Rivalries Weekend

Going into the misery with an uninspiring but hopeful matchup against App State in football, Wake forest in mens soccer, and the more exciting prospect of volleyball hosting both UNC and Duke this weekend.

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Host

Logan Brumley

What is In The Den?

"In The Den" with host Logan Brumley covers everything from the NC State Wolfpack's NCAA, intramural and club sports. "In The Den" is a podcast from WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2 at NC State University.

RivlariesWeekend.mp3
Meeting created at: 22nd Sep, 2026 - 3:42 PM

00:00
Logan Brumley
Hello and welcome to what is going to be an especially rough episode of WKNC's official sports podcast in the Den. We're going to address the elephant in the room with the Vanderbilt loss over the weekend. We're also going to be talking about a lot of in state rivals that NC State is going to have against this weekend. Includes Appalachian State for football, Duke and UNC for volleyball as their ACC opener and men's soccer versus Wake Forest. So get your headphones on and let's get straight to it. So ahead 17-0 halftime, NC State threw the game away despite a solid first half in the back and forth third quarter. The game blew past them in just the last few minutes even when it felt like it didn't because I remember like that late interception felt like it was supposed to clinch the game.

01:11
Logan Brumley
I don't really need to reiterate what has been considered the worst loss in college football history. It's definitely top three. I think the keep hearing about the Michigan State Michigan 2015 missed snap as another instance. Dave Doeren has not been fired yet, but he is most definitely on the hot seat now. And there is a good chance that he may find himself fired by season's end. However, I will say that NC State does have a history of general complacency. While they are not a bottom feeding program, they are just fine with suck in as long as they can get a bowl game. And they beat UNC, which for like you know, 20 years ago was probably a big achievement.

02:15
Logan Brumley
But it has been over a decade, almost a decade and a half since Doran's arrival and all we have to show for it is a losing conference record. So, answers need to be coming. We need to see some kind of improvement. I'm just begging for something good. There were some goods in this game. I kind of have a good bad, ugly segment now. Will Wilson, as always, he's been a highway on the team. 49 Rushing yards with a touchdown. I would like to see him have a bigger role in that offense, especially since I've heard the argument that he should have been there at the end. You know Will Wilson would never have let that kind of fumble happen. The secondary was pretty efficient, albeit true freshman, first ever start.

03:09
Logan Brumley
But everybody get two interceptions, four pass breakups, enough pressure to force mistakes and to kind of keep him on his toes. Keenan Jackson is another highlight. He got a hat trick. He's my, I guess offensive MVP of the game with 102 yards and three touchdowns. So he's most definitely going to be the number one guy in this receiving offense. C.J. Bailey did not have a bad game in the air. He had about 67% passing rate, three touchdowns and two turnovers. One of them we know about in only one sec. And also I put in Kanoah Vinesett, made his kicks the bad late gameplay calling. I've heard a lot about how just conservative he's playing even as the lead is starting to slip away as the offense and defense aren't able to do anything.

04:13
Logan Brumley
Let's see, I put that kind of late in the game that the defensive passing game collapsed. What we saw in the first half early second half was really good but then Junior Sherrill and Jared Curtis were able to just form a connection. That really was the driving factor of that turnover. It's just not being able to stop them. The rushing defense, I kind of put this like a maybe they got about 5 yards per rush team wise but their leading rusher was the quarterback with 64 yards because NC State will never ever be able to stop a running quarterback at all whatsoever. It is egregious. Also have the O line not really helping out with the running game.

05:03
Logan Brumley
I have about four tackles for loss, a sack and I don't remember how you do like rushing yards per game but I do not imagine that it was pretty high. See yards per rush was about 4. Not great, not terrible. But I would have liked more and I would have liked I always want more from Duke Scott. I think he's been pretty disappointing so far. I put him in the ugly. Him and Gause have not been great. Duke Scott when he got 50 yards and a touchdown, 33 yards for Gause with 45 in the air. There's just nothing to this rushing offense that is even worth thinking about at this point. Losing Smothers was the worst thing that could happen to NC State in this past year and I wonder I haven't watched a lot of Texas. I wonder how he's doing over there.

