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Fresh off a bye week, NC State welcomes Syracuse - also coming off a bye week - and the ESPN Thursday night limelight to Raleigh for a prime time match-up under the lights of Carter-Finley Stadium. Both teams have had their issues this year, albeit of different flavors, and the winner of this game will be in a much better position for postseason bowl eligibility.
Can the Wolfpack correct their offensive woes to get back in the Win column? Or will the Orange squeeze out their first two-game win streak in the head-to-head series?
Each BTP contributor provides their score prediction below, plus a quick blurb on their predicted outcome. Here we go!
AlecLower
Prediction: 17-30 (L)
Comment: “Syracuse scores a late touchdown to seal the game. NC State takes only a small step towards fixing the QB situation and has too many turnovers“
TheRealEssad
Prediction: 20-34 (L)
Comment: “The Orange ones fix their problems (at least for one night) and out pace the Pack. Leary plays well enough to continue the debate for another week, but not well enough to steal the job. “
no23sports
Prediction: 27-17 (W)
Comment: “The Pack have a competent offense coming out of the bye week and the defense continues to play well against a struggling Syracuse offense.“
Omega Wolf
Prediction: 30-23 (W)
Comment: “Cuse has been bad running the ball and bad on the road. Those trends continue. Oh, and we’ll feel better about the QB situation after this one.“
JEOHankins2
Prediction: 24-20 (W)
Comment: “Very little talk about our front 7(6?) versus their bad OL. State continues to get in the backfield + stop the run. No definitive QB confidence but we score enough to win a shockingly low score affair“
Steven
Prediction: 27-24 (W)
Comment: “I’ve decided to be optimistic this week. Or live in denial. It’s one or the other. “
PirateWolf
Prediction: 20-17 (W)
Comment: “Pack takes advantage of a few short fields to get points. Neither QB is great, but neither is awful. Cuse has more yards, but State has more points, and that’s all that matters.“
BTP Staff Cumulative Prediction: 24-24 (W)
Agree? Disagree? Want to know how we ended up with a predicted tie score, yet the fuzzy math ‘W’? Sound off in the comments!