-2) Oct. 2 Louisiana Tech (5-5) Oct. 16 at Boston College (6-5) Oct. 23 at Miami (8-3) Oct. 30 Louisville (4-7) Nov. 6 at Florida State (3-6) Nov. 13 at Wake Forest (4-5) Nov. 20 Syracuse (1-10) Nov. 26 North Carolina (8-4) * Did not play in the fall of 2020, but will play an eight-game schedule this spring, starting Feb. 20