06:05
Logan Brumley
Okay, 144 yards, a touchdown. Not great but not terrible. Defensive MVP I put at Jared Sensabaugh with him getting an interception, leading the team in total tackles and I think he got another pass breakup on his own. So overall that's pretty good shout out to him. He was the guy who I thought was going to be good last year. He's the guy I think that's going to be good this year. App State almost had a similar dissatisfying comeback on them, but they were able to beat a bottom feed in UNC Charlotte 26-21. As one of the more receptable group of six conference schools, NC State unfortunately cannot look past them anymore. I mean they've got two ugly losses on their belt. You know, the College football playoff is 100% out the picture now.

07:01
Logan Brumley
It's just, let's just get as many wins as possible and this is a game they could win. But nobody is really having their hopes high. App State, they have one of the better passing offenses in their conference. Their quarterback Malachi Singleton has thrown for almost 900 yards with five touchdowns. And see he doesn't really have much rushing with 13 yards and a touchdown. They have a lot of transfers coming in and they have like this really fresh brand-new receiving core. But all of them have been playing pretty good so far. They have a really great vertical playmaker in Sam Pickett III who has 229 yards and two touchdowns. Darren Fugitt from Lindenwood has 129 yards with a touchdown as their tight end. And another deep threat in crystal often with 123 yards.

08:02
Logan Brumley
It could be a really strong receiver core that two deep threats in the shallow threat with a tight end there's a lot of mouths to feed and I think a very strong receiving core could be a big weakness for NC State because I don't think they've really faced a strong receiving core yet. I think they've only faced a strong receiver, Sherrill. But Vanderbilt's or not, against Candy Virginia they didn't really have like an elite receiver in that game. But it was just the fact that they couldn't really stop that quarterback. I mean this could definitely be a situation where one of those three guys are able to make a connection, are able to burst through and find place. And that could definitely be a huge problem for the Wolf Pack. And I mean I'm not really expecting for NC State to have to worry.

09:05
Logan Brumley
I'm again that's the lower-level competition that makes me feel good. But I still always have this like low little lingering doubt now because of that game. Let me look at this real quick. Their defensive line, they have a lot of good players that have been producing tackles and turnovers. They have. I gotta find it. Caleb Sandstrom and Colton Pheris are two very notable defenders. They both have. Colton Pharis has the team's two passing deflections and interception. Caleb Sandstrom has four sacks. So they have two solid sack producers that NC State's offensive line would have to worry about. I think that their opposing guys have had a pretty decent games though with 60% passing rate. 271 Yards per game. So there could definitely generate pressure but they can't stop yards.

10:17
Logan Brumley
And I think, you know, Keenan Jackson and Crew could have a really great game if this is what we can expect from the passing defense. I mean we'll see how C.J. Bailey handles pressure again, but overall feel pretty optimistic on the passing game. The rushing for Appalachian State isn't that elite. They have one really quality running back with Jaquari Lewis who has 4.8 yards per rush and three touchdowns. They use Singleton a lot on quarterback sneaks, kind of similar to the role that Will Wilson has in our offense. I expect this side of the ball to be shut down just from the experience NC State has shown in rushing defense because I mean again the rushing defense wasn't terrible in that game. They didn't really have any crazy producing receivers.

11:19
Logan Brumley
This Singleton, he doesn't seem like he's going to be getting a lot of yards, but he could be getting a lot of touchdowns which is a big worry because NC State has a really terrible like goal line defensive package especially for rushing and I think that there's definitely going to be one or two third and fourth down opportunities where App State can just run it down the middle be just fine. The rushing defense for App State has been pretty good though. They are second in the conference with about 91 yards per game and they've forced two fumbles in their two FBS games this season. The one good thing I'll say about Duke Scott is that he has not fumbled the ball much and so I don't really expect to see a fumble.

12:12
Logan Brumley
I expect more of a fumble from her quarterback trying to make a play happen. But there's definitely the possibility that again this defensive line for App State's really good. I could see him completely shutting down the rushing game again and we have to rely on the air game and for running quarterbacks in order to get anything really. I mean yeah, Duke Scott, he's not going to eclipse 100 yards. He could maybe get a touchdown. Well, we'll see. I'm confident that NC State should win and might win but I, I, this loss is just going to stick to me forever and trying to see what there's no like real Vegas odds on it yet. From what I see there's a possibility for an upset here and I think it is a one that has the opportunity.

