Ranked Wolfpack Have Tough Task Vs No. 17 Cardinals

 It's not often that fans can say "ranked" and "North Carolina State" in the same sentence.

 The 24th-ranked Wolfpack have crept into the AP Top 25 for the first time since the final poll of the 2010 season, which is great. Except that there might not be time to savor it -- or be in the rankings too long -- because they have a Thursday night showdown against No. 17 Louisville at Carter-Finley Stadium.

Ryan Finley's steady play has helped NC State win four straight (News & Observer)

NC State (4-1, 2-0) came into the year as a chic pick to make some noise on the national scene, then promptly went out and lost its opener to an offensively challenged South Carolina squad. Typical Wolfpack.

To its credit, NC State has won four in a row, including a victory over Florida State, and appears to have righted the ship. Atypical Wolfpack.

“I just think it’s a different team,” N.C. State coach Dave Doeren said. “It’s an experienced football team.”

 Stopping Cardinals quarterback Lamar Jackson will be paramount if any victory celebration is to take place.

 “This will be a tremendous opportunity and challenge for our guys,” Doeren said. “We have to do a good job of containing him. He runs through contact. … He has great weapons around him.”

 Ryan Finley has played smart football, throwing nine touchdowns to zero interceptions for the Wolfpack. His 71.9 completion percentage is ninth best nationally, and he hasn't thrown an interception in 192 passes this year. Going back to last season, Finley hasn't thrown to the wrong team in 275 attempts, his last coming in the second half against Miami last November.

“He’s playing smart,” Doeren said. “He has got lucky, too. He has had a couple (potential interceptions) dropped.”

 When Finley absolutely, positively has to have a completion, he looks to Jaylen Samuels, whose 43 catches is third nationally. Samuels is also a weapon in the ground game, scoring five times on rushing plays, and eight times altogether this season. Samuels is the lead dog, but Kelvin Harmon and Stephen Louis both have over 20 receptions, and the return of Jacobi Meyers last week added even more firepower to the Wolfpack attack.

 Louisville (4-1, 1-1) has only a loss to Clemson as a blemish, and since being held to 21 points against the Tigers has exploded for 97 points in its last two contests. The Cardinals enter the game fourth in the nation in total offense, averaging 573.4 yards per game, and their 7.59 yards per play figure is fifth best.

 That means NC State will need to play better defensively than it did last week, when it allowed 25 points and 444 yards to Syracuse.

 Louisville has won three straight in the series, and three in a row, including last year's 54-13 rout that was over before it ever started. The previous two games were by two scores or fewer.

 “We’ve had some great battles with them,” Cardinal coach Bobby Petrino said. “Last year we got ahead of them early and that helped us.”

Lamar Jackson has improved his passing in 2017 (Courier-Journal)

 As good as Jackson is running the football -- 87.4 yards per game -- he's become more polished as a passer. the senior has thrown for 642 yards and 13 touchdowns, and Louisville's 365.2 yards per game through the air ranks sixth nationally. With NC State being absolutely abysmal against the pass -- 284.8 yards per game, 117th in the country -- there could be a lot of footballs flying through the nighttime air in Raleigh.

 Traveon Samuel has been Jackson's big play weapons, averaging 18.7 yards per grab, and Dez Fitzpatrick has been a touchdown machine, scoring six times on 16 catches.

 Louisville could have its hands full with the Wolfpack pass rush, led by Bradley Chubb, who tops the country in tackles for loss (11) and is fourth in sacks (5.5). He's a one-man wrecking crew with enough versatility to drop into coverage and to play against the run.

 Finley could have his work cut out this week as Louisville will likely regain the services of All-America corner Jaire Alexander. The electric junior has missed much of the first half of the season with a leg injury, but returned to practice this week. Finley will also need to be wary of end John Greenard, who has five sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss.

 Nyheim Hines has been the top running threat for NC State, averaging 82.2 yards per game and scoring three times.

 NC State is just 1-10 against ranked teams under Doeren, and it's last victory in Raleigh in a game featuring two ranked teams came in 1992, against Wake Forest. Petrino is 14-0 against North Carolina schools in his time at Louisville.

 If there is one chink in the Cardinals armor, it's turnovers. Louisville has already lost seven fumbles, and is minus-.40 in turnover margin. NC State is 15th in the nation in turnover margin, so getting the football from the explosive Cardinals would give it a leg up.

 The winner of this contest will keep division leader in sight, and its especially important for the Wolfpack, which has a winnable game with Pittsburgh next week before taking on Clemson the first weekend in November.

 Petrino knows that his team won't be able to just waltz into Raleigh and expect a victory, even with history on its side.

 “It’s competitive,” Petrino said of the Atlantic Division. “It doesn’t really surprise me because N.C. State is really good. We know how important this one is."

Clemson D Has Huge Challenge Ahead In Cards' Jackson

 In one corner, you have the defending national champion, and in the other you have the reigning Heisman Trophy winner.

 The teams played a classic last year, easily one of the top three regular season games of 2016, and should stage another memorable contest this Saturday as third-ranked Clemson heads to No. 14 Louisville to take on Lamar Jackson and company.

