After taking its first loss of the season, No. 7 Louisville had a bye week and then proceeded to struggle with Duke, only beating the Blue Devils, 24-14. Heisman leader Lamar Jackson had a down game by his standards, with only 325 total yards and two touchdowns. The Louisville offense often looked out of sorts, unable to get any momentum going.
NC State vs. Louisville 2016: Start time, live stream, TV schedule, and 3 things to know
The Cardinals won’t get a break after struggling with Duke.
Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports
Unfortunately for them, they don’t have an opponent this week who will let them lick their wounds and have a nice time as an easy walkover. NC State is not a team that is just going to lay down and take a beating. The Wolfpack made Clemson and Deshaun Watson look just as ugly on the offensive end as Jackson & Co. did against Duke. As big as the Notre Dame win was, Dave Doeren couldn’t get his signature win against a bona fide team when Clemson ended up winning in overtime. It showed what can happen when you muck up a game no matter how good your offense is. That’s the Wolfpack gameplan, and if they can do it again this week things could get wild.
How to watch, stream and listen
TV: Noon E.T., ABC, the announcers are Bob Wischusen, Brock Huard, and Allison Williams.
Radio: NC State, Louisville
Online streaming: WatchESPN.
Spread: Louisville is a 19.5-point favorite at home.
Make friends: Get to SB Nation’s team blog chats for this game at Card Chronicle (for Louisville fans) and Backing The Pack (for NC State fans).
Three big things to know
- Just as we all suspected heading into the season, this game could have quite a bit of bearing on the ACC Atlantic division race. If the Wolfpack can pull this off, there would be three teams in the division with two conference losses behind Clemson (undefeated) and NC State (one conference loss). The Tigers have Florida State next weekend, which is a losable game despite a down Seminoles squad this season. They’d hold a tiebreaker over NC State, but if Clemson stubs its toe in another game coming down the stretch, things will get hairy in the division.
- To beat Louisville, NC State will need to do something it couldn’t last week against Clemson: capitalize on turnovers. Only eight teams have lost more turnovers this season than the Cardinals. Against the Tigers, the Wolfpack had four takeaways, including three straight drives to start the second half, but only produced seven points from it. Louisville will struggle to hold on to the ball if things go according to plan, but can the Wolfpack make them pay?
- The Wolfpack held Clemson to 24 points, but Watson shredded NC State’s top-15 defense through the air. He didn’t do much on the ground, and a similar dual threat will get his crack at the Wolfpack this weekend. Will Jackson regain his run of success this season, or can NC State limit one of the nation’s best players once again?
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