13:17
Logan Brumley
With both of these teams passing games it's just can Singleton out pass Bailey which is a possibility. What else do I have? Also put they have a decent kicker. He has a wonk of 47. He's made all of his kicks so far with the only one he missed being at 50 plus yards. And their punter gets about five of his 11 punts this season inside the 20. So they have a decent punt in game which may or may not be a problem for NC State. I don't think it will. But yeah, I mean I'm kind of a all disorganized right now. I think an upset is going to happen. I can just feel it. I kind of. I'm going to move on from this. I'm going to talk about men's soccer. They lost to SMU.

14:16
Logan Brumley
However they did hold our opponent to 3 shots per game which for a very high flying offense in SMU is a pretty good metric to have only shot for goal given up in the second half though was conceded to be the only goal of the entire game. Defense was not terrible but far from perfect. I do like it though. I think it's been better than what we have been seeing so far. The offense has been terrible. They only got four shots and two shots on goal in the entire game. There's really no one to really highlight in this game. Offensively it's just been a big fat nothing burger and I think that's going to be the offense for this season because SMU does really have that weight of a defense. Well, SMU doesn't have that weight of a defense.

15:11
Logan Brumley
NC State's defense is okay, but the offense is able to generate anything. NC State just gets a lot of fouls. He had 13. SMU's 10. It's just a bad look overall and I think this Wake Forest game is going to be so much rougher but and they need to pull something together. I don't think that this is going to be what brings their season back together but it could be. They're so far one and one and are sitting at six in the conference stand ins. We're going to see what they can do because Wake Forest has been pretty good so far. They're 21 in the conference, 52 and 1 overall. They have some notable wins with a blowout against Duke and winning 3-2 against Virginia. But they have lost to a top 10 team in Akron and lost against Virginia Tech.

16:08
Logan Brumley
Their offense has I'd say about top five in the ACC. They are top five in shots and goal rate with 37%. They get about six shot goals a game and concede about 2.25 of them and 2.5 assists a game which I know I'm throwing a lot of numbers at you. Basically you're able to get a lot of shots in. Now maybe they aren't able to get it through the goal as great, but they're going to be able to create a lot of opportunities. And if this NC State defensive game is a fluke, it is going to cause huge problems for our goalie Terranova. Some notable offensive players they have preseason always ACC middle fielder Jeffrey White with two goals, two assists. But their points leader is Tate Lorenz at three goals, three assists.

16:58
Logan Brumley
And Joel Tobric is another really good goalie or not goalie midfielder at two goals, two assists and only four shots. So he's going to probably get a shot and he's probably going to get a goal in. Everything says that this is going to be a loss to me just because of the fact that this offense is really good for Wake Forest. It's one of the better ones in a while and although they haven't really played anyone like truly crazy yet, and that's not going to be NC State, it's just the fact that they're able to get a lot of shots on goals I think is going to cause huge trouble for NC State. Even the stats are about top five as well. They only given up one goal a game, but they've given up 5.25 shots on goals a game.

17:54
Logan Brumley
If I'm getting the math on that correct, about 12 fouls per game, which isn't great, but it could definitely provide NC State an opportunity to at least win on the foul point. But 74% save rate for goalie Jonah Bednard is really good. He's got about 3.63 saves a game with one goal given up. The game is pretty good. And the only notable defender I have is Daniel Krueger, a former ACC defender of the week. He started every game and he has almost 700 minutes so far. Expect a loss. I'm just hoping it's not a blowout. They're going to be here this weekend. Let's get something good against a really big rival before we head into some of the tougher opponents later in the schedule. All right, and for our final segment, I'm going to talk about volleyball. It's been a while.

18:57
Logan Brumley
I think it's been since, I want to say August since we've last covered them, but they've been good. They're 92 in their out of conference record finishing that up. They won against osu, against NCAA bidder Wofford and all of their mid major opponents. But they have losses to get some pretty quality teams with UCF and number 21 at the time, Indiana, their offense has really been churning with that freshman Britini Silvers having four points per set and 3.7 kills per set which is one of the best in the acc.

