North Carolina State Wolfpack vs. Clemson Tigers Complete Game Preview

Last Saturday’s 50-35 win over North Carolina was a great opportunity for the Clemson Tigers to get things back on track, but they must now turn the page to another conference foe.

The North Carolina State Wolfpack roll into Clemson's Death Valley this Saturday without a notable win but plenty of momentum.

Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher is probably still having bad dreams after the Wolfpack gave the No. 1 Seminoles a good scare on Saturday. N.C. State jumped up 24-7 after one quarter, but the Seminoles were able to pull out the victory with 28 points in the second half.

Putting points on the board was the least of the Tigers’ worries against the Tar Heels, but this next matchup will be a chance for the defense to redeem itself, after giving up 478 yards of total offense to North Carolina.

N.C. State's Keys to Victory

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Get Jacoby Brissett out of the Pocket

The Tigers have one of the best defensive lines in the country, so they are a team that has a great ability to pressure the quarterback. If Brissett is able to scramble away from the blitz, it could open up opportunities to throw the ball downfield.

Pressure Deshaun Watson

Watson proved against North Carolina—with 435 yards and six touchdowns—that he can find open seams down the field if he has time to throw. The Wolfpack will not win this game if they give Watson a ton of time to throw. Getting pressure on him could force turnovers, and even though blitzing may not work, it’s their best option against the young quarterback.

Stop Clemson’s Run Game

The Wolfpack staff may want to take a look at North Carolina’s film from last week because of the success the Tar Heels had against Clemson’s ground game. While the focus on the running backs opened up things for Watson through the air, the Tar Heels were able to keep the Tigers out of rhythm at times because of their effectiveness at stopping the run.

The Wolfpack can force some three-and-outs early in this game if they limit Clemson's running game and force the Tigers into obvious passing situations.

Clemson's Keys to Victory

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Contain Jacoby Brissett

Brissett is a quarterback that can extend plays with his legs and Clemson will need to do a good job Saturday of keeping him in the pocket. He was able to break off a 36-yard run versus Florida State in the last game, and often kept plays alive with his ability to scramble away from pressure.

Get a Running Game Established

Even with the big game through the air, the Tigers did not ever get anything going on the ground against North Carolina. Clemson only totaled 92 yards rushing on 44 attempts in the win Saturday, which comes out to 2.1 yards per rush.

NC State’s defense—which is giving up an average of 26.0 points per game—is better than the unit Clemson saw this past Saturday. Finding that balance offensively will be big in this game, but also for the rest of the season.

Don’t Be Conservative with Deshaun Watson

Watson’s performance Saturday was one for the record books, and offensive coordinator Chad Morris needs to stay aggressive with the young quarterback. Morris let Watson take a ton of shots down the field versus the Tar Heels, and the true freshman made the North Carolina secondary pay.

N.C. State Players to Watch

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Jacoby Brissett

Brissett is coming off a performance in which he absolutely carved up the Florida State defense. He finished 32-of-48 passing in that game and added 359 yards passing and three touchdowns.

The former Florida Gators quarterback is the X-factor for the Wolfpack and his ability to scramble could lead to a big day offensively.

Bo Hines

Hines is also coming off a big game against top-ranked Florida State. He caught eight passes for 103 yards and a touchdown, and he has become the most reliable target for Brissett.

Clemson Players to Watch

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Deshaun Watson

After the big performance in his first start, it will be interesting to see how the true freshman responds to all of the national attention.

The media hype didn’t seem to affect him after the Florida State game, but I am interested to see how he responds this Saturday.

C.J. Davidson

The Tigers need someone to step up and get consistent yards on the ground. Adam Choice and Wayne Gallman carried the ball only a combined four times against North Carolina, and D.J. Howard averaged only 2.4 yards per carry, so Davidson is the guy that needs to break out.

This spot could be reserved for any of the Clemson running backs, but I chose Davidson because he leads the Tigers in rushing attempts so far this season.

Mackensie Alexander/Garry Peters

Brissett has the ability to extend plays, which in turn, gives his receivers chances to make big plays down the field. If Brissett is able to evade the pass rush and get one-on-one opportunities for his receivers, these two cornerbacks become even more important for the Tigers.

What They're Saying

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Clemson

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, on the Wolfpack

Per David Hood of TigerNet.com, Swinney said, “Got a difficult task ahead of us in N.C. State. The quarterback who has come in there is a really good player. And they’re playing very well in their lines.”

Swinney, on his team's offensive philosophy against the Wolfpack

Per Hood, Swinney said, “At the end of the day it’s us taking what’s there. We can’t be stubborn. Hopefully we can become more balanced but we have to react each week.”

N.C. State

North Carolina State head coach Dave Doeren, on the Clemson game from last season

Per Matt Carter of TheWolfpacker.com, Doeren recounted what went right and wrong in his team's loss to the Tigers in 2013:

"

Offensively we did a lot of things formation-wise to give them problems. We didn't do get enough points to win. Obviously there were some big plays that didn't go our way...

...We were aggressive on defense in that game. We had a lot of tackles in the backfield in that game. We forced turnovers in that game. We had an injury to [cornerback Juston] Burris that hurt us in the second half, and they started throwing the ball over our head at corner when we moved Dontae [Johnson] inside. That one receiver was jumping over everybody.

"

Predicted Outcome

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Clemson has too much offensively to lose this matchup at home. With the momentum from last week, expect the Tigers to keep the scorekeeper busy once again.

Also, how will N.C. State perform after the heartbreaking loss in the upset bid of Florida State? Brissett is a dangerous player, and the Wolfpack will be able to score but I’m not sure that their defense can keep up with Watson and company.

Clemson still has a lot to play for this season, and it was evident last week that this group is still hungry to prove itself. N.C. State appears to be a totally different team from last season, but at home, Clemson gets the win.

Prediction: Clemson 44, N.C. State 21