NC State Stays Home To Take On Georgia State

After opening the season at Carter Finley Stadium NC State will remain at home for the second straight week as they host Georgia State.

NC State who is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference comes into the game with a record of 1-0 "according to https://gopack.com/schedule.aspx?path=football while Georgia State who is a member of the Sun Belt Conference comes into the game also with a record of 1-0. "according to http://www.georgiastatesports.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPID=5671&SPSID=53628

As for NC State's season opener they beat  James Madison University. 

Holding a 17-13 lead late in the fourth quarter, NC State took the ball 84 yards and took 5:50 off the clock to get an insurance touchdown, which led to a 24-13 win over visiting James Madison to open the 2018 season. "according to https://gopack.com/news/2018/9/1/football-wolfpack-grinds-out-24-13-season-opening-win.aspx
 
The game's scoring started with a JMU Ben DiNucci to Riley Stapleton 5-yard pass late in the first quarter. "according to https://gopack.com/news/2018/9/1/football-wolfpack-grinds-out-24-13-season-opening-win.aspx
 
The Wolfpack responded with 17 unanswered points to take a 17-7 lead into the half. PK Christopher Dunn converted a 25-yard field goal, then Ryan Finley hit back-to-back TD passes to Thayer Thomas (16 yards) and C. J. Riley (14 yards). "according to https://gopack.com/news/2018/9/1/football-wolfpack-grinds-out-24-13-season-opening-win.aspx
 
A JMU 19-yard field goal was the lone score in the third quarter, making it 17-10. "according to https://gopack.com/news/2018/9/1/football-wolfpack-grinds-out-24-13-season-opening-win.aspx
 
The Dukes, back-to-back FCS title game participants, tacked on a second field goal and got within 17-13 with just over six minutes left. "according to https://gopack.com/news/2018/9/1/football-wolfpack-grinds-out-24-13-season-opening-win.aspx
 
With the four-point lead and six minutes to go, NC State added an insurance TD and picked up its 11th straight home, non-conference win dating back to 2013. "according to https://gopack.com/news/2018/9/1/football-wolfpack-grinds-out-24-13-season-opening-win.aspx
 
WOLFPACK SPOTLIGHT DRIVE – 1st half
5 plays, 38 yards in 1:29 – Finley to Thomas 16-yd TD "according to https://gopack.com/news/2018/9/1/football-wolfpack-grinds-out-24-13-season-opening-win.aspx
 
NC State scored its first TD of the season and got its first lead of the game with 9:39 left in the contest, as Ryan Finley found Thomas Thayer for a 16-yard TD. After Thomas returned a punt 40 yards to the JMU 38-yard line, the Pack went five plays for the score. "according to https://gopack.com/news/2018/9/1/football-wolfpack-grinds-out-24-13-season-opening-win.aspx
 
WOLFPACK SPOTLIGHT DRIVE – 2nd half
11 plays, 84 yards in 5:50 – Gallaspy 6-yard TD run "according to https://gopack.com/news/2018/9/1/football-wolfpack-grinds-out-24-13-season-opening-win.aspx
 
JMU closed the gap to 17-13 with just over six minutes left in the game. NC State proceeded to burn 5:50 off the clock, going 84 yards in 11 plays, capped by a Reggie Gallaspy Jr.  six-yard touchdown run. "according to https://gopack.com/news/2018/9/1/football-wolfpack-grinds-out-24-13-season-opening-win.aspx
 
STAT LEADERS
• QB Ryan Finley
29-of-43 for 309 yards and 2 TDs
 
• WR Jakobi Meyers
14 catches for 161 yards
 
• RB Reggie Gallaspy Jr. 
17 rushes for 68 yards and 1 TD
 
• LB Germaine Pratt
12 tackles, 6 solo

"according to https://gopack.com/news/2018/9/1/football-wolfpack-grinds-out-24-13-season-opening-win.aspx
 
NOTABLES
• There were nine NC State players that made their first career start today, six of whom were playing in their first career game at NC State. "according to https://gopack.com/news/2018/9/1/football-wolfpack-grinds-out-24-13-season-opening-win.aspx
 
On offense: Damien Darden (1st game) Emecka Emezie
On defense: Eurndraus Bryant Larrell Murchison (1st game), James Smith -Williams , Isaiah Williams (1st game), Tanner Ingle (1st game), Kishawn Miller (1st game)
On special teams: Christopher Dunn (1st game) "according to https://gopack.com/news/2018/9/1/football-wolfpack-grinds-out-24-13-season-opening-win.aspx
 
• NC State's first field goal and the first touchdown of the season came on a pair of first touches. PK Christopher Dunn's first career field goal was from 25 yards out to start the scoring, and WR Thomas Thayer's first career catch went for a 16-yard touchdown. Thomas did return a punt for 40 yards prior to his TD, but that was his first offensive touch. "according to https://gopack.com/news/2018/9/1/football-wolfpack-grinds-out-24-13-season-opening-win.aspx
 
• WR Jakobi Meyers set new career-highs with 14 catches and 161 yards receiving. The 161 yards receiving are the most ever for a Wolfpack player in a season opening contest. "according to https://gopack.com/news/2018/9/1/football-wolfpack-grinds-out-24-13-season-opening-win.aspx
 
• WR C.J. Riley's second quarter touchdown was the first of his career. "according to https://gopack.com/news/2018/9/1/football-wolfpack-grinds-out-24-13-season-opening-win.aspx
 
• QB Ryan Finley finished with over 300 yards (309) for the 11th time in his career, and the second straight season opener. "according to https://gopack.com/news/2018/9/1/football-wolfpack-grinds-out-24-13-season-opening-win.aspx

