College football is finally back on the menu as Thursday brings a handful of games before Saturday’s massive Week 1 slate. At 7 p.m. tonight, the North Carolina State Wolfpack host an in-state rival as they battle the East Carolina Pirates. This rematch of the 2024 Military Bowl sees NC State try and get their revenge for the 26-21 loss they suffered back in December.
Let’s dive into the details with a North Carolina State vs. Eastern Carolina prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook.
North Carolina State vs. Eastern Carolina preview, prediction
North Carolina State
After a 9-4 campaign back in 2023, Dave Doeren’s NC State Wolfpack team finished just 6-7 last year in a disappointing end to their campaign. Now in his 13th season with the program, Doeren surely wants to get things back on track heading into 2025. The good news is that the offense returns a couple of important returners, but there’s some turnover elsewhere on the Wolfpack roster.
Quarterback CJ Bailey enters his second year under center after completing 64.9% of his passes for 2,413 yards and 17 touchdowns last year. The efficiency looked good, but he did toss 10 picks and averaged just 201.1 yards per game. NC State also returns halfback Daylan “Hollywood” Smothers, who racked up 834 scrimmage yards and eight total touchdowns last season. Tight end Justin Joly is also back after hauling in 43 receptions for 661 yards and four touchdowns. However, the offense as a whole didn’t look all that impressive with 27.8 points and 366 yards per game, marks that ranked 56th and 83rd in the nation. They’re a young unit overall, but the hope is that the experience last season and a couple of transfers at offensive line can help these guys grow.
The NC State defense did struggle last year, allowing 30.9 points and 394.3 yards per game. the 98th and 82nd-ranked marks in college football. The Wolfpack added a couple of big transfers on that end in Tra Thomas, AJ Richardson, and former Alabama linebacker Sterling Dixon. Caden Fordham also returns. Overall, they should improve on the defensive side of things, but it’s hard to make a call before seeing the unit take the field.
Eastern Carolina
ECU went just 2-10 in 2023 and then fired head coach Mike Houston in October of 2024 after starting the year 3-4. Blake Harrell took over as interim and led the program to an 8-5 finish, a stunning turnaround given their previous result. In November, he was hired and saw the interim tag removed, and ECU later went on to beat NC State in the Military Bowl. Now in his first full season as the program’s leader, expectations are tentatively high.
The Pirates ended 2024 averaging 31.2 points and 430.7 yards per game, the 33rd and 21st-best marks in the nation. Quarterback Katin Houser returns for his senior season after tossing 18 touchdowns with 2,006 yards in nine games last year. ECU won five of the games he started, but he wasn’t the most efficient with a 60.8% completion percentage and 11 interceptions as well. Still, the experience is valuable. While their leading rusher from last season departed, London Montgomery averaged 5.1 yards per attempt with 359 yards and two touchdowns. The Pirates’ top wideout Anthony Smith racked up 799 yards and six scores last year and comes back, but the team’s next two receivers also departed, so those are some holes to fill.
The other side of the ball had some issues, allowing 29.3 points and 429.8 yards per contest, marks that fell 86th and 110 in the country. However, they did rank 14th in red-zone scoring percentage, so it wasn’t all bad. Still, only one starter comes back in edge rusher Ryheim Craig, who logged 53 tackles with six for a loss. There’s a lot of depth players expected to step up and compete for snaps, but Rasheed Reason and Jonathan Jean join the secondary via the transfer portal.
North Carolina State vs. Eastern Carolina pick
DraftKings Sportsbook lists NC State as 14-point favorites with -575 odds on the Moneyline. ECU comes in as +425 Moneyline underdogs for this contest with the game total set at 61.5 points.
There’s definitely a reason the Wolfpack are such heavy favorites on the Moneyline. While the Pirates experienced a revival during their season last year and emerged with the upper hand in the Military Bowl, they’ve lost a lot of talent on defense and may struggle to replace much of the production that made the offense a threat. While ECU wasn’t exactly stacked last year to begin with, they’re tougher to trust with such turnover on both sides of the ball. In contrast, NC State loaded up some during the offseason and feel positioned to take a step forward with the growth of younger players and addition of transfers. The 14-point spread remains high, but they’re a team you should be able to depend on to cover on Thursday.
