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Duke comes to Carter-Finley for the first time in over a decade as the Wolfpack and Blue Devils square off on the gridiron for the first time in seven years. NC State is coming off back-to-back impressive road wins against Pittsburgh and Virginia, while Duke notched their first win of the season a week ago during a trip up to Syracuse.
Can NC State put it all together two weeks in a row to snag not only the fourth win of the season for the Wolfpack, but potentially also a Top 25 national ranking? Or will a suddenly hot Duke offense that’s rolled up over 1,000 total yards in the last two weeks propel the Blue Devils to victory?
Each BTP contributor provides their score prediction below, plus a quick blurb on their predicted outcome. Here we go!
TheRealEssad
Prediction: 34-24 (W)
Comment: “Even Admiral Akbar could see this trap game coming. Wolfpack give up some unnecessary TD’s but pull away late. Bam Knight uses his personal motivation for a great day.“
AlecLower
Prediction: 38-24 (W)
Comment: “State gets a tight game in the first half but leans on its ground game and puts enough distance between itself and Duke in the 3rd quarter to hang on.“
WROncsu
Prediction: 41-17 (W)
Comment: “Person and Knight each go for 80+ yards and the positivity train keeps rolling.“
Steven
Prediction: 31-27 (W)
Comment: “I am expecting a degree of shenanigans since the last two weeks have just been too good. But I expect the raucous, capacity crowd of 4,000 at Carter-Finley to help the guys through it.“
Why is this so hard?
Prediction: 56-17 (W)
Comment: “NC State keeps covering the spread by about 10 more points than the last week until it eventually starts beating everyone by 100+ and is promoted to the NFL.“
JEOHankins2
Prediction: 45-38 (W)
Comment: “Duke comes out swinging, their run game shows promise and Brice (of course) finds a way to have a career day...offense fires back on the ground mostly, defense forces a couple turnovers, with the last one sealing the win“
no23sports
Prediction: 45-42 (W)
Comment: “As I mentioned earlier in the week, NC State wins and Duke covers. I think there will be some offense in this one.“
PirateWolf
Prediction: 35-28 (W)
Comment: “State’s running game moves the ball consistently. Defense slows a Duke offense that’s put up 62 points in the last 6 quarters.“
BTP Staff Cumulative Prediction: 41-27 (W)
Agree? Disagree? Sound off in the comments!