Football season has arrived. NC State is less than a week away from its season opener against East Carolina as the Wolfpack looks to avenge its Military Bowl loss to the Pirates in the team’s last time out.
And when the two teams hit the field at Carter-Finley Stadium on Thursday night (7 p.m., ACC Network), NC State is an 11.5-point favorite, according to BetMGM.
A year ago, the Wolfpack was just 4-8 against the spread as it finished with a 6-6 regular-season record. NC State was able to cover at Cal (24-23 win, +9.5), against Stanford (59-28, -10), at Georgia Tech (30-29 loss, +7.5), and at North Carolina (35-30 win, +3.5).
NC State, however, didn’t cover a 7-point spread in the 26-21 loss to ECU in the Military Bowl at the Naval Academy last December.
Now, as the Pack focuses on the 2025 campaign, it is doing so with several returning faces on offense and a mostly new-look defense.
Sophomore quarterback CJ Bailey leads the way after he made nine starts as a true freshman last fall (2,413 passing yards, 17 touchdowns, 10 interceptions), while redshirt sophomore running back Hollywood Smothers is primed to get a bulk of the carries (571 rushing yards, 263 receiving yards, eight total touchdowns) and redshirt freshman running back Duke Scott is set to have a breakout campaign.
NC State’s pass catchers, paced by senior tight end Justin Joly (661 receiving yards and four touchdowns) and redshirt sophomore wideout Noah Rogers (478 receiving yards, a touchdown), are also expected to take another step forward this fall.
Defensively, meanwhile, the Wolfpack is led by graduate linebacker Caden Fordham and redshirt senior linebacker Sean Brown, the team’s two captains on that side of the ball. Senior defensive lineman Brandon Cleveland will anchor the defensive line, while senior Devon Marshall and redshirt sophomore Brian Nelson II, a North Texas transfer, are set to be a pair of lockdown cornerbacks this fall.
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