Game Week 2 - North Carolina State

In the Catamounts' second game of the 2019 season, Western Carolina travels to the state capital meet ACC foe North Carolina State Wolfpack in Carter-Finley Stadium

Western faces the Wolfpack for the seventh time on the gridiron.




Game #2 - NC State Wolfpack

When: Saturday, September 7th at 12:30 pm
Where: Carter-Finley Stadium, Raleigh, NC
Surface:  Natural Grass / Capacity:  57,600
Radio: Catamount Sports Network
-Radio Announcers: Gary Ayers (PBP), Daniel Hooker (Color), Greg McLamb (sideline)
TV/video: Fox Sports South / ACC Network Extra
-TV Announcers: Tom Werme (play-by-play), James Bates (color) and Stormy Buonantony (sidelines)
Playing turf: real grass - (bermudagrass)
Beer Sales in Carter-Finley:  Yes - here's the facts
Game Notes:     WCU   -   NCSU 
The Series: In the 7th meeting between the two teams, the Cats own a 0-6 record against the Wolfpack.  All six games have been played in Raleigh, NC

Last Game vs. NC State (September 4, 2010) - NC State downs Catamounts in Season Opener, 48-7   Raleigh, N.C. -  Redshirt junior QB Zack Jaynes led the Catamounts on a 10-play, 87-yard opening scoring drive to give Western Carolina an early 7-0 advantage, but a North Carolina State aerial assault led by quarterback Russell Wilson overwhelmed the Catamounts, handing WCU a 48-7 setback at Carter-Finley Stadium on Saturday night in front of an announced crowd of 56,417. "It was a disappointing game for us tonight. I thought defensively we played very poorly, missed a lot of assignments. With a veteran group, especially at the safety position, we made way too many mistakes and we just couldn't get off the field," said WCU third-year head coach Dennis Wagner during post-game interviews. "On offense, you know you put together a great drive and we did some good things in the first quarter. But we got a little proud of ourselves and didn't perform as well as we needed to from that point on. "We still have a lot of work to do. There are still 10 games left and we will be a lot better next week, I guarantee you," Wagner concluded.

Last Season's Record (2018 - NC State): 9-4 overall, 6-1 home, 3-2 away, 5-3 ACC  (wins over James Madison, Georgia St., Marshall, Virginia, Boston College, Florida St,, Louisville, UNC)

Offensive Formation: Spread

-2018 Offense: 33.8 ppg. (31st in FBS)
Defensive Formation: Multiple
-2018 Defense: 24.9 ppg. (45th in FBS)
Starters Returning/Lost: 12  /  12
Offensive starters - Returning/Lost: 4 / 7
Defensive starters - Returning/Lost: 7 / 4
Letter winners lost: 21

After losing 13 players to the NFL Draft over the last two-year period, NC State is in a rebuilding year. Only four starters return on offense: TE Dylan Autenrieth, WR Emeka Emezie, OG Joshua Fedd-Jackson and OT Justin Witt. The Wolfpack must replace its the 2018 starting quarterback (Ryan Finley, 3,928 passing yards in 2018), their top two receivers (Jakobi Meyers and Kelvin Harmon combined for 173 catches for 2,233 yards), and their top running back (Reggie Gallaspy, Jr. rushed for 1,091 yds. and a school-record 18 TDs).

Matthew McKay, a sophomore, finished spring with the inside track for the starting QB job. However, he attempted only eight passes last season, but he ran 13 times for 36 yards and a touchdown in five games. Whoever the starting QB turns out to be, he will have plenty of capable receivers, like junior Emeka Emezie who caught 53 passes for 616 yards with five touchdowns last season and sophomore Thayer Thomas in the slot after a strong freshman campaign last year with 34 catches. The Wolfpack will have to fill three positions on the O-line

On defense, State returns eight defensive starters, of which, five are in the secondary. Senior end James Smith-Williams tied for the team lead with six sacks and will be relied on to lead the front four. In 2018, the Wolfpack ranked No. 108 in the country in pass defense. With their new group of pass rushers, the Pack struggled to pressure the quarterback, and the secondary couldn’t hold up in 2018.

The Wolfpack kicked off its 2019 season with a 34-6 win over visiting East Carolina in front of a sold-out crowd at Carter-Finley Stadium. QB Matthew McKay became only the third QB in school history to throw for over 300 yards in his first career start: Philip Rivers, 397 yards in 2000 and Harrison Beck, 321 yards in 2007. Six NC State players made their first collegiate start today: DT Val Martin, OT Emanuel McGirt, Jr., C Grant Gibson, QB Matthew McKay, RB Ricky Person, Jr., and P Trenton Gill. 17 NC State players made their NC State debuts, including 10 freshmen: Gill, Isaac Duffy, Ikem Ekwonu, Jalen Frazier, Tabari Hines, Bailey Hockman, Jordan Houston, Zonovan Knight, Keyon Lesane, Dylan McMahon, Taiyon Palmer, Cecil Powell, Liam Ryan, Jaylon Scott, Joe Shimko, Drake Thomas, and Payton Wilson.


2019 Wolfpack Statistics (one game vs. ECU):
Rushing Offense: 191
Yards per rush: 6.2 yards
Rushing 1st downs: 9
TDs rushing: 3
Passing Offense: 314 yards
Avg. per pass: 12.1 yards
Passing 1st downs: 12
Passing Comp-Att-Int: 26-39-0
Total Offense: 505 yards
Fumbles-Lost: 2-0
3d Down Conversions: 4 of 12
4th Down Conversions: 0 of 1
Red Zone Scores: 4 of 4
Field Goals: 2 of 2
PAT:  4 of 4

Fearless Game prediction: Per the Massey Ratings, the Cats have only a 0% probability of winning (13-54) over the Wolfpack. I'm going to agree that the Wolfpack will outlast the Cats and win. Cats drop game two and according to Massey, the Cats should be 0-2 and are on track with Massey's projections.




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