North Carolina State Wolfpack — 2014 Syracuse football scouting report

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NC State head coach Dave Doeren speaks to reporters. Mandatory Photo Credit: AP Photo, Ethan Hyman.
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Doeren still hasn’t won an ACC game yet

Syracuse will try for its second conference win of the season when it hosts NC State on Saturday. Here is a quick look at the game:

PLAYERS DISCIPLINED: When North Carolina State takes the field against Syracuse on Saturday, they will be without defensive tackle T.Y. McGill. The third leading tackler for the Wolfpack will be serving the second of a two-game suspension for an unspecified violation of team rules. According to reports, the suspension has nothing to do with an off-campus BB gun incident that caused coach Dave Doeren to suspend seven players in last week’s loss against Louisville. Those players — Jerod Fernandez, Josh Jones, Johnathan Alston, Justin Jones, Pharoah McKever, Jumichael Ramos and Mike Stevens — will be back in uniform against SU. “These are good young men who made a mistake in not recognizing that this activity could have resulted in someone being injured,” Doeren said in a statement. “Our players admitted their mistake and we will help them learn from it.”

» Related: What we learned from SU’s loss to Clemson

SCOUTING THE WOLFPACK: After sweeping their non-conference schedule, the Wolfpack has dropped four in a row in ACC play. NC State gave then-No. 1 Florida State a scare, leading by 17 points before Jameis Winston and company rallied for a 56-41 win. Since that game, the Wolfpack offense has struggled mightily, starting with a 41-0 drubbing against Clemson. NC State then lost its next two games against Boston College and Louisville. Florida transfer QB Jacoby Brissett has been impressive so far this year, throwing for 1796 yards and 16 touchdowns to just three interceptions, but he lacks the experience in his receiver core. Still, the future is bright with freshman Bo Hines leading the team in receiving (28 receptions for 422 yards). The Wolfpack will also need to jump start its running game, which has averaged just 96.6 yards on the ground in the last three games. That starts with lead back Shadrach Thornton, which has 477 yards and seven touchdowns on the season, and backup Matt Dayes, who has 343 yards and three scores.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING: North Carolina State is 6-1 against Syracuse. The Orange won its first-ever game against the Wolfpack last season, 24-10. Running backs Jerome Smith and Prince-Tyson Gulley led Syracuse with 100+ yard games.

GAME INFORMATION: Saturday, Nov. 1 at 3 p.m. in Syracuse, NY. TV: ESPN3.

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About Wes Cheng 2907 Articles
Wes has worked for Rivals.com covering the New York Knicks, as well as for Scout.com covering Syracuse athletics. Wes has also been a contributing writer for the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), for SportsNet New York (SNY) as a news desk writer covering all of New York professional sports, and reported on the NBA and MLB for the New York Sportscene. A native of Long Island, New York, Wes graduated from Syracuse University in 2005 with a degree in journalism. Contact him at wes[at]sujuiceonline.com.