NC State football vs. Syracuse game predictions from The Wolfpacker
A victory Saturday would keep intact a perfect home record for NC State football and give the Pack an eight-win season for the fourth time in five years.
NC State is a healthy 11-point favorite over visiting Syracuse, which will arrive in Raleigh with a 5-5 overall mark and 2-4 record in ACC games.
Kickoff is at 4 p.m. at Carter-Finley Stadium and televised on ACC Network.
Will the Pack prevail?
The Wolfpacker staff makes its predictions.
Matt Carter
I view this game two different ways.
On paper, I think it’s a good matchup for NC State football.
Syracuse is one-dimensional on offense, and what they do well is what the Wolfpack is best at — defending: the running game. Syracuse is not a prolific-scoring, explosive offense. It favors ball-control and physicality. That should help alleviate some of the personnel losses NC State has suffered on defense.
And while the Orange have a good defense, I’m not sure it’s going to take a lot for the Wolfpack to win this game.
There’s also the intangibles. From a motivation standpoint, it feels like Syracuse may be in a better place. Yes, Louisville drubbed them last week, 41-3. The Orange needs just one win to be bowl eligible, which would be a nice achievement for a team picked to finish last in the ACC’s Atlantic Division.
If anything, the Louisville defeat, the one time this year Syracuse has been uncompetitive in its five losses, should be an incentive to play better.
Meanwhile, NC State football suffered what its head coach Dave Doeren appropriately described as a loss that “hurts the heart” to Wake Forest last Saturday. Getting back up from that could be an issue.
In games involving head coach Dino Babers, now in his sixth season at Syracuse, whoever scores first is an indicator of who might win. Babers has a .769 winning percentage when his team scores first. It falls all the way to .276 when the opposition puts the initial points on the board.
NC State needs to find that motivation quickly in this game. News of a Clemson win over Wake Forest earlier in the day would be extremely helpful in that regard.
Doeren’s teams have been resilient in the past couple of years, and I think that defining trait will show up again.
Matt Carter’s prediction: NC State 23, Syracuse 17.
Previous predictions:
Week 1: NC State 41, South Florida 21 (actual: NC State 45-0)
Week 2: NC State 33, Mississippi State 30 (actual: Mississippi State 24-10)
Week 3: NC State 42, Furman 6 (actual: NC State 45-7)
Week 4: Clemson 21, NC State 9 (actual: NC State 27-21)
Week 5: NC State 38, Louisiana Tech 17 (actual: NC State 34-27)
Week 6: NC State 28, Boston College 24 (actual: NC State 33-7)
Week 7: NC State 31, Miami 23 (actual: Miami 31-30)
Week 8: NC State 30, Louisville 17 (actual: NC State 28-13)
Week 9: NC State 27, Florida State 17 (actual: NC State 28-14)
Week 10: NC State 33, Wake Forest 31 (actual: Wake Forest 45-42)
Justin H. Williams
Both of these teams enter this game coming off of disappointing results.
As Wolfpack fans painstakingly are aware of, NC State football lost by a field goal on the road to Wake Forest last Saturday in what could be argued as the program’s biggest game in the past decade.
Meanwhile, a Syracuse team that needs just one more win this season to clinch bowl eligibility laid an egg against Louisville, losing 41-3 in what was its worst conference loss of the season.
On paper, NC State is the better team in this matchup.
But because of the sour taste in the mouth of both squads, a fast start could go a long way for either team.
Ultimately, I like the Pack’s chances to start lighting up the scoreboard first.
The defense just faced its toughest test of the season, but now takes on a Syracuse offense that’s below average in the ACC.
The Orange actually have the best run offense (236.7 yards per game) in the conference but rank last in passing yards per game (155.7 yards per game).
Considering the Pack’s strength is not only defense but stopping the run, that’s advantage Wolfpack.
I don’t expect NC State to start piling on the points on the first possessions of the game. I see this as more of a game that NC State controls for the better part of 60 minutes, consistently keeping the Syracuse offense off the field, scoreing points when it needs to and ultimately wearing down the Orange in a double-digit victory.
Justin Williams’ prediction: NC State 34, Syracuse 23.
Previous predictions:
Week 1: NC State 41, South Florida 16 (actual: NC State 45-0)
Week 2: NC State 38, Mississippi State 28 (actual: Mississippi State 24-10)
Week 3: NC State 48, Furman 16 (actual: NC State 45-7)
Week 4: Clemson 20, NC State 16 (actual: NC State 27-21)
Week 5: NC State 49, Louisiana Tech 22 (actual: NC State 34-27)
Week 6: NC State 27, Boston College 20 (actual: NC State 33-7)
Week 7: NC State 34, Miami 23 (actual: Miami 31-30)
Week 8: NC State 38, Louisville 33 (actual: NC State 28-13)
Week 9: NC State 30, Florida State 20 (actual: NC State 28-14)
Week 10: NC State 38, Wake Forest 30 (actual: Wake Forest 45-42)
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