NC State vs. Clemson Expert Pick and Prediction – September 21, 2024

NC STATE VS. CLEMSON EXPERT PICK AND PREDICTION – September 21, 2024 — What do Clemson and N.C. State have in common? Both got absolutely embarrassed by SEC opponents, ruining any chance for the ACC to grab some legitimacy this season. While the league did play well against the SEC a season ago, it didn’t come close to standing up to the nation’s best conference this year. And Clemson and State were part of that, losing to Georgia and Tennessee respectively by a combined 85-13.

But with the playoff expanding to 12, the ACC still gets a seat at the table, which means that this game is a proving ground for both. The winner would establish itself as one of the top teams in the ACC, which would set it up for a first-round bye in the playoff. Granted, that team probably wouldn’t last long, but that would still be something.

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So would a win on the road for State, given that the Wolfpack have basically penciled this game in as an automatic loss whenever they’ve gone to Clemson. In fact, since the ACC expanded for the first time in 2004, the Wolfpack are 0-9 in Clemson and haven’t won here since 2002.

Most years, it hasn’t been all that close. Only one of Clemson’s past five home wins came by one score, and the Tigers have mostly dominated the series for the past two decades. State has won two of the past three, but both of those came in Raleigh. Can they pull this off on the road?

The Odds

Kickoff

When: Saturday, September 21 at Noon EST

Where: Memorial Stadium, Clemson, S.C.

TV: ABC

Public Bets: Unavailable

Public Money: Unavailable

Odds courtesy of DraftKings, as of September 19th, 2024.

NC State vs. Clemson In-Season Trends

Last year, this was the last of Clemson’s four losses in the ACC, which was as many losses as the Tigers had the previous six years combined. And that was an especially galling loss for the Tigers because State did nothing outside of one long passing touchdown in the third quarter. Otherwise, Clemson beat itself with a pair of interceptions that led to State touchdowns.

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The Tigers have covered in five of their past six games overall, with the exception being the Georgia embarrassment. However, covering against State has proven challenging: the Wolfpack have gone 4-5 ATS in their past nine losses to the Tigers.

Weather

This could be a pretty uncomfortable day weather-wise. Temperatures are set to reach around 88 degrees, with high humidity in the forecast.

The Difference-Makers

The win over Louisiana Tech was a step forward for Grayson McCall, who threw interceptions in each of his first two games with the Wolfpack. McCall was a star for Coastal Carolina, but has been a bit less sharp with the football since moving to the higher level of competition. He’s still putting up big yardage numbers; he needs to convert that into points.

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Cade Klubnik could have the same said about him. He’s thrown for five touchdowns against one interception in 2024, and having the same ratio hold up would do wonders for the Tigers.

The Pick

The spread seems high given how Clemson looked against Georgia, but it seems that the win over App State was a return to form for the Tigers. Clemson was in control from the start in that game, and N.C. State hasn’t yet shown that it can handle this level. Even though it’s a lot of points, backing the favorites seem to be the choice.