North Carolina and No. 22 North Carolina State have arrived at their annual meeting looking similar in many ways.
They sure took different paths to get here.
The Tar Heels and host Wolfpack will play for bragging rights and potential elevation in the bowl pecking order when they square off Saturday night in Raleigh, N.C.
“This game has a lot of other implications — overall record, rankings, bowl placement, stuff like that,” NC State coach Dave Doeren said. “But for me, I just want to beat UNC.”
NC State (8-3, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) is riding a four-game winning streak. The Wolfpack have won their first three November games for the first time since 2008.
North Carolina (8-3, 4-3) has slumped a bit, but this game should have its attention. Since defeating Miami, the Tar Heels have lost three of their last five games. The victories came against Football Championship Subdivision opponent Campbell and in double-overtime against Duke.
Rivalry games are “something heroes are made in,” Tar Heels coach Mack Brown said. “It’s something you’ll remember for the rest of your life.”
North Carolina was in contention for a spot in the ACC championship game until last weekend. Now it’s NC State that could finish alone in third place in the conference standings.
“At this point with eight wins or nine wins, both teams are going to have a good opportunity bowl-wise,” Doeren said. “But you give yourself the best chance by winning this one.”
Brennan Armstrong has been NC State’s starting quarterback the past two games, and that has provided a physical element for the offense with his hard running style. He sparked road victories against Wake Forest and Virginia Tech after returning to the starting role when MJ Morris opted to sit out the rest of the season and take a redshirt year.
Armstrong, a former Virginia quarterback before suiting up for the Wolfpack this year, has faced the Tar Heels previously. Brown knows what his team will encounter.
“For Brennan, I’ve played against him now … this will be the fourth time at two different schools,” Brown said. “So I’ve kind of grown up with him here.”
Armstrong has fit in well the past couple of weeks with what the Wolfpack are doing.
“The plays that we ask him to run, he runs them in a physical way,” Doeren said. “It definitely gets the guys blocking for him excited. They know that he’s going to be straining really hard.”
North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye completed just 16 of 38 passes last week at Clemson for the lowest completion percentage in his career.
Tar Heels running back Omarion Hampton has rushed for 1,414 yards this season.
In this series, NC State won 34-30 at home in 2021 and then last year prevailed 30-27 in double-overtime in Chapel Hill.
“You talk about playing every second that they let you play the game,” Doeren said. “As long as it takes. I know both teams are going to fight and fight hard. That’s why it’s a fun game. This (series) has had a lot of crazy endings.”
–Field Level Media
