NC State’s trip through another rough Saturday left plenty to fix, and now the Wolfpack have to turn the page fast with Syracuse coming to Carter-Finley Stadium this week.
The Duke loss was ugly in a few different ways. The Blue Devils piled up 461 yards to NC State’s 217, and the Wolfpack had trouble slowing the run again.
Duke finished with 238 rushing yards, with Heisman hopeful Nate Sheppard doing most of the damage. Sheppard ran 18 times for 217 yards, averaged 12.1 yards per carry and scored three touchdowns.
That was the most yardage NC State has allowed to a running back this season, and the game also produced a moment the Wolfpack would rather forget. Safety Andrew Pellicciotta took NC State’s missed 50-yard field goal back 109 yards for a Duke touchdown, a sequence that added another low point to a frustrating year.
It is believed to be the first time in NC State history that the Wolfpack has allowed a missed field goal return for a touchdown.
“Everything from this game needs to start with me,” NC State Interim Head Coach Todd Goebbel said after the game. “We had multiple opportunities the entire time to get him down, and we didn’t.
So we got to go back to the drawing board and make sure that never happens again. It starts with me.”
Even with the setbacks piling up, Goebbel said he still believes the group is ready to keep fighting.
“We will keep taking it one day at a time,” Goebbel said. “I got great young men that are still willing to fight… We’re all together, and we’re going to continue down that road. Through adversity, you strengthen, and that’s what we‘re going to continue to do.”
Now the focus shifts to Syracuse, a team NC State has not beaten since the 2021 season. The Orange have won the last two meetings, including a 24-17 victory in Raleigh on Oct. 12, 2024.
Syracuse enters at the bottom of the ACC race at 2-5 in conference play, but the record doesn’t tell the whole story. The Orange have won two of their last three, with victories over SMU and UNC, and they were within five points of Clemson last weekend.
Goebbel pointed to the challenge Syracuse presents on both sides of the ball, and he gave Fran Brown credit for the way his team plays.
“Coach Brown has done a really good job,” Goebbel said. “They got an experienced quarterback with tremendous weapons on the perimeter and the receivers.
They run the ball efficiently. Defensively, they’re disruptive.
A lot of bombs in the backfield, pressures on the quarterback. Active in the back end.
Their nickel has four picks, so they’re opportunistic on that side of the ball.”
Davien Kerr leads Syracuse with four interceptions, and he added another against Clemson last weekend.
For NC State, the matchup looks about as even as it gets, but the Wolfpack are still dealing with a long injury list, which makes the health situation one of the biggest factors heading into Saturday. Goebbel said the team is ready for the week ahead.
“We got another great challenge ahead of us,” Goebbel said. “It’s ACC football.
It’s in the Carter. We’re excited to get started in our prep and have a great week of practice.”
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