NC STATE WOLFPACK (3-2, 1-1) vs. MARSHALL Thundering Herd (4-0)
Oct. 7, 2023 • 2 pm • The CW
Raleigh, N.C. • Carter-Finley Stadium (56,919)
• The Wolfpack has faced the Thundering Herd five times times: three times in the early 90s and then back to back in 2017 and 2018.
• The last two times NC State and Marshall played, current Pack RB coach Todd Goebbel was on the Marshall sideline. He was on the Thundering Herd staff from 2015-2018, serving as co-offensive coordinator, special teams coordinator and coaching tight ends, wide receivers and quarterbacks during his tenure.
• The 2018 contest was the first not played in Carter-Finley. Behind QB Ryan Finley’s 377 passing yards, the Wolfpack tallied 502 yards of total offense in Huntington.
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GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY
NC State will mark the 50th anniversary of the 1973 ACC Championship squad in ceremonies during the Marshall game.
Led by head coach Lou Holtz, that squad finished the season ranked 16th nationally and was undefeated in the ACC (6-0) and at home. The Pack’s 9-3 overall record included a loss to second-ranked Nebraska and a six-point heartbreaker to Penn State. That was Holtz’s only ACC title and marked NC State’s last undefeated league record.
The Wolfpack set a single-season record for rushing yards in 1973 that still stands 50 years later. Behind ACC Player of the Year Willie Burden (1,014 yards), Stan Fritts (684 yards) and Charley Young (661) yards, NC State rushed for 2,995 yards (in the regular season). The squad also set school single-season marks for points per game (33.2).
Guard Bill Yoest, the ACC’s Jacobs Blocking Trophy recipient and a consensus All-American, paved the way while the Buckey twins starred at quarterback (Dave) and WR (Don).
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BEST IN THE LAND
Wolfpack Linebacker Payton Wilson has been honored as the best in the nation at his position for the month of September by the Butkus Foundation.
Wilson, who is on the preseason watch list for the Butkus Award, averaged 11.5 tackles per game in the first full month of the 2023 campaign. His 11.2 average for the season leads the ACC and ranks eighth in the FBS.
The official release from the Butkus Foundation says: “Wilson has registered 56 tackles, including a Butkus-like effort tracking down a Notre Dame ballcarrier where he registered a Wolfpack lifetime-best 23.4 miles per hour on the GPS, the fastest head coach Dave Doeren said the program has ever recorded.”
The graduate student has led the team in tackles in all five games and has been named the ACC Linebacker of the Week twice in 2023. He has also tallied 4.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, three pass breakups, four quarterback hurries, while recovering a fumble and intercepting a pass.
Last week vs. Louisville, Wilson even turned in a rush attempt, as he ran for a first down on a fake punt.
For his career, the Hillsborough native has notched 18 double-figure tackle totals, including four in 2023.
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THE MJ RESUME
Sophomore MJ Morris is slated to get the starting nod at quarterback vs. Marshall - the third start of his young career. Last season, he became the first Wolfpack QB since Philip Rivers in 2000 to start at QB.
Of note: Rivers graduated early and went through spring practice prior to his freshman year, while Morris arrived in June.
Morris, who has played meaningful snaps in four career games (the fifth game he played he was in for just three plays), came off the bench to lead the Pack to victory against Virginia Tech last season, throwing for three touchdowns. He came back the next week versus Wake Forest - his first game as a starter - to throw three more TDs. He was named ACC Rookie of the Week for both of those contests.
After starting the Boston College game, Morris suffered a knee injury and missed the rest of the season.
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NO RUSH
Under defensive coordinator Tony Gibson, NC State has become known as a defense that is brutal against the opposition’s run game. That hasn’t changed in 2023.
In the last three games, NC State’s opponents have gained 163 yards on 76 rushing attempts - an average of just 2.1 yards per attempt. For the season, the Wolfpack has moved up to third in the ACC and 18th in the FBS in rush defense, allowing just 95.6 ypg.
But if you dig a little deeper into the numbers, the Wolfpack defense has been even more effective against the run. The Pack was uncharacteristically gashed for a 71-yard touchdown run at UConn and an 80-yard touchdown run by Notre Dame. Those two runs account for a third (32%) of the rushing yards given up by NC State this season.
Outside of those two runs, NC State is holding opponents to an average of 2.15 yards per rush attempt in the opponent’s 152 other rushes (a figure that would rank third in the FBS).
Last season, the Pack ranked second in the ACC and 10th in the FBS in rushing defense, allowing just 100.7 ypg and in 2021 ranked third in the conference (22nd in FBS) in rushing defense at 124.0 ypg.
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PICK A PECK OF PASSES
Although the NC State defense hasn’t been as effective as the run defense, opponents beware when you let it fly against the Pack. NC State leads the ACC and ranks 20th in the FBS with six interceptions this season
What’s even better about that number is that those INTs have come from six different players (2 from CBs, 2 from safeties, 1 from an LB, 1 from a nickel).
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GRAY MATTER
Even though we’re only five games into the season, kick returner Julian Gray is posting numbers that could end up being among the best in school history.
Gray enters the Marshall game averaging 32 yards per kick return. That mark would ranks third in school history if he is able to maintain it.
Gray ranks sixth in the FBS (third in ACC) this week.