Ranking the atmospheres of NC State football's 2022 road trips
The ACC has no shortage of intense stadium atmospheres. During any given season, it’s likely that NC State will have to travel to a packed stadium against a formidable opponent in an environment considered amongst the nation’s best.
Whether it is 81 thousand fans draped in orange producing ear-ringing levels of noise at Clemson, Virginia Tech’s earthquake-inducing entrance, or the intimidating atmosphere of the Wolfpack’s own Carter-Finley stadium, the these teams have no problem producing an exciting gameday experience.
NC State is set to play in a total of five away matchups this season, including four contests against ACC opponents. The Wolfpack will travel to ECU, Clemson, Syracuse, Louisville and North Carolina.
The Wolfpacker ranked the difficulty of each of the five road trips, taking into account stadium atmosphere, program prestige, the team’s recent track record at home and the Wolfpack’s overall history with the opposing program.
5) Syracuse
Date: October 15
Last year’s record: 5-7 (3-4 at home)
Average home attendance: 32,461
Syracuse definitely has one of the most unique home environments in the country, sheltering visiting programs in the warm, but not necessarily welcome, confines of the Carrier Dome. In terms of milage, this is NC State’s longest trip of the season. The Orange are in the midst of another rebuilding year and likely will not finish in the top half of the conference.
NC State last traveled to upstate New York in 2020 for a late-season tilt with Syracuse, winning 36-29 to help plunge the Orange to a 2-10 season. Two of the three past matchups between these squads were decided by one possession, with the exception of last year’s 41-17 win by the Wolfpack.
4) East Carolina
Date: September 3, 12 p.m.
Last year’s record: 7-5 (4-2 at home)
Average home attendance: 36,059
The in-state rivalry is renewed, after two years apart, for NC State’s lone out-of-conference road game this season. East Carolina put together a solid 7-5 campaign last year as it attempted to pull itself out of a rebuild. In their 2021 home opener against South Carolina, the Pirates welcomed a season-high 40,816 fans to their home stadium and lost by three points. The program will likely draw a similar crowd for the week-one showdown with NC State.
It’s no secret that the Wolfpack’s expectations for the season are high, as they return 17 starters, and they will have a great opportunity to shake off early-season nerves and make a statement against the Pirates. NC State won the last two matchups by a combined 83 points but did lose the prior three games against ECU, including two trips to Greenville in 2010 and 2016.
3) Louisville
Date: November 19
Last year’s record: 6-7 (4-3 at home)
Average home attendance: 43,965
Louisville has one of the most underrated home atmospheres in the ACC, and now they are headed into the 2022 season with the most excitement around their program since Lamar Jackson was in town. With star quarterback Malik Cunningham leading the charge, the Cardinals have a chance to make some noise in the ACC this year. This is the first of two really challenging road trips to end the regular season.
The Cardinals lost to NC State in Carter-Finely 28-13 last year, as the Wolfpack defense was able to stifle the Louisville’s offense to its lowest point total of the 2021 season. Louisville has not hosted NC State since 2018 when the program went 0-8 in the ACC. NC State won that matchup 52-10.
2) North Carolina
Date: November 25
Last year’s record: 6-7 (6-1 at home)
Average home attendance: 47,946
NC State won last year’s matchup against UNC last year thanks in-part to some last-minute heroics. The rivalry renews for yet another year in Chapel Hill this year the day after Thanksgiving. North Carolina will have to replace quarterback Sam Howell, but there is still a wealth of talent on the Tar Heel’s roster that will likely make this a thrilling regular season finale. All six of UNC’s wins last season came on its home field.
The Wolfpack lost by 27 the last time they traveled to North Carolina against a team ranked No. 14 at that point. UNC is no longer the in-state team holding the highest preseason expectations, and NC State will have a chance to see if they can deal with they hype better than the Tar Heels did last year, when they finished with a sub-.500 record after starting the year as a top-ten team. NC State is 3-2 in its past five meetings with UNC.
1) Clemson
Date: October 1
Last year’s record: 10-3 (6-0 at home)
Average home attendance: 78732
Despite a perceived down year for Clemson, the Tigers still went undefeated at home and won 10 games. NC State dealt Clemson its second loss of the 2021 season in a double overtime thriller at Carter-Finley. Memorial Stadium is as intimidating a venue as any in the conference, and the Wolfpack will face off against a group of Tigers looking for revenge. Prior to winning last season, NC State lost eight-consecutive matchups in the rivalry.
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