NC State is favored over Louisiana Tech in the season opener Saturday at 12:30. Both teams open under first-year head coaches as Dave Doeren makes his NC State debut and Skip Holtz, former ECU coach, takes the reins at Louisiana Tech.
Saturday, August 31
Louisiana Tech (0-0, 0-0 C-USA)
at NC State (0-0, 0-0 ACC)
12:30 p.m.; ACC Network
Carter-Finley Stadium (57,583)
The Series: First meeting
The Coaches:
Skip Holtz: 0-0 (1st year) at Louisiana Tech; 88-71 (14th year) overall
Dave Doeren: 0-0 (1st year) at NC State; 23-4 (3rd year) overall
Last week: Season opener for both teams
Of note: Both teams open under first-year head coaches as Dave Doeren makes his NC State debut and Skip Holtz takes the reins at Louisiana Tech … Doeren comes to the Wolfpack after guiding Northern Illinois to 23 wins in 27 games during his two years at the school … Holtz, the son of former NC State head coach Lou Holtz, comes to Louisiana Tech following head coaching stops at Connecticut, East Carolina and South Florida, and will guide Louisiana Tech into its first year of Conference USA play … Holtz led East Carolina to back-to-back C-USA titles in 2008 and 2009
…
Doeren welcomes back 12 starters (5 offense, 5 defense and 2 specialists) from last season’s team that finished 7-6 and earned a spot in the Music City Bowl … The Louisiana Tech game launches a season-opening stretch of four straight home games for the Wolfpack … Louisiana Tech is 3-9-1 all-time against current ACC schools and won at Virginia, 44-38 last season, in its last contest against a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference … The Bulldogs
finished 9-3 in 2012 under head coach Sonny Dykes, who left to take the head coaching job at California.
Ones to watch: Louisiana Tech RB Kenneth Dixon set NCAA freshman records last season with rushing touchdowns (27), total touchdowns (28) and total points scored (168). All three of those records were held by Marshall Faulk before Dixon broke them … Junior WR Bryan Underwood is tied for 11th in NC State school history with 12 touchdown receptions after grabbing 10 last season, including at least one in each of the Wolfpack’s first eight games.
Next week: Lamar at Louisiana Tech; Richmond at NC State.