N.C. State Wolfpack players take the field before last season’s 42-28 loss to East Carolina at Carter Finley Stadium in Raleigh. That’s the site of a 2018 game against West Virginia.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia and N.C. State have finalized a home-and-home series that means the Mountaineers will make two trips to North Carolina early in the 2018 season.
The news came just 48 hours after West Virginia announced a neutral-site season opener against Tennessee on Sept. 1, 2018, in Charlotte. The first matchup against the Wolfpack is slated for two weeks later on Sept. 15 in Raleigh.
The Mountaineers will host a return game in Morgantown in Sept. 14, 2019.
“I am excited about this series, because it gives our football program and our fans an outstanding home-and-home series with a team from the ACC,” said West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck. “WVU has a lot of alumni living in North Carolina, especially in the triangle region, so it gives our fans a game that is close.”
West Virginia has one vacancy left on its 2018 slate—which figures to be filled with a pay-for-play home game—and two openings for 2019.
QUICK FACTS ON WVU-N.C. STATE
• The schools last met in the 2010 Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla., a 23-7 Wolfpack victory that became Bill Stewart’s final game as WVU head coach.
• The all-time series is split at 5-5, with nine meetings occurring before 1980. Those yesteryear matchups include the 1975 Peach Bowl, won by WVU 13-10, and the ’72 Peach Bowl, which N.C. State won 49-13.
• N.C. State is coached by Dave Doeren, whose first campaign ended at 3-9—tying the Pack’s worst record since 1959. Doeren warrants time to deliver a turnaround, however, considering he led Northern Illinois to the Orange Bowl. (He also was defensive coordinator on Wisconsin’s 2010 team that won the Big Ten crown.)
• N.C. State needed a power-5 opponent for 2018 and ’19 to satisfy the ACC’s new nonconference scheduling quota. The Pack recently announced a home-and-home series against Mississippi State for 2020-21.
