NC State football will end its season in Florida. The Wolfpack will face Texas A&M in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida Dec. 31 at 7:30 p.m.
Following a 9-3 regular season, NC State heads to its fifth straight bowl (and fifth overall) under head coach Dave Doeren. The Wolfpack is 3-1 in bowls under its current head coach, with wins over Central Florida in the Bitcoin Bowl (2014), Vanderbilt in the Independence Bowl (2016) and Arizona State in the Sun Bowl (2017) and a loss to Mississippi State in the Belk Bowl (2015).
“We are excited for the chance to play in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl,” Doeren said in an official statement from NC State Athletics. “Playing in a quality bowl with such a rich tradition is a great reward for our players. Florida is a big focus for us in recruiting and we have a strong alumni base in the state. I know that Wolfpack Nation – the greatest fan base in the country – will come to Jacksonville and support us.”
For the second season in a row, NC State improved its regular-season win total and will head to a Tier I bowl game, as the program continues to grow under Doeren.
“There’s so many statistics,” NC State athletics director Debbie Yow said on the Gator Bowl’s official conference call. “The number of student athletes this year on the All-ACC teams, just as an example. The number of wins between last year and this year combined. In a number of the years since Dave has joined us, which has been six, we’ve played Clemson very tough a number of times, as tough as anybody in the country. Recruiting’s going extremely well; it continues to under his staff and his leadership. … I’m pleased Dave’s our head coach and I’m really glad I hired him six years ago.”
This is the first all-time meeting between the Wolfpack (9-3) and Aggies (8-4), though Doeren and his squad should be well familiar with Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher, who previously spent eight years as the bench boss at ACC rival Florida State, and defensive coordinator Mike Elko, who spent three seasons at Wake Forest.
“They know us too, so I wouldn’t say it’s an advantage,” Doeren said on conference call. “You’re not starting from ground zero on either side here. We competed against each other when Mike was at Wake and obviously Jimbo at Florida State. Our staff hasn’t changed. So I think it’s going to be, probably both us, looking at what we do different than we used to and who the players are doing it matchup wise.”
In Fisher’s first year at the helm, the Aggies finished second to Alabama in the SEC West division with a 5-3 conference record. NC State is 1-2 against SEC teams under Doeren, with the bowl win over Vanderbilt, bowl loss to Miss. State and an regular season loss to South Carolina last year.
“As always, [Fisher] runs a great offense,” Doeren said. “I know his offensive coordinator, Mike Elko, very well and respect him a ton. Just watching his guys play hard, they’re tough. They’re going to have great schemes. They play against great competition week in and week out. Obviously Jimbo and Mike are familiar with us schematically. … Very excited to be in the Gator bowl and to be coaching against a great staff and a great university.”
One major talking point as the game approaches will be if graduate quarterback Ryan Finley and junior receiver Kelvin Harmon, both of whom are projected to be picked in the first two rounds of the 2019 NFL draft, will play in the game. Last season, defensive end Bradley Chubb, who was picked fifth in the 2019 draft, sat out the sun bowl. Finley did say after NC State’s last game that he plans on playing in the bowl game.
Doeren said after Saturday’s regular-season finale victory over East Carolina that he felt the Wolfpack “deserves to go to a great bowl game”. He feels that they’re getting that.
“I absolutely feel like we’re in an elite bowl,” Doeren said. “I had a lot of conversations with different people through the week and we’re excited to be in the Gator Bowl. It’s one of the ones we were all hoping we’d get. I’m very appreciative that they chose us to be in it. … I know our team is excited. We know the state of Florida is important for us in recruiting and we have a ton of alumni that are in the area or are in driveable distance to Jacksonville.
“And then playing an SEC team, year in and year out, the top two conferences in college football for NFL products come out of the SEC and ACC. We recruit against each other head to head and it’s a great opportunity to compete against not only a great conference but one of the best coaches in the country in Jimbo.”
