North Carolina State football finished the 2022 season with a solid 8-5 record. The team’s losses came against Clemson, Syracuse, Boston College, Louisville and Maryland in the bowl game. The offense essentially collapsed after Devin Leary suffered an injury. Their best wins came against Texas Tech, Florida State, Wake Forest and North Carolina. DraftKings Sportsbook has the Wolfpack’s win total at 6.5 with the over juiced to -145. North Carolina State also sits at +2200 to win the ACC, which ranks middle of the pack in the conference. With that said, let’s dive into the North Carolina State football predictions and season preview.
2023 North Carolina State Football Predictions & Season Preview
North Carolina State Football 2023 Season Preview: Coaching Staff
At head coach, North Carolina State returns Dave Doeren for his 11th season. Doeren has only gone below 500 twice with North Carolina State and one of those seasons occurred in his first year with the job. This offseason, Doeren brought in Robert Anae to coordinate the offense. Anae most recently coordinated Syracuse’s offense in 2022 and Virginia’s before that. He has a long track record of offensive success in the ACC. On defense, Tony Gibson remains in place after originally taking the job in 2019.
North Carolina State Football 2023 Season Preview: Offense
Quarterback
North Carolina State lost Devin Leary to Kentucky, but they added Virginia transfer Brennan Armstrong. Last year, Armstrong took a step back in a new offensive scheme behind a weak offensive line. He completed 185 of his 338 pass attempts (54.7%) for 2,210 yards (6.5 yards per attempt), seven touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
Armstrong does have solid mobility, but the sack numbers brought him down to 371 rushing yards on 123 attempts. Overall, he finished as the ACC’s 17th-graded passer, per PFF. However, his 2021 numbers proved far more impressive. That season, he completed 326 of his 500 pass attempts (65.2%) for 4,449 yards (8.9 yards per attempt), 31 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions. He also rushed 98 times for 251 yards. He finished as the third-highest-graded quarterback in 2021, which North Carolina State will now hope to coax out of him.
Luckily, he will be reunited with his former offensive coordinator Anae, who helped him achieve this success. Behind Armstrong, North Carolina State retains MJ Morris as the backup. Forced into action last year, Morris completed 52 of his 86 passes (60.5%) for 648 yards (7.5 yards per attempt), seven touchdowns and one interception. He also rushed 49 times for 88 yards. At the very least, Morris provides a quality backup and should serve as the quarterback of the future for the Wolfpack.
Running Back
North Carolina State lost Demie Sumo-Karngbaye to transfer this offseason, but they return their leading rusher in Jordan Houston. Houston rushed 136 times for 544 yards, while catching 25 passes for another 213 yards. At 5-foot-10, 192 pounds, Houston averaged 2.46 yards after contact per attempt and forced a missed tackle on 17.6% of his attempts.
Behind him, Michael Allen also returns after 53 carries for 268 yards and 11 receptions for 97 yards. Allen is 5-foot-9, 200 pounds and averaged 3.04 yards after contact and a forced missed tackle on 20.8% of his attempts as a freshman last year. He originally came to North Carolina State as a 4-star recruit in last year’s class. The depth here will likely come down to freshman Kendrick Raphael and Demarcus Jones II. Jones rushed 24 times for an inefficient 58 yards last year, but he could see more work, due to a lack of alternatives. Overall, this unit shouldn’t take a massive step back, assuming health.
Wide Receiver
North Carolina State lost three of their top four receivers in Thayer Thomas, Devin Carter and Darryl Jones this offseason. They do return third and sixth leading receivers Keyon Lesane and Porter Rooks. Lesane caught 31 passes for 342 yards last year, while playing out wide 94.3% of the time. His 0.99 yards per route ranked 57th in the ACC last year. Rooks caught 19 passes for 151 yards and one touchdown. At 6-foot-1, 195 pounds, Rooks played in the slot 99% of the time, while logging a poor 0.81 yards per route.
North Carolina State hit the transfer portal, bringing in Bradley Rozner (Rice) and Dacari Collins (Clemson). Rozner is 6-foot-5, 204 pounds and caught 43 passes for 872 yards and 10 touchdowns with Rice last year. He played out wide 84.8% of the time and his 2.07 yards per route proved quite efficient. Collins is 6-foot-4, 215 pounds and caught just one pass last year. He previously caught 16 passes for 221 yards in 2021. He has played out wide 97.6% of the time to this point with a 1.47 yards per route. The rest of North Carolina State’s two deep remains unproven with Terrell Timons and Julian Gray projected to play rotational roles. Gray did catch 11 passes last year, but this group doesn’t bring much experience. North Carolina State didn’t exactly have a lethal passing attack last year, so it is hard to envision this group being much worse.
Tight End
North Carolina State returns their top three options from 2022. This group includes Ced Seabrough, Trent Pennix and Christopher Toudle. Seabrough played the most snaps with 408. At 6-foot-4, 245 pounds, Seabrough blocked on 58% of these snaps. He also caught nine passes for 56 yards. Pennix only played in five games, but he caught eight passes for 111 yards. He is 6-foot-3, 230 pounds and operates as a tight end/H-Back hybrid.
Toudle is 6-foot-4, 240 pounds and blocked on 49% of his snaps. He led the group with 11 catches for 130 yards and should play more in the passing game. North Carolina State did recruit a 4-star freshman in Javonte Vereen, giving them solid enough depth at tight end.
