NC State 2009 Football Schedule Released

The NC State 2009 football schedule was released by the ACC today.   For the first time in history the Wolfpack will be playing 8, count them 8, home games.  On top of that the first four football games of the season will be at NC State.  With the 2009 football schedule the Wolfpack will not leave the state of North Carolina until October 17th, when the take on Boston College.  NC State will host UNC in the final game of the season, making the rivalry even more intense.  Tickets are currently on sale for the season, check out gopack.com for further details.  Get ready for Russell Wilson, Nate Irving and my boy Willie Young to rip through ACC competition in 2009.

NC State 2009 Football Schedule

Date	Opponent	Time
Sept. 3	South Carolina	TBA
Sept. 12	Murray State	6 pm
Sept. 19	Gardner Webb	6 pm
Sept. 26	Pittsburgh	TBA
Oct. 3	@ Wake Forest	TBA
Oct. 10	Duke	TBA
Oct. 17	@ Boston College	TBA
Oct. 24	OPEN
Oct. 31	@ Florida State	TBA
Nov. 7	Maryland	TBA
Nov. 14	Clemson	TBA
Nov. 21	@ Virginia Tech	TBA
Nov. 28	North Carolina	TBA

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NC State Loses to Rutgers in PapaJohns.com Bowl

Just as we all thought the injury stricken season was over, it came back to bite us in a 29-23 loss in the PapaJohns.com bowl to Rugters on Monday. With an estimated 9,000 to 10,000 of the total 38,000 fans to be the Wolfpack Faithful, it brought record attendance for the bowl only in it’s third year.

NC State was up 17-6 at halftime, led by starting quarterback Russell Wilson who went 11-23 passing for 186 yards and a score. Late in the first half however Wilson left the game with a strained knee and did not return. The second half didn’t fair so good for second and third string quarterbacks Harrison Beck and Daniel Evans, who threw a combined 5-16 passing, 3 interceptions and one score for a total of 83 yards.

With scoring a mere impossibility with Wilson out, NC State turned to it’s defense to try and hold the 11 point lead. The defense however turned out a disappointing performance and left the game with 0 sacks, 3 quarterback hurries, and a single interception.  With the Wolfpack defense not playing its A game, Rutgers offense came alive and put up 23 points in the second half.  With the loss, NC State fell to 6-7, for its third straight losing season.  The game really showed how much Russell Wilson contributed to the Wolfpack’s success, and why he deserved to be ACC rookie of the year.

Looking forward to next years starters, Willie Young, the Wolfpack’s sack leader, should be back at defensive end. Solid safety Clem Johnson will be a senior and returning next year as well as Javon Walker who will be coming back from injury.   At the quarterback spot look for current starter Russell Wilson and Redshirt Freshmen Mike Glennon to battle it out.

Photo Courtesy of Flickr, maggieandcharles

NC State Wolfpack Accept Papajohn.com Bowl Bid

It’s official the NC State Wolfpack Football team has accepted its invitation to play in the Papajohns.com bowl against Rutgers(7-5).  The bowl will be played at legion field in Birmingham, Alabama on Dec 29th at 2pm (central).  This will mark the 24th all time bowl appearance and 1st for Tom O’Brien as head coach of the Wolfpack.  

Tickets will be sold through www.gopack.com at about $40 and at Stubhub.com. This really is great news for a team that much deserves it.  I don’t know about everyone else, but I ready to show ESPN and the rest of the college football nation what NC State Football is all about.  As far as Rutgers goes all I remember is a North Carolina spanking early in the season to give them one of those five losses.