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NC State football: 3 reasons Ryan Finley boosted draft stock vs. Wake Forest

By Andrew Miller

RALEIGH, NC - SEPTEMBER 29: Ryan Finley #15 of the North Carolina State Wolfpack drops back to pass against the Virginia Cavaliers at Carter-Finley Stadium on September 29, 2018 in Raleigh, North Carolina. NC State won 35-21. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC - SEPTEMBER 29: Ryan Finley #15 of the North Carolina State Wolfpack drops back to pass against the Virginia Cavaliers at Carter-Finley Stadium on September 29, 2018 in Raleigh, North Carolina. NC State won 35-21. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /
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WINSTON SALEM, NC – NOVEMBER 18: Quarterback Ryan Finley #15 of the North Carolina State Wolfpack looks on during the Wolfpack’s football game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at BB&T Field on November 18, 2017 in Winston Salem, North Carolina. (Photo by Mike Comer/Getty Images)
WINSTON SALEM, NC – NOVEMBER 18: Quarterback Ryan Finley #15 of the North Carolina State Wolfpack looks on during the Wolfpack’s football game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at BB&T Field on November 18, 2017 in Winston Salem, North Carolina. (Photo by Mike Comer/Getty Images) /

3. Ranked team on the national stage

Any time there’s a top 25 team competing in an in-state conference battle like NC State football has on its hands here against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, there was a big audience following it. Wake Forest wasn’t having its best season under head coach Dave Clawson, but that’s due to a large number of culminating circumstances having a negative impact.

Wake Forest will have to fight hard down the stretch to even make an appearance in a bowl game. But, it was still some quality competition for NC State in Raleigh, N.C., in Week 11. Wake Forest has a high-powered offense that put up some points on NC State and gave its own offense a chance to have a big outing.

In the kick-off of the first Power Five matchup of Week 11, numerous fans got to tune in to see if this NC State team was deserving of its top 15 ranking — and they were let down. That still gave Finley the opportunity to prove that he was worthy of some early round hype for the 2019 NFL Draft. He didn’t get that much exposure up to this point during the regular season.

Considering NC State doesn’t get too much attention when it’s swamped amid other big time games on Saturdays, getting the sole spotlight was big for Finley. This was also one of the final chances for Finley to make an impact on NFL scouts in an NC State uniform since it was the only big Thursday night game in Week 11 and the regular season is drawing to a close.

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