NC State Wolfpack 2026 College Football Preview
Posted July 13, 2026
2025 Recap
Record – 8-5
ATS – 7-6
The Pack won their first three games of the season, and we would find out later in the year that all three of their victims were pretty good (East Carolina, Virginia, Wake Forest). And then the season then took a heinous detour to TURD TOWN as they fell apart, losing four of their next five games and ending any chance that they could be a surprise player in the wide-open ACC. We give them a lot of credit for continuing to fight as they won their final three games, including a blowout win over Memphis in the Gasparilla Bowl.
NC State Wolfpack 2026 Outlook
OFFENSE
2025 By The Numbers (ACC):
- Scoring: 30.2 PPG (#8)
- Total Offense: 391.2 YPG (#9)
- Rushing: 145.5 YPG (#8)
- Passing: 245.7 YPG (#10)
- Sacks Allowed: 24 (#9)
The offense wasn’t elite by any stretch of the imagination last season, but they were productive enough, scoring 24+ points in 9/13 games. The only two games where they really struggled were understandable, vs Miami and Notre Dame.
The Pack have one of the best signal callers in the ACC in CJ Bailey who’s coming off a 3,000-yard season, and he’s a mobile specimen as well (494, 11 rush TD last two years). Bailey was a more efficient passer in his sophomore campaign and there’s reason to believe he can be even better in 2026.
The RB room looks solid with the return of Jayden Scott (5-10, 215) who moves into the role of RB1 after a strong 2025 season (581, 5.5, 4 TD), and the addition of UNC transfer Davion Gause (5-11, 220) who’s also a load to bring down. The WR/TE corps need to be almost completely rebuilt, and the transfer portal specimens added to the mix look promising, but it’s unlikely they have a true game-changer in their midst. Two guys that should put up good numbers are Buffalo transfer Victor Snow (815, 8 TD) who really impressed us in his years with the Bulls, and JoJo Trader (Miami) who has the speed to stretch the defense. WR Keenan Jackson (6-3, 202) is back (281, 2 TD) and he provides an element of size to the unit.
The offensive line should be okay as they’ve got over 60 career starts in the group and talented players at center in rising star SPIKE Howells, and left tackle Jimarion McCrimon who rolls into town off an excellent campaign at East Carolina.
DEFENSE
2025 By The Numbers (ACC):
- Scoring: 27.2 PPG (#11)
- Total Defense: 411.9 YPG (#14)
- Rushing Defense: 138.8 YPG (#11)
- Passing Defense: 273.2 YPG (#14)
- Sacks: 20 (#14)
After fielding excellent top units from 2021 thru 2023, the last two seasons have been a major disappointment. They really didn’t do much of anything well last year, and things have to improve on this side of the football if the Pack want to take a step forward in the ACC pecking order.
The defensive line could be a problem area, and that’s not a great place to have issues. The entire starting group needs to be replaced, and while they don’t appear to have any terrifying PENETRATORS up front, they do have quite a bit of GIRTH on the inside. NT KaTron Evans (6-3, 336) cannot be moved without the help of heavy machinery, and DT Isaiah Shirley has potential to be a star on the interior.
NC State made a nice free agent acquisition of LB Harvey Dyson (Tulane) who had 8 sacks with the Green Wave last season. He’ll be counted upon to bring the heat whilst the big boys up front take on multiple blockers. It’s a killer to lose tackling-machine Caden Fordham in the middle (143 tackles!, 10 TFL), but the Pack added a few talented transfers in DaKaari Nelson (Penn State) and POPO Aguirre (Miami) who should rack up a lot of tackles, so things look okay in the middle layer.
Pass defense was an afterthought last year, but things are looking up with the addition of safety King Mack from Penn State, whom our NC State INSIDERS absolutely love, as well as former Georgia Bulldogs CB Ondre Evans who has the potential to be an All-Conference performer.
SPECIAL TEAMS
The Wolfpack were a mess on special teams last season, as evidenced by their #120 position in the Phil Steele special teams rankings. They were a brutal 6/9 on FG attempts in 2025 thanks to an unsettled PK situation, so that must get sorted out at a minimum. A full season from PK Kanoah Vinesett (5/6 FG LY) will probably help.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – WHOA, NELLIE.
The non-conference schedule has two automatic wins, and who’s to say they can’t SHOCK THE WORLD when they travel to face Vanderbilt sans Diego Pavia? The ACC schedule couldn’t have worked out any better as they avoid YOUR Miami Hurricanes, SMU, Clemson, and Pitt. That’s actually hilarious. You could also argue that their two toughest conference games are at home (Lua-Vuh, Duke).
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – at North Carolina (Nov 28)
This is the regular season finale against their hated rival, who’ll be at home looking to break a five-game losing streak in the series. The Pack will almost certainly be laying points, it’ll be their second consecutive week on the road, and imagine the pressure on NC State if they need to win for a spot in the ACC title game? Not likely, but just a thought.
Season Win Total
Market consensus – July 13
Over 7.5 +120
Under 7.5 -150
MEGALOCKS says:
No leanage.
We’re not in love with the roster, outside of the quarterback position, but JEEPERS that schedule is very favorable. If you can find a flat 7, we’d recommend a play on the over, but we haven’t found one out there yet.
Note – Our official list of season win total investments will be posted in the blog section of the website.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
The nickname “Wolfpack” first appeared in 1921 after an anonymous alumnus’s letter suggested the moniker for the football team. A more popular legend claims a newspaper complaint from a woman named KAREN stated that the players (or fans) behaved “as unruly as a pack of wolves.” The name stuck for football right away, but it didn’t become the official nickname for all NC State athletic teams until 1947.
NC State is a very impressive 52-16 (.765) at home over the last ten seasons, but a mediocre 25-34 (.424) away from Carter-Finley Stadium.
MEGALOCKS Forecast:
The Wolfpack have been a very consistent operation for a long time under Dave Doeren, but they’re still having a tough time making that final breakthrough. NC State has one of the best quarterbacks in the ACC, but it’s not clear whether he’ll have enough help to win the shootouts that are sure to come. The defense might be a bit better, but it’s not going to provide much resistance to the better offenses in the conference.
This looks like an average ACC team in terms of overall talent, but they’ve got the kind of schedule that dreams are made of. That said, we’ll call for an eight-win season and think they’ll fall short of playing for all the marbles in early December.
Go Pack!