The Wolfpack is headed to sunny California. Following the end of the college football regular season, the San Diego Bowl Game Association selected the No. 18 NC State (9-3, 6-2 ACC) football team to play UCLA (8-4, 6-3 Pac-12) in the annual Holiday Bowl. The two will square off Dec. 28 at 8 p.m. EST on Fox.
“A lot of my guys have never been that far west, and [this is a] chance to go play against a team that we obviously have not played against since I’ve been here — [a] team with a lot of history behind them in UCLA; I think it’s gonna be a great matchup,” Doeren said.
The bowl offers an opportunity for NC State to achieve a double-digit win season for just the second time in program history. Since its 11-win 2002 campaign, only head coach Dave Doeren has gotten a team in position to reach 10 wins. That year, the 2018 team lost in the Gator Bowl to finish with nine victories.
“The 10th win is very meaningful to this staff, to this team, to our football family,” Doeren said. “It’s a legacy thing. The seniors want to say that they were one of only two teams, in 130+ years of football, that were able to accomplish that. So it’s very meaningful. There’s a lot of other reasons to win the game, but that’s one of the things [when] you talk about the big picture of winning a 10th game.”
The matchup pairs the third best team in the ACC with the fourth best in the Pac-12. The Bruins went 1-3 against the bowl-eligible Power Five teams on its schedule, but ended the year on a hot streak with three wins by a combined 148-67. UCLA’s high-flying run-first offense, led by dual-threat quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, will be a huge test for one of the top defenses in the country led by sophomore linebacker Drake Thomas.
While Chip Kelly’s offense ranked No. 2 in the Pac-12 in scoring, his defense is middling. In the case of its passing defense, NC State has an opportunity to exploit one of the worst units in the Pac-12. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Devin Leary has thrown over 30 times in all but four contests this season, has gone over 300 yards in five of his last six appearances, and has the most passing touchdowns in a single season in NC State history. The offense will likely again rest on his shoulders in San Diego.
“[I] look forward to getting to know them and seeing what their team is all about,” Doeren said. “I know they’ve done a great job this year. And I think they just put up 60 points against their rival. So, great opportunity.”
Bowl season offers a unique opportunity for young players to see the field, and for the team to gain extra practice time. Doeren mentioned freshman linebackers Caden Fordham and Jordan Poole, as well as freshman running back Demie Sumo, first when discussing the second and third stringers the staff is excited to see on the field.
“[There’s] a lot of guys that need to not just get reps, but for us to be able to tell them like, ‘Hey, here’s what we saw. You got from now until spring ball to work on these things,’” Doeren said. “It really does give them kind of a litmus test of what they need to do better in getting ready for spring football.”
With a nine-win regular season campaign in the books and one more to go, the Holiday Bowl will provide the Wolfpack one more opportunity to make its 2021 season a special one. Early betting odds have the Wolfpack as a 2.5-point favorite.