Offensive Line
North Carolina State lost left guard Chandler Zavala, center Grant Gibson and swing tackle Bryson Speas this offseason. They return left tackle Anthony Belton after 624 snaps last year in his first year as a starter. Guard Dylan McMahon returns after 820 snaps last year. He is a three-year starter, who has played guard and center. With Gibson departing, McMahon likely rotates over to center.
They also return right tackle Timothy McKay, who returns after 777 snaps in his first season as a full-time starter. Rotational guard Derrick Eason (57.1) should now take over as a full-time starter. He played 462 snaps last year and now has 1,040 in his career. This leaves the other guard position up for grabs. Fortunately, North Carolina State added Dawson Jaramillo via the transfer portal. He played 329 snaps with Oregon in 2021 before falling to 77 last year. Yousef Mugharbil also comes over from Colorado, but he doesn’t have any experience. This offensive line could be in for a decent step back, considering the veterans they lost from this unit.
North Carolina State Football 2023 Season Preview: Defense
North Carolina State ranked 18th on defense in 2022. This included the ninth-ranked run defense, 70th-ranked pass rush and 26th-ranked secondary. This defense lost most of their secondary and a few starters from the front seven. They only added three transfers and two 4-star recruits, so this unit should be expected to take a step back as a whole.
Defensive Line
Along the edge, North Carolina State actually returns a decent of their production. Davin Vann returns after 625 snaps. He logged 33 tackles, eight tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks last year. The other starting edge should be Savion Jackson, who only played in seven games due to injury. Prior to the injury, Jackson put up some solid numbers, consisting of 15 tackles and three tackles for loss. Behind them, Travali Price played 348 snaps last year and Noah Potter comes over from Cincinnati via transfer. Price looks better off in a rotational role after 16 tackles, two tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. Potter logged four tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks on 347 snaps with Cincinnati last year.
On the interior, North Carolina State lost Cory Durden, but they return CJ Clark. Clark played 492 snaps, finishing with 18 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and three sacks. This position has almost no depth behind Clark. Nick Campbell is currently listed as the direct backup and he played just nine snaps last year. Overall, this unit should be solid again as long as the starters stay healthy on the interior.
Linebacker
At linebacker, North Carolina State lost Drake Thomas and Isaiah Moore. That’s 183 combined tackles, 24 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks removed from the offense. Fortunately, North Carolina State does return starter Payton Wilson, who played 639 snaps last year. Wilson finished as the third leading tackler at 82. He also generated 12.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. The other projected starters at Devon Betty and Jaylon Scott. Last year, Scott played 176 snaps and Betty played 92 overall. Both played reasonably well in a small sample, but that leaves this position thin ahead of 2023. As for depth, Caden Fordham and Jayland Parker played 46 and 35 snaps and will key players in the two-deep.
Defensive Back
At corner, the North Carolina State lost Derreck Pitts Jr. and Tyler Baker-Williams this offseason. This leaves a pair of starters with Shyheim Battle and Ayden White. Battle played 524 snaps last year and White checked in at 760. White led the team with nine pass breakups and four interceptions. He also proved solid in run defense with 46 tackles. Battle also played well on a slightly smaller sample. He broke up five passes and two interceptions. Battle also made 34 tackles and should form a solid tandem with White.
The third corner should be Old Dominion transfer Robert Kennedy. Kennedy played 804 snaps last year and made six pass breakups. They also added JUCO corner Rente Hinton. For depth, North Carolina State will rely on players like Teshaun Smith, who comes in with just 64 snaps to his name.
At safety, North Carolina State lost Tanner Ingle and Cyrus Fagan this offseason. They do return some experience with Jakeen Harris and Devan Boykin each playing over 300 snaps last year. Both played well in a small sample overall. Harris broke up two passes and logged two interceptions. Boykin ended up with an interception as well, along with 20 tackles. The two deep will also rely on Rakeim Ashford, who played 59 snaps in four games last year. He started the bowl game against Maryland, which should be an indicator of a larger role moving. Zack Myers and Daemon Fagan come in as 4-star freshmen. Ultimately, it is hard to envision this secondary reaching the same heights as 2022. However, the pieces remain in place for an above average season.
2023 North Carolina State Football Schedule & Predictions
North Carolina State Football 2023 Schedule
The Wolfpack play a non-conference schedule consisting of Connecticut, Notre Dame, VMI and Marshall. They should be clear favorites in three of these games, with Notre Dame being the lone exception. Inside the ACC, North Carolina State will face Louisville, Clemson, North Carolina and Miami among the top teams in the ACC. They do dodge Florida State, but this is a reasonably difficult schedule here.
North Carolina State Football Futures Bet & Prediction
The Wildcats over/under 6.5 wins is juiced to -145 towards the over. With a 3-1 start likely, North Carolina State should have a good shot to pick up four wins within the ACC. They play a few bottom-end teams like Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. However, the rest of the schedule should be a challenge for North Carolina State. With the under coming in at+125, this side of the win total provides a superior return.
Best North Carolina State Football Futures Bet: Under 6.5 Wins (+125 at DraftKings)
You can read the rest of Matt Gajewski’s 2023 college football season previews and predictions below!
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