Vols Will Cover Against Wolfpack

Tennessee vs. North Carolina State, 7:30

We don't have a ton or ranked matchups this week, but we do get a couple to enjoy including this matchup. With College Football just starting there are obviously a lot of games to go and plenty of time for teams to move up and down within the standings. But, today we get two of the top-25 schools going against each other in their second games as the Tennessee Volunteers take on the North Carolina State University Wolfpack.

The Volunteers came into the year with some question marks on the team. Would their quarterback play live up to expectations? Could they match the success from two years ago, or even the strong performance from last year. Two years ago they defeated Clemson in the Orange Bowl, and last year they were able to close out their season with a win over Iowa in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl. That game saw the Volunteers somewhat passing the reigns over as Nico Iamaleava took over the team and won the game with a 35-0 final. Now he is fully in control. In last Saturday's contest, he was under center and played just one half of football. He was able to toss three touchdowns and 314 yards on 22-for-28 passing. Iamaleava has had quite a bit of hype this year as a Heisman finalist and he got off to a great start here with leading the Volunteers winning their opener 69-3. Their running game was effective, the passing game was great, and their defense was stingy. However, the Wolfpack will present a greater challenge than Chattanooga did last week. In this one, Iamaleava will have a tougher time, and the running game will probably need to be featured a bit more.

Aug 29, 2024; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina State Wolfpack quarterback Grayson McCall (2) prepares to throw the football during the second half of the game against Western Carolina Catamounts at Carter-Finley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jaylynn Nash-USA TODAY Sports

North Carolina State came into the season ranked 24th in the nation and continues at that rank after the first week where they took down Western Carolina 38-21. The team was effective both through the air and on the ground with their offense. The quarterback, Grayson McCall, dropped back 40 times and racked up 318 yards and three touchdowns while tossing one interception. It does seem a little bit like McCall was overworked if you ask me, but the result was a good one so maybe they are fine. Jordan Waters rushed 20 times and scored two touchdowns as he chewed up 124 yards. Both of the Waters touchdowns came in the fourth quarter as did one of the passing touchdowns. The biggest question was if the Wolfpack was just struggling for three quarters or if they were just coming together and finally gelling. Either way, it was a bit eye-opening that they struggled against WCU. In this game they will face a much more talented offense. Trying to stop the ground attack and the aerial assault of Iamaleava will prove to be quite the challenge. If McCall built a good rapport with his receivers in the game he can potentially carry that over to this one and attack an average secondary of Tennessee.

I do have some questions on if McCall will have enough time to get the Wolfpack receivers open. The Tennessee front seven is very talented and one of the best in the country and will continue to bring pressure. Tennessee will notably get a lot of attention for the passing game, but North Carolina State was able to be exploited on the ground last week. Tennessee has a strong running game and can capitalize on this edge in the game. I'm going to back Tennessee in this one to cover the -9 in this one.

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