Syracuse and North Carolina State are on different ends of the momentum spectrum heading into Saturday night’s Atlantic Coast Conference matchup in Raleigh, N.C.
The Orange (4-1, 1-1) are coming off a thrilling road victory over then-No. 25 UNLV last week. LeQuint Allen scored his fourth touchdown of the game in overtime to propel Syracuse to a 44-41 triumph.
“He’s the passion of our program,” Orange coach Fran Brown said of the junior tailback. “If I could just take one person and have every single other kid on our football team act just like he is, it would be LeQuint Allen.”
The visitors held the ball for nearly 40 minutes and compiled 492 yards of offense, including 355 passing yards and three touchdowns from quarterback Kyle McCord.
“I trust Kyle a lot,” Brown said of the Ohio State transfer. “Everybody trusts Kyle.”
Meanwhile, North Carolina State (3-3, 0-2) is coming off a 34-30 loss to Wake Forest in a game in which the Wolfpack squandered a 10-point lead with under nine minutes remaining. North Carolina State played most of the game without starting quarterback Grayson McCall, who suffered a concussion on a vicious hit in the first quarter.
“We’ll give him time to go through the steps that he wants to go through before we talk any more about what the next steps are,” coach Dave Doeren said. “… Thankful that he is, for the most part, OK.”
If McCall is not available this weekend, then freshman CJ Bailey will get the start under center. Bailey completed 28 of 42 passes for 272 yards with two touchdowns and an interception against Wake Forest.
North Carolina State had won seven of the previous eight meetings before dropping a 24-9 decision at Syracuse in 2022. In a matchup where both teams were ranked in the top 20, Oronde Gadsden II caught two touchdowns to help the Orange prevail.
This season, Gadsden is one of four Syracuse players with at least 26 receptions and three touchdowns. Trebor Pena leads the way with 34 catches for 383 yards and five TDs, although Gadsden, Jackson Meeks and Allen also will challenge the Wolfpack defense through the air.
