North Carolina State Wolf Pack at Wake Forest Demon Deacons Betting Preview
Saturday night features a battle of the top two teams in the ACC Atlantic as the No. 21 North Carolina State Wolfpack (7-2, 4-1 in the ACC) take on the No. 13 Wake Forest Demon Deacons (8-1, 5-0 in the ACC). Wake Forest will host this one at Truist Field, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 pm ET.
NC State comes into this one on a two-game winning streak after beating Florida State 28-14 last week. In the win, Devin Leary threw for 314 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception.
The Demon Deacons are trying to bounce back Saturday after suffering their first loss of the season last week. They were upset 58-55 on the road against unranked UNC.
In the loss, Sam Hartman threw for 398 yards and five touchdowns. He also rushed for 78 yards and another two scores, but the defense just could not get the job done against the Tar Heels.
Wake Forest is the slight favorite playing at home. They are -128 to win while the Wolfpack’s moneyline sits at +104. The spread features NC State +1.5 (-106), and the over/under for total points is 64.5.
More Odds
Wake Forest currently has the second-best odds of winning the ACC championship at +350. NC State has the third-best odds at +500.
In terms of a National Championship, Wake Forest is +20000 while NC State is +50000 to win it all.
By The Numbers
Wake Forest has had the best offense in college football to date. They are averaging 45.1 points per game (39.8 at home). The Wolfpack rank 51st averaging 29.4 points per game (25.2 on the road).
Defensively, it is North Carolina State with the advantage. They rank 10th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 17.1 points per game. Wake Forest ranks 78th, allowing 29.1 points per game (42 on the road).
NC State Looks To Pull Even With Wake Forest
At 7-2 overall and 4-1 in the conference, the NC State Wolfpack sit just a single game behind Wake Forest in the ACC Atlantic. A win on Saturday could help propel them to a conference championship, while a loss would be a major setback.
Trying to help keep up with the Wake Forest offense is NC State’s quarterback Devin Leary. On the season, he has thrown for 2,475 yards, 25 touchdowns, and just three interceptions. He has also rushed for two touchdowns.
Leary’s favorite targets have been Emeka Emezie (550 yards, two touchdowns), Thayer Thomas (403 yards, six touchdowns), and Devin Carter (366 yards, four touchdowns).
On the ground, the Wolfpack are led by running backs Zonovan Knight (617 yards, three touchdowns) and Ricky Person Jr. (487 yards, four touchdowns).
Top Ranked Offense Looks To Get Back Into Win Column
With a very suspect defense behind them, Wake Forest’s offense knows that it has to consistently put up big numbers to win games. Even with 55 points last week, it wasn’t enough.
On Saturday, the offense will look to get back to work against a tough NC State defense and help Wake Forest get back into the win column.
Sam Hartman has been sensational under center this year for the Demon Deacons. He has thrown for 2,873 yards, 27 touchdowns, and just five interceptions. He has also rushed for 285 yards and another eight touchdowns.
The leaders in the ground game include Christian Beal-Smith (533 yards, seven touchdowns), Justice Ellison (421 yards, four touchdowns), and Christian Turner (334 yards, three touchdowns).
Through the air, Hartman consistently looks for wide receivers Jaquari Roberson (848 yards, eight touchdowns) and A.T. Perry (845 yards, ten touchdowns).
Taking NC State To Pull Off Upset On The Road
On the surface, this is a case of one of the nation’s best offenses (Wake Forest) against one of the best defenses (NC State). For instance, to this point, Wake Forest has exceeded 35 points in every game this season while NC State has not given up more than 31 points.
The difference-maker could be NC State’s offense. They have had some success this season, and for as good as Wake Forest’s offense might be, their defense has been atrocious.
There will still be a heavy burden on NC State to stop Wake Forest’s attack, but if they can even pick up a few key stops, NC State’s offense might be able to do the rest.
Coming off of a huge loss last week, it is possible that Wake Forest comes out extra motivated, but there is still a lot of value in NC State on the road.
Take the Wolfpack to win.
