6 days ago3 min read

New Rivals Stanford, NC State Meet in ACC Tilt

North Carolina State had high hopes for the 2024 college football season. Now the Wolfpack (4-4, 1-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) heads into a Week 10 clash against new ACC member Stanford (2-6, 1-4) at noon EST on Nov. 2 at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, N.C. The Wolfpack's season is teetering on the brink of disaster.

The Wolfpack entered the season No. 24 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. But N.C. State hosts Stanford after getting its first ACC win of the season at Cal two weeks ago. Emerging from a much-needed bye week, head coach Dave Doeren’s squad will look to string together a second straight ACC win.

“To go eight straight games and finish that run with a long road trip, a long flight, bus ride, all those things, coast-to-coast, and to come back after two tough one-possession losses, it says a lot about the fight in the staff and this team,” Doeren said at his press conference on Oct. 28. “Proud of the guys for being resilient, and we are getting better and improving, and you can see that in a lot of areas.”

NC State Salvaging Season

Prior to the season, N.C. State thought it would feature one of the best quarterbacks in the conference in sixth-year senior Grayson McCall. The Coastal Carolina transfer threw for more than 10,000 yards for the Chanticleers, but his career in Raleigh ended after just three games. He was knocked out of the Louisiana Tech game with a concussion, then left the Wake Forest game three weeks later after another hit to the head.

McCall has had at least five concussions during his career.

“The one last year I think was four (concussions),” McCall said on Oct. 29 at a press conference. “Looking at six or seven total. Every doctor has their own opinion but once you get to the four to five range, anything after that really isn't good. What I've learned from this last one is that the more you continue to get them, the chances of the full recovery decrease. I think it's been six now."

The Pack was forced to move on at QB as freshman C.J. Bailey has taken the reins, where he's thrown for 1,376 yards and 8 touchdowns. He threw for a career-high 329 yards in a loss at Syracuse and 306 yards at Cal.

Running backs Kendrick Raphael and Hollywood Smothers will tag-team the rushing attack. Jordan Waters is listed as questionable on the injury report.

Stanford in a Tailspin

Stanford hasn’t had much luck recently, either. The Cardinal started with a promising 2-1 record after an upset win at Syracuse and a competitive loss at TCU. Since the win over the Orange, Stanford has lost five in a row, including a devastating 27-24 loss against Wake Forest last week in Palo Alto, Calif. The Cardinal's bowl hopes have been all but snuffed out.

Like N.C. State, Stanford has just one ACC win. Head coach Troy Taylor’s team will rotate three QBs in hopes of rejuvenating an inconsistent offense. Cardinal QBs have combined to throw 12 interceptions against just 11 touchdowns. Stanford is being outscored on average per game at 31.5-19.5 for the season.

Ashton Daniels leads the Cardinal with 941 passing yards and 352 rushing yards. He's also tossed 6 touchdowns and 8 interceptions.

Tristan Sinclair tops Stanford on defense with 63 tackles, while fellow linebacker David Bailey has 4 sacks.

News and Notes

This is Stanford’s earliest kickoff of the season.
N.C. State has covered just one game in eight this year while Stanford is 2-5-1 against the spread. N.C. State's favored by 10.
This is Stanford’s fourth game in the Eastern time zone this season. But the Cardinal play the rest of its games in the Bay Area after Oct. 2.
It’s a good bet that there will be multiple turnovers on Oct. 2 as N.C. State has 15 and Stanford has 16. Both schools have forced 12 turnovers, which is tied for 44th best in the nation.
Out of 133 FBS teams, N.C. State ranks 112th in giving up 31.1 points per game while Stanford is 113th after giving up an average of 31.5 points.