Western Carolina vs NC State Prediction College Football Picks 8/29/24

The Western Carolina Catamounts and the NC State Wolfpack meet in week 1 college football action from Carter-Finley Stadium on Thursday night. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Western Carolina vs. NC State prediction.

Western Carolina Team Recap

The Western Carolina Catamounts come into the 2024 season looking to take another step forward after a decent 2023 campaign, finishing the year with a 7-4 record for their second straight winning season, however, it was not enough to make the FCS Playoffs to end their 40-year postseason drought.

Cole Gonzales is back after putting up some of the best QB numbers in the FCS last season and ending the season as the SoCon offensive player of the year, throwing for 2,803 yards, 28 TDs and 8 INTs. Branson Adams is back at the lead running back spot to fill in for Desmond Reid who transferred to Pitt, but Adams rushed for 539 yards and 3 touchdowns last year.

The Catamounts have to replace their top two receivers from last year, but AJ Colombo returns after finishing with 31 grabs for 438 yards and Calvin Jones had 27 catches for 348 yards. On defense, Lee Campbell and CJ Williams are the top returning tacklers for the Catamounts, while Antoine Williams and Hayward McQueen Jr. will be expected to anchor the linebacking group. The defensive line is expected to be WCU’s strength with five returning D-linemen that saw a lot of action last season.

Why the Western Carolina Catamounts will win

• NC State has failed to cover the spread in six of its last seven games against non-conference opponents.

NC State Wolfpack Recap

The NC State Wolfpack come into the 2024 season hoping to finally break into a double-digit win season after finishing 2023 with a record of 9-4 including 6-2 in ACC conference play. The season ended with a loss to Kansas State in the Pop Tarts Bowl, but the Wolfpack picked up their 4th 9-win season under Dave Doeren and their 9th winning season in 11 years with Doeren at the helm.

The Wolfpack have had a steady lineage of quarterbacks in recent years and this season is no different with Grayson McCall transferring in from Coastal Carolina to take over under center. Jordan Waters transfers in from Duke to lead the Wolfpack’s backfield after rushing for just under 1,400 yards and 20 touchdowns in the last two years with the Blue Devils. Kevin Concepcion returns after leading the NC State receiving group with 71 receptions and 10 touchdowns while Justin Joly should pack a punch after transferring in following a solid season at UConn and Dacari Collins returns as a huge deep threat for NC State.

On defense, Davin Vann and Travail Price will be expected to wreak havoc up front while Caden Fordham will have the huge task of replacing Payton Wilson and Jaylon Scott at linebacker. In the secondary, Aydan White is one of the best cornerbacks in the conference while Ja’Had Carter transfers in from Ohio State to take over at safety.

Why the NC State Wolfpack will win

• NC State has won 25 of its last 26 games against non-conference opponents at Carter-Finley Stadium.
• NC State has covered the spread in each of its last four games at Carter-Finley Stadium.

Western Carolina vs. NC State Prediction

I’m going to lay it with NC State here. There’s the concern backing NC State that they could get caught looking ahead to Tennessee next week, but I don’t think the Wolfpack let that slip here. This could be one of the better NC State teams that Doeren’s had in Raleigh in some time, and with an experienced QB like McCall I expect it to be all systems go from the opening kick.

Western Carolina has a lot of continuation throughout their lineup, but there’s been a lot of times where they struggled in the games against FBS teams like losing 56-13 to Arkansas last year. I think this is a big win spot for the Wolfpack so give me NC State.