Tennessee football will face its first major test of the 2024 season on Sept. 2 when they head to Charlotte to face North Carolina State in a neutral site matchup.
The matchup is starting to look more challenging than it originally did. Coastal Carolina standout quarterback Grayson McCall committed to the Wolfpack on Wednesday for his final collegiate season after entering the transfer portal earlier this month.
McCall, a rising sixth-year senior, is one of the most experienced and decorated quarterbacks in college football entering the 2024 season. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound signal caller was fantastic under former Coastal Carolina coach Jamie Chadwell from 2020 to 2022 for the Chanticleers.
In those three seasons, McCall completed 555-of-788 (70%) of his passes for a combined 8,061 yards, 77 touchdowns and just eight interceptions. McCall was also a factor with his legs in those seasons, totaling 1,054 yards and 17 touchdowns.
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The Indian Trail, North Carolina native totaled at least 3,000 yards and 30 touchdowns in all three seasons.
After Chadwell left for Liberty last offseason, McCall struggled. In his senior season, McCall passed for just 1,919 yards, 10 touchdowns and six interceptions in seven games before suffering a season ending injury. The interceptions numbers are skewed by the four picks he threw in a loss against Georgia Southern.
McCall ranks as the nation’s 14th best transfer quarterback this cycle according to the 247sports transfer rankings.
North Carolina State is coming off a 9-3 (6-2 ACC) season that saw them earn victories over North Carolina, Clemson and Miami while falling to Louisville, Notre Dame and Duke. The Wolfpack finished in third place in the ACC, a game out of playing for the conference championship.
The 18th-ranked Wolfpack cap off their 2023 season against No. 25 Kansas State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl which takes place in Orlando on Dec. 28— four days before Tennessee caps off its season in Orlando against No. 17 Iowa.
One Response
As a UT grad who happens to be a lifelong diehard Wolfpack fanatic first and foremost, I have to say that if Tennessee goes into this game thinking it’s going to be an even remotely easy win, NC State will beat the brakes off of the Vols. The Wolfpack is on fire and in prime position to make a historic run in 2024. Especially now with McCall at QB, and KC Concepcion- the best true freshman WR in the country, along with the #4 ranked transfer portal class thus far. But the real strength of this team is the defense. Nico will have to play the best game of his life (in his second start) or the Pack will eat him for breakfast.