Clemson football is back in action this Saturday at noon and starts Atlantic Coast Conference play against a hated foe, the North Carolina State Wolfpack.
Last week was tough as a Clemson fan, at least for this one. Sitting through a lot of games missing out on watching our Tigers play. It was especially tough after the record-setting offensive showing against App State the week prior.
Clemson football showed what it was supposed to look like against an inferior opponent and put the game out of reach from the third offensive snap, the first career touchdown catch by freshman wideout Bryant Wesco. An exhilarating start to the game, and thankfully most fans forgot the two plays prior to Wesco screaming down the sideline, and Cade Klubnik throwing a beautifully thrown ball in stride to start the onslaught.
This week’s opponent is NC State in Death Valley. An opponent that is sort of an enigma to start the season. They made a splash in the portal grabbing former Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall, but he has not impressed early and then was injured in last weeks tilt against Louisiana Tech. This game is always a tough one. The Textile Bowl trophy is once again up for grabs on Saturday afternoon.
Here is your preview of Clemson’s Week 4 Opponent, the North Carolina State Wolfpack.
North Carolina State Wolfpack (2-1)
Head Coach: Dave Doeren (14th Season at NC State)
Location: Death Valley, Clemson, SC
Time: Noon EST
Wins against: Western Carolina, Louisiana Tech
Losses against: Tennessee
Offense
Offensive Coordinator – Robert Anae
In his second year in Raleigh, Anae uses his athletes well and always has. The well-traveled offensive coordinator has seemingly played against the Tigers every year recently, and will once again come in with a highly-skilled, raw quarterback.
Anae’s offense in the early part of the season averages 26.0 points per game; with 342 yards of total offense per game, 131.3 coming on the ground and 210.7 through the air. The Wolfpack is currently even in the turnover battle with 5 takeaways and 5 giveaways.
Here is a look at the projected starters for the Wolfpack:
| Position | Name (#) | Year | Week 1 Statistics |
| Quarterback | CJ Bailey (16) | Freshman | 13/20; 156 yds, INT; 6 rush, 34 yds, TD |
| Running Back | Jordan Waters (7) | Graduate | 37 rush, 156 yds, 2 TDs; 2 catches, 19 yds |
| X Receiver | Dacari Collins (4) | RS Junior | 7 catches, 78 yds |
| Z Receiver | Noah Rogers (5) | RS Freshman | 7 catches, 87 yds |
| Inside Receiver | KC Concepcion (10) | Sophomore | 22 catches, 199 yds, 3 TDs |
| Flexy | Justin Joly (15) | Junior | 11 catches, 153 yds |
| Tight End | Matt McCabe (47) | Graduate | n/a |
| Left Tackle | Anthony Belton (74) | Graduate | |
| Left Guard | Anthony Carter, Jr. (75) | RS Junior | |
| Center | Zeke Correll (56) | Graduate | |
| Right Guard | Timothy McKay (52) | Graduate | |
| Right Tackle | Jacarrius Peak (65) | RS Sophomore |
Having watched all three of the NC State games this season one thing is abundantly clear, they’re going to find ways to get the ball to KC Concepcion. He is, by far, their most talented player and Coach Anae will make sure he touches the ball early and often. CJ Bailey gets the start at quarterback for the first time this season, with McCall out for a while. The 6’6” true freshman looked great in relief a week ago. But here’s hoping the level of competition he will face will ramp up exponentially on Saturday in the Valley.
Defense
Defensive Coordinator: Tony Gibson
Coach Gibson, a mainstay with Coach Doeren at NC State returns with a little tougher job to do this season. Gone are his two generational talents at linebacker, however, he still brings a pretty stout defense (save the Tennessee game) to Clemson this weekend.
Gibson’s defense is currently giving up 30.7 points per game, skewed slightly by the Tennessee game (51 points given up), but still a large number for the caliber of opponent they have played thus far. They are giving up an average of 378.3 yards per game with 134 coming on the ground and 245.3 through the air.
Here is a look at the projected starters along with their statistics from their early season slate:
| Position | Name (#) | Year | Week 1 Statistics |
| Left Defensive End | Davin Vann (1) | Graduate | 9 tackles, 3 TFLs, 1.5 sacks |
| Nose Tackle | Brandon Cleveland (44) | Junior | 7 tackles, 0.5 TFLs, 0.5 sacks |
| Right Defensive End | Travali Price (13) | RS Junior | 6 tackles, 1 TFL |
| SAM Linebacker | Devon Betty (8) | Graduate | 6 tackles, 0.5 TFL |
| Weakside Linebacker | Sean Brown (0) | RS Junior | 22 tackles, 2 TFLs |
| Middle Linebacker | Caden Fordham (10) | RS Junior | 19 tackles, 1.5 TFLs |
| Nickel | Ja’Had Carter (11) | Senior | 8 tackles |
| Right Cornerback | Aydan White (3) | Graduate | 12 tackles, INT |
| Free Safety | DK Kaufman (5) | RS Junior | 18 tackles, INT |
| Strong Safety | Bishop Fitzgerald (7) | Senior | 7 tackles, INT |
| Left Cornerback | Brandon Cisse (25) | Sophomore | 7 tackles, 0.5 TFL |
The Wolfpack have 5 takeaways on the season with three of them being interceptions. The back seven are a pretty solid group for the most part, but not nearly as dominant as they have been in the past few years.
Special Teams
Here are look at the projected starers on Special Teams for the Wolfpack.
| Position | Name (#) | Year | Week 1 Statistics |
| Kicker | Kanoah Vinesett (94) | RS Sophomore | 5-5, long of 52 yds |
| Punter | Caden Noonkester (98) | RS Junior | 11 punts, 43.7 yd avg., long of 58 yds |
| Kick Returner | Hollywood Smothers (20) | RS Freshman | 3 returns, 51 yds, long of 32 yds. |
| Punt Returner | KC Concepcion | Sophomore | 1 return, 20 yds. |
Summary
Coach Dabo Swinney always says there’s no bad time for a bye week, to get some of those players that are dinged up a chance to recover. But in Clemson’s case, they may have wanted to play last weekend riding the high from the previous week’s game against App State, a 66-point outburst.
From all accounts, the Tigers look mostly healthy to take on an NC State team that beat them a season ago in Raleigh. CJ Bailey may be seeing ghosts after a couple of offensive series, with the hungry Tigers defense ready to pounce. I like our Tigers here in a laugher.
Go Tigers! Beat the Woofies!
