Report: NC State faces UCLA in 2021 Holiday Bowl

The NC State Wolfpack and UCLA Bruins will face off in the 2021 Holiday Bowl, per Brett McMurphy. The game will take place at Petco Park in San Diego, California. Kickoff is currently scheduled for 10:15 p.m. ET on Tuesday, December 28th. The game will air on FOX and will be available via live stream at FOX Live or on the Bally Sports App on iOS or Google Play.

In a prove-it season for head coach Chip Kelly, UCLA got off to a strong start, toppling the heavily favored LSU in Week 2. A rollercoaster ride subsequently commenced, with the Bruins dropping winnable games against Fresno State and Arizona State before blowing a 14-point lead to Oregon late in October. Those defeats raised the heat on Kelly’s seat a touch, but three straight dominating victories to close the season put the coach on safer ground.

The Wolfpack lost to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 45-42 in mid-November, and that wound up being the difference as NC State came up one game short for the top spot in the ACC Atlantic. The Wolfpack knocked off the Clemson Tigers in their conference opener and closed it out with a stunning home win over the North Carolina Tar Heels when they scored two touchdowns in 26 seconds late in the fourth quarter. NC State has been led by defense as they easily qualified for a bowl game for the seventh time in the last eight seasons.