NC State football 2025 opponent preview: East Carolina

It’s no secret that East Carolina views NC State as a rival. Some might not view it the same way in Raleigh, but if the end of last year’s Military Bowl was any example, it’s clear there’s bad blood between the two programs.  And for those that don’t recall what exactly happened at the end of the postseason game on the Naval Academy’s campus, well, an all-out brawl. ECU’s Yannick Smith appeared to swipe a towel from NC State defensive back Tamarcus Cooley, who then chased after and sparked both teams coming together for nearly a minute with pushing, shoving and even some punches being thrown.  After the fracas was resolved, eight players were ejected to complete the final 44 seconds of the game.  "I'm embarrassed as a coach," NC State coach Dave Doeren said afterwards. "I know our players are too. That is not how people of this program, the players of this program, staff of this program, want anything to do with something like that. To me, it was a terrible response to something that happened to one of our players, and there's no excuses for it. So I apologize to ECU and their team for the way we responded." Now, the two teams are set to open the 2025 season against one another inside Carter-Finley Stadium on Aug. 28 (7 p.m., ACC Network). Although both programs have said they’ve moved past the extracurricular activities that marred the end of the Pirates’ upset win over the Wolfpack, the opener is likely to have some fireworks yet again.