Louisville Football: 3 bold predictions vs. NC State in Week 6
By Dana Becker
3. The Wolfpack crowd will cause problems
For NC State and head coach Dave Doeren, earning national respect starts with defending your home turf and earning victories over top-25 teams.
Doeren is in his fifth season as leader of the Wolfpack and has won at least seven games each of the past three years. They have gone 2-1 in bowl games over that time, but when you think about NC State, you think about basketball first and football a distant second.
At 4-1 and controlling their own destiny from here on out in the ACC, the ‘Pack can change all that this year.
Night games in college tend to benefit the home team, as the crowd has been preparing for the battle all day. If NC State can score early on Louisville and cause problems for Lamar Jackson, they can get the crowd of 57,000-plus inside Carter-Finley Stadium into it.
The Wolfpack went on the road two weeks ago and clipped Florida State, 27-21. That game showed their ability to get ahead, holding a 10-0 lead after the first and never trailing.
If NC State can duplicate that feat, they will give themselves a great chance to pull the upset and remain on a collision course with Clemson the first weekend in November.