Bowl hopes are still alive for Syracuse and North Carolina State, but both teams know the margin for error is gone. Saturday afternoon in Raleigh, the Orange and Wolfpack meet with the postseason picture hanging over everything.
Syracuse enters at 4-5 overall and 2-5 in the Atlantic Coast Conference after seeing a two-game winning streak snapped in last week’s 18-13 home loss to Clemson. NC State is also 4-5, sitting at 2-4 in the league, and will finish its home schedule with this game.
For Syracuse coach Fran Brown, the focus is simple.
"Keep pushing to get ourselves bowl eligible," Brown said. "To go from bowl-eligible to growing and keep working, making sure the trajectory of our program is consistently going up. That's what's important to me."
NC State has split its first two games under interim coach Todd Goebbel since Dave Doeren was fired, and last week’s 41-3 loss to Duke was the Wolfpack’s most lopsided defeat of the season.
The Wolfpack are still dealing with a battered roster, including running back Jayden "Duke" Scott. He was on a snap limit against Duke after missing three straight games with a lower-body injury and finished with 19 yards on five carries.
"I could definitely see his workload expanding this week," Goebbel said.
There is at least some good news on the offensive side for NC State. Receiver Keenan Jackson, who is tied for fifth in the ACC with six receiving touchdowns, is expected to play after leaving the Duke game with an injury. Even so, the Wolfpack are working through issues up front with a reshuffled offensive line.
"We put the best five out there that we have," Goebbel said. "We coach them really, really well, and they go out and compete their tails off."
That line will be tested by a Syracuse defense that held Clemson out of the end zone. Goebbel pointed to the Orange’s ability to create chaos.
"They're disruptive," Goebbel said. "They create a lot of bombs in the backfield and pressure on the quarterback.
They're active on the back end. Their nickel (Davien Kerr) has four picks, so they're opportunistic on that side of the ball."
Syracuse, meanwhile, is looking for cleaner execution in the red zone after Steve Angeli threw an interception late against Clemson.
"We got to be able to protect the ball, and should be able to just run the football in," Brown said. "We had some guys that had some whiffs on a few blocks down there, so then when it went time to throw the ball, we just weren't on point with some of them."
In Other News...
NC State Faces Familiar Ties With A 4-0 Start On The Line
NC State gets one more home test before leaving Raleigh, and the timing makes it feel a little bigger than a routine November tune-up. The Wolfpack are 3-0 and closing out a four-game homestand against Troy, coming off a dominant win over Presbyterian that underscored how quickly this group has settled in. The balance has been encouraging, with several players making an impact and the overall team numbers pointing to a start that has looked convincing rather than merely clean.
There is also a familiar face on the other sideline, with Troy head coach Adam Howard returning to NC State. Those kinds of connections usually add a little extra edge to an otherwise early-season matchup, especially when one team is trying to keep momentum rolling and the other is looking to spoil it. For the Wolfpack, the bigger picture is simple enough: protect home court, keep the unbeaten start intact, and head into the next stretch with a 4-0 record in hand. [Read more 🡒]
NC State Heads Into Syracuse With A Depth Chart Problem Again
NC States first availability report for its final home game against Syracuse brought another reminder of how thin the Wolfpack has become in spots as the season winds down. The list included several players already dealing with injuries from earlier in the year and more recent games, with safety Ronnie Royal III and linebacker Popo Aguirre both ruled out after colliding in the previous contest.
The quarterback room also took a hit, as backup Will Wilsons status moved backward to out, leaving the Wolfpack to sort through another week of uncertainty on the depth chart. A handful of other players landed in the questionable or probable categories, which means there is still some late-week sorting to do before NC State takes the field against Syracuse. [Read more 🡒]
NC State Faces Early Test It Needs To Pass Cleanly
The Wolfpack get an early-season checkpoint Friday night when Troy comes to the Lenovo Center for a 7 p.m. tip on ACC Network, a game that should tell a lot about how quickly NC State is settling in under game conditions. Troy arrives with a new head coach in Adam Howard, and the matchup brings a familiar mix of questions for the home side: whether the Wolfpack can control the glass, defend the arc and keep the game from turning into the kind of test that exposes sloppy habits this time of year.
NC State also has a few personnel details worth watching, including the status of Shah Hall, while the coaching backdrop adds another layer to a game that is more than a routine nonconference date. For a team trying to establish a clean early baseline, this is the kind of opponent that can make the evening feel straightforward if the Wolfpack handle the basics, or uncomfortably close if they do not. [Read more 🡒]