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM
"We're excited to be 1-0, and thanks to our fans, students, band and everyone that endured the heat. It was a hot one out there. A lot of our players are getting IVs right now and I'm hoping a bunch of fans come out of here without any heat issues. Thank you for doing that, to those that stayed all four quarters that's unbelievable and we appreciate it." "according to https://gopack.com/news/2018/9/1/football-wolfpack-grinds-out-24-13-season-opening-win.aspx
 
"As far as the game goes, James Madison is a good football team. We knew they would be. Our red zone defense was exceptional. They found a way to stop them. I thought our stamina in the fourth quarter with the drive we put together at the end on offense was critical. Jacobi Meyers had an incredible game and Ryan (Finley) had a 300-yard passing game. I thought Reggie (Gallaspy) ran hard but I didn't think our run game was as good as it will be in time. We're missing some parts right now, particularly at tight end." - NC State head coach Dave Doeren. "according to https://gopack.com/news/2018/9/1/football-wolfpack-grinds-out-24-13-season-opening-win.aspx

As for Georgia State's season opener, they edged Kennesaw State. 

- Georgia State kicked off the 2018 season in dramatic fashion, defeating Kennesaw State 24-20 on Dan Ellington's 8-yard touchdown pass to Diondre Champaigne with 41 seconds left in front of 23,088 fans Thursday night at “Pete” Petit Field at Georgia State Stadium. "according to http://www.georgiastatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12700&ATCLID=211770062

“I looked up there with two minutes to go and there were a lot of people that left that stadium and missed on heck of a finish," GSU head coach Shawn Elliott said. "Going into this contest I knew it’d be a fight, I knew it’d be everything it was. I knew it was going to be a dog fight. "according to http://www.georgiastatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12700&ATCLID=211770062

“All I know is we stand here 1-0, and that’s a lot better than where we were a year ago.” "according to http://www.georgiastatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12700&ATCLID=211770062

Ellington, the junior college transfer playing his first game for the Panthers, hit on 20-for-28 passes for 187 yards and three touchdowns while also running for 77 yards on 18 attempts. Christian Owens had six catches for 70 yards and a touchdown and Penny Hart  caught five for 46 yards and a score. "according to http://www.georgiastatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12700&ATCLID=211770062

The Panthers (1-0) rallied from a 14-0 first-half deficit with two touchdowns in the final minute of the first half and then had to rally again in the fourth quarter after falling behind 20-14. "according to http://www.georgiastatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12700&ATCLID=211770062

The GSU defense set up the winning touchdown with a fourth-down stop that gave the Panthers the ball at their own 27 with 2:01 left. "according to http://www.georgiastatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12700&ATCLID=211770062

Ellington hit Hart twice to start the drive before hitting Owens for an 18-yard pass up the right sideline and down to the KSU 21. After a short run by Ellington, he found Champaigne, another junior college transfer, on a fade to the back corner of the end zone for the winning score. "according to http://www.georgiastatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12700&ATCLID=211770062

"We worked that drill so much," Ellington said of the final play. "As a matter of fact we worked that drill Tuesday.And I saw it was straight man, and they pushed everyone over to Penny and I knew it would be open. So I decided to give [Champaigne] a chance and see if he could make a play and he made that play." "according to http://www.georgiastatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12700&ATCLID=211770062

Kennesaw State (0-1) jumped a 14-0 lead before the Panthers got on the scoreboard. After forcing a punt down 14-0 late in the second quarter, Ellington hit Hart over the middle for 18 yards to the GSU 46 before finding Owens on the sideline for nine yards and a first down at the KSU 43. On second down, Ellington just barely avoided a sack before breaking a 19-yard run, including a nifty spin move, giving the Panthers a first down at the KSU 20.  "according to http://www.georgiastatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12700&ATCLID=211770062

On second-and-goal at the three, Hart took a shovel pass from Ellington on a jet sweep and raced around the right end for a touchdown, cutting the KSU lead to 14-7 with just 50 seconds remaining in the half. "according to http://www.georgiastatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12700&ATCLID=211770062

For Hart, the Preseason All-American, he pulled in career touchdown catch number 19, moving him into sole possession of second place in GSU history. The junior from Roswell, Ga., has caught at least one pass in 28 straight games. "according to http://www.georgiastatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12700&ATCLID=211770062

On KSU’s first play after the touchdown, safety DeAndre Applin picked off Chandler Burks over the middle and returned it to the KSU 37. Ellington completed passes to Owens and Taz Bateman before a pass interference penalty put the ball at the 16. After a short pass over the middle to Bateman, the Panthers faced second-and-goal at the six with just eight seconds left on the clock. Ellington found Owens, the South Carolina transfer, in the corner of the end zone to tie the game at 14 heading into the half. "according to http://www.georgiastatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12700&ATCLID=211770062

The Panthers’ bend-but-don’t-break defense forced just two field goals after consecutive long drives by the Owls to keep the game within reach heading into the fourth quarter trailing 20-14. "according to http://www.georgiastatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12700&ATCLID=211770062

Georgia State pulled to within three after a 35-yard field goal by Brandon Wright, set up by a KSU fumble caused by Terry Thomas and recovered by Jordan Strachan. "according to http://www.georgiastatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12700&ATCLID=211770062

“I can’t say enough about the way our football team finished,” Elliott said. “To have an opportunity to go down there and take the lead and win that football game with that last-second pass, it was really a testament of how they fought and how they never give up.” "according to http://www.georgiastatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12700&ATCLID=211770062

Kick-Off is set for 12:30pm. The game will be televised on the Regional Sports Network. "according to https://gopack.com/schedule.aspx?path=football