North Carolina State has momentum going into the Gasparilla Bowl, and would like to build more before the offseason.
The Wolfpack will take on a Memphis team in transition on Friday afternoon in the bowl matchup in Tampa, Fla.
“It helps in the offseason, like, we won three out of the last four, and we’d love to finish four out of five,” North Carolina State coach Dave Doeren said. “It gives you a little momentum. And for a coach and a player, when you lose a game, you don’t get rid of that feeling until you play the next game, and that’s a long ways from now.”
The Wolfpack (7-5) won their final two games of the regular season against non-bowl teams Florida State and North Carolina.
Memphis (8-4) has a three-game losing streak following a winless November. So the Tigers went from a contender for a spot in the College Football Playoff to trying to find a positive ending in a pre-Christmas bowl.
Memphis interim coach Reggie Howard, who spent this season as cornerbacks coach, has been in charge since the last day of November after Ryan Silverfield left to take the head-coaching job at Arkansas.
Meanwhile, North Carolina State quarterback CJ Bailey hasn’t committed to the team beyond this week’s game.
“I plan to go home and talk to my mom and my dad,” he said of any decisions. “Just relax and enjoy my time off.”
But before that, Bailey has a plan.
“I’ve never won a bowl game before — I need one,” he said. “I need a win, and the program needs a win. We need to try to find a way to bounce back from all those losses we had, and it’s going to start from right here.”
Wolfpack running back Hollywood Smothers will be among Howard’s concerns.
“The kid is a home run guy. Great speed, track speed,” Howard said. “You’ve got to worry about that guy.
Already, it’s a different lead-up to the bowl for the Wolfpack. Playing in a pre-Christmas event has created a need to juggle some logistics.
“Playing earlier is a different thing for us,” Doeren said. “So it’s really expedited. … It’s almost like a bye week and then a game getting ready.”
Then there’s the uncertainty of preparing for a team with an interim coach who’ll be in his first game directing the Tigers.
“There’s going to be wrinkles,” Doeren said. “You have to expect that, but you have to also expect that they can’t change their systems completely.”
The Wolfpack expect a heavy dose of Memphis quarterback Brendon Lewis, who has 15 touchdown passes this season, with six interceptions. Lewis, who scored nine TDs on the ground, and teammate Sutton Smith both have more than 600 rushing yards.
“This guy runs the ball a lot, QB draws and zone read, avoid, keeps and things, and he’s their leading rusher,” Doeren said. “If you take his sack yardage out, he’s 860 yards rushing.”
Lewis made it through an injury-riddled season. His top target is Cortez Braham Jr., who has 889 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. Reserve quarterback Arrington Maiden is heading to the transfer portal.
While Memphis and NC State meet for the first time, they have a common 2025 opponent. Both teams faced East Carolina this season, with North Carolina State defeating the Pirates in the opener and Memphis falling in a mid-November road game.
Memphis is in a bowl for the 12th consecutive season, the longest streak among non-Power 4 conference teams.
North Carolina State will look to pull even in its bowl record, which is 17-18. The other time the Wolfpack played in Raymond James Stadium, the site of Friday’s game, was as a visiting team against South Florida in a 2014 victory.
–Field Level Media