19:35
Logan Brumley
As a true freshman, I'm really hoping NC State could keep her because she has been playing really good and when paired with Jordan Smith with 3.3 points and Rebecca Ring coming off the bench at 2.54 points, that's a really efficient offensive rotation and could maybe be one of the best ones in the league. If that struggle against Indiana is nothing more than a fluke, I mean they could definitely pull something together and be a middle of the road ACC team with a lot of good young prospects just to have a really good future and keep people around. That is something that I love to see and they have the best or one of the best assist producers in the nation.

20:26
Logan Brumley
Eva Long, she has about 10 per set I think puts her it's her, it's number one in the entire conference but I do not know if it's like top in the nation. I want to say it is though. NCAA does not have those stats uploaded. Defense has been pretty good as well. Their opponents only hit about 16.5% the shots, only 10 kills per set which is amongst the highest in ACC. I think about top three again. I mean the out of conference opponents have been really easy but I just like it so far. Long again she has been really good with 2.26 digs per set and Maciejewicz has again 3.74. So great duo with producing defense and we have the leader in blocks in the acc, Talia Francom rounding out their amazing starting six with one and a half blocks a game or set.

21:38
Logan Brumley
Sorry. Overall this team is just way better than expected on paper. The offense has been electric, defense has been great. Maybe they could slip in top 25. I feel that's kind of a pipe dream just again quality of competition, but they have two solid teams that they're facing off against this weekend and if they play well against them there's definitely the talks about them reaching to that level of productivity. All right, first up they have Duke I think as their Friday game 8 and 2 record. Some notable wins against made major opponents at their locations with FIU and Butler traveling for those games. But they do have some losses against NCAA bidder Long Island University and a pretty mediocre two way.

22:36
Logan Brumley
They have one of the best offenses in the ACC as well they lead in points, assists, their second kills and third and hidden rate. They have Natalie Morovec and Ashley Ashby, Zubchevich and assisted by Nikki Quinn. They have a lot of good hitters in their start and rotation. Just could be a major threat for NC State. A reputation with a good defense and could be a good checkpoint as to if they truly belong in this league. Yeah I mean they have three players or I guess I should really focus under two players who have played a lot of sets with Zubchevich and Moravec. both have almost five points per set which is just crazy dominant. And Nikki Quinn, she's also one of the best assist producers with 11% as well. Just really good defensively.

23:42
Logan Brumley
That's kind of I think where NC State could have an advantage and it could become a game of just who has the better defense because Duke they have a Pretty high about 2.27 Opponent hit a percentage they give up about where is it 12 kills which is middle of the road and I mean there's definitely going to be the opportunity for NC State to have a better defense and be able to win that way. This is definitely a game I think can go to five sets. It's just a matter of how good is Duke's offense going to be. How good is their defense actually like NC State's defense actually is and it's pretty much the same thing on the other side of like how good is this offense actually is and is Duke's offense even that good or def.

24:36
Logan Brumley
Duke's defense is even that good to begin with. And then for their Sunday matchup they have a number 24 UNC who has a 53 record. They have a three game losing streak against number three Kentucky, Vanderbilt and number one Nebraska because UNC is one of the top dogs in volleyball. They have all of their mid major wins and they're middle of the road in most of the major stats being outside the top 10 in kills and hit percentages. I mean their offense has not been amazing so far this season but again they're a ranked team that can definitely shore it up and have a dominant show in this weekend and be able to get back on track. Their weed in points per set is their two preseason all ACC players in Saffi Hampton and Chelsea Thorpe who have 386 and 312 respectively.

25:45
Logan Brumley
Their assist producer they have two quality assist producers with Zoe Behrent and Sienna Cuza. Although Barent is the one we should focus on. She has about 5.82 NC State wins in that category their defense hasn't been that great either.

26:09
Logan Brumley
They are middle of the road, they give about 21% hits, and their opponent kill rate is second worst in the ACC with 13. So again, if NC State's offense is as good as we believe they are, then this is definitely a win for them again. I mean, UNC's offense is expected to be really good as well. Both of these games are going to be really crazy offensive matchups, and you're definitely going to have to come and check this weekend. Just just see it happen in action. And I think it could definitely go really either way. But that's all I have for you guys today. Have a good day and go pack.

Transcribed by https://fireflies.ai/