No. 14 Tennessee faces its first true test of the season this Saturday night against No. 24 NC State. Both teams enter the Duke’s Mayo Classic in Charlotte, NC, undefeated, as the Wolfpack defeated Western Carolina 38-21 and Tennessee took down Chattanooga 69-3 in Week 1 action.
Tennessee enters the game as the favorites with a high-powered offense that put up 45 first-half points against the Mocs last weekend. The Vols’ pass defense remains questionable, though, as NC State will look to put up their own numbers with WR Kevin Concepcion and QB Grayson McCall.
Where Tennessee’s secondary may still have some questions, the Vols’ defensive line is as stout as they come. Led by EDGE rusher James Pearce Jr. and veteran linemen Omari Thomas and Bryson Eason, Tennessee boasts some of the best depth in the country in the trenches and will cause problems for opposing quarterbacks this season.
While NC State can score the ball, the question will be whether they can score enough to keep up with what Tennessee looks to be able to do this game. The Vols look to be back to the same overwhelming up-tempo offense that made the 2022 team so dangerous thanks to quarterback Nico Iamaleava and the cast of new and returning weapons around him.
RTI rounded up six Week 2 prediction articles from around the country on the eve of gameday to see what the general feel for the game was. Combined with RTI’s own three staff predictions, none of the 19 picks found predict the Wolfpack to win the game outright. Three do specifically call for NC State to cover a +7.5 spread, but the majority of picks have been in the Vols’ favor.
Based on the score predictions below, there seems to be a common trend that suggests a high-scoring affair. Most predictions have Tennessee scoring more than 30 points, indicating that while NC State’s offense is capable of putting points on the board and the Vols’ secondary is unproven, it will be Tennessee’s offense that is consistently tougher to get off the field throughout the game.
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Here’s a look at the predictions found on Friday:
- Ryan Schumpert – Tennessee 41, NCSU 24
- Jack Foster – Tennessee 41, NCSU 17
- Ric Butler – Tennessee 38, NCSU 24
- Scooby Axson – Tennessee
- Jordan Mendoza – Tennessee
- Paul Myerberg – Tennessee
- Erick Smith – Tennessee
- Eddie Timanus – Tennessee
- Dan Wolken – Tennessee
- Steve Lassan – Tennessee
- Dan Lyons – Tennessee
- Thomas Neumann – Tennessee
- Howie Kussoy – N.C. State (+7.5)
- “The Vols will be an offensive juggernaut, with Josh Heupel making a significant upgrade at quarterback in former five-star recruit Nico Iamaleava. The defense remains unproven, and could be exploited on the road against one of the most accomplished and experienced quarterbacks in the nation, Grayson McCall, plus senior running back Jordan Waters, who has a career average of 5.1 yards per carry.”
- Oliver Hodgkinson – Tennessee 29, NC State 13
- David Kenyon – Tennessee 41, NC State 27
- Zack Carpenter – NC State +7.5
- Steve Marik – Tennessee -7.5
- Tim Verghese – Tennessee -7.5
- Jansen Coburn – NC State +7.5
