So how’s this thing gonna go?
With bellies now full of turkey, Wolfpack hearts turn to rage as the putrid clan clad in blue (and sometimes not even their own shade) stroll into Carter-Finley Stadium for a Friday night clash.
This has been a season of opposites for both NC State and North Carolina. The Tar Heels took lofty preseason expectations and promptly ejected them out of the window with mass prejudice, losing their season opener and never looking back on their way to an underwhelming 6-5 record. NC State, meanwhile, entered the 2021 season with minimal expectations from those outside of the Wolfpack family, but have fought through a slew of injuries to post their fourth 8+ win campaign in the last five seasons, and has been featured in the College Football Playoff rankings each week this year.
For the Wolfpack, the key will be stopping the three-headed offensive machine of North Carolina: QB Sam Howell, RB Ty Chandler, and WR Josh Downs. For the Tar Heels, their focus will be to make State one-dimensional by shutting down a relatively struggling Wolfpack running game and hoping Devin Leary and the Wolfpack passing attack doesn’t pick them apart like yesterday’s turkey.
Can NC State put down the final foot to the throat of what was supposed to be a banner year for the Tar Heels? Or will North Carolina sap the joy out of Carter-Finley on Senior Day and leave the Wolfpack reeling?
Each BTP contributor provides their score prediction below, plus a quick blurb on their predicted outcome. Here we go!
Why is this so hard?
Prediction: 34.5-28 (W)
Comment: “Opening line from Vegas nails it!“
Essad
Prediction: 33-24 (W)
Comment: “Unnecessarily close, but the good guys prevail. Chef Leary’s gonna cook up some ram stew with Ickey Pancakes (TM) on the side“
JEOHankins2
Prediction: 31-27 (W)
Comment: “State’s defense knows this gameplan well enough to stifle UNC-CH early, the offense will extend drives to start and score enough late to offset some inevitable big plays from Howell“
PirateWolf
Prediction: 34-35 (L)
Comment: “ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh“
Steven
Prediction: 38-34 (W)
Comment: “If you try to speak a win into existence, you can bet that at least some of the time, it works every time.“
SP+
Prediction: 34-26 (W)
Comment: “beep boop“
Alec Lower
Prediction: 31- 24 W
Comment: Sorry I broke the formatting on this. I didn’t get my pick in on time.
BTP Staff Cumulative Prediction: 34-29 (W)
Agree? Disagree? Sound off in the comments!