 The Tigers won 42-36 last year in a contest that had a ton of second half fireworks, including a 100-yard kickoff return from Louisville and two final possessions that ended with a missed field and a gain of 11 yards on fourth-and-12 with 33 seconds remaining. The teams combined for over 1,000 yards of offense, but it was Clemson that was able to exhale once the clock hit zero.

 "Hopefully we can do a little better job taking care of the ball and maximizing our opportunities when they present themselves," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said, recalling that both Clemson turnovers resulted in Louisville touchdown drives.

Lamar Jackson puts pressure on every defense that faces him (Boston Globe)

 Clemson put the clamps on Auburn last week, netting 11 sacks and holding the visiting Tigers to just 68 total net yards, including 38 rushing yards on 42 attempts. While Auburn doesn't have anyone as dynamic as Jackson, Clemson was excellent at the line of scrimmage and had linebackers who filled holes on the rare occasions when Auburn wasn't stopped in its own backfield.

 That kind of attention to detail will be huge against Jackson, the nation's most dynamic runner. He has gotten stronger this year, meaning he can pull away from sure tackles, and still has the wheels to outrun anyone to the end zone.

 To say that he's made Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables just a tad nervous would be quite the understatement.

 "Some of it is fun, and then the more you see of it, the more sick you get because of all the plays he makes, even when it's not there," Venables said.

 Louisville (2-0) has added some wrinkles to its offense, which last year was almost exclusively zone read and spread. There are multiple formations, even some pro style looks, and Jackson has shown great touch on his deep ball, passes he wasn't consistently completing in 2016.

 "He's got a great arm, tremendous, natural wiry stuff," Venables said. "You've got a free corner on a blitz (vs. UNC) and he throws a 75-yard touchdown when the corner just falls off of him. Those are the kinds of things a special player can do. It's one thing to take what's there. He can make something out of nothing all day."

 Don't be surprised if Clemson (2-0) rushes with four, occasionally stunting up front, and spying Jackson with a linebacker, either Dorian O'Donnell or Kendall Joseph. That may or may not be enough, but it should at least make Jackson work for his yardage.

 "Lamar Jackson is an unbelievable player and fun to watch," Swinney said. "He's not fun to prepare for and not fun to play against. I'd much prefer to watch him, I enjoy that a lot better, but we've got our hands full with this guy."

 Jackson leads the nation in total offense, averaging 505 yards per game. Clemson has allowed just five plays over 10 yards, and only one over 20, so it's a matchup of strength vs. strength. While Jackson merits that kind of attention, running back Malik Williams is coming off a career-high 149 yard rushing day against North Carolina.

 Clemson has weapons of its own, as running backs Tavien Feaster, C.J. Fuller and Travis Etienne all average over five yards per carry and have four touchdowns between them. They could add some pop to the Tigers ground attack.

 "Clemson present a great challenge," Cardinals coach Bobby Petrino said. "On offense we have to be able to mix the run and pass effectively. Defensively, we need to find a way to shut down their rushing attack. They also have three receivers that we know very well, and their quarterback has looked extremely good so far."

Kelly Bryant has big shoes to fill for Clemson (The State)

 That quarterback, Kelly Bryant, is anonymous compared to Jackson, but has played well in his own right, completing 68.6 percent of his passes and rushing for 136 yards and three touchdowns. He may not be as electric running the ball as Jackson is, but he has been effective, and has shown Deshaun Watson qualities at times.

 Louisville will likely be without standout corner Jaire Alexander (knee), which means Bryant may look to pass a little bit more this week. But Louisville's defense will keep Clemson honest.

 "I'm sure they will have a few wrinkles that maybe we have not seen," Swinney said. "It's still early in the season, so I doubt that they have used their whole arsenal yet. They have a good veteran group back and a lot of guys that are experienced. We will be ready for whatever they present."

 Each of the last three games have been nailbiters, all Clemson victories, by a total of 15 points, and Petrino feels that being so close will help his veteran bunch.

 "I am hoping that our experience last year with Florida State (a 63-20 win) and going on the road at Clemson will help us," Petrino said. "I thought that, at Clemson, when we started the game we had some guys that were too hyped up, so hopefully that won't be a problem this time.

 "The crowd can make all the difference in the world in a game like this. There's a reason why we have a lot of sacks at home on third down, and that goes all the way back to the Elvis (Dumervil) days. There's no question our crowd has helped us before, and we just have to take it up another notch this week."

 Louisville is 6-1 in home openers under Petrino, but 0-3 all-time against defending national champions.

 Clemson, which has won its last 10 road games, had just 264 yards and turned the ball over twice against Auburn, yet still managed to put together drives of 10 plays (missed field goal), 13 plays (TD) and 10 plays (TD). If Clemson has the ball, Jackson won't be on the field, which means he cannot do any damage.

 And whether shootout or defensive slugfest, Swinney just wants to end the night on the right side of the decision.

 "We just want to win," he said. "We are not trying to win any point show, we are not trying to win the stat wars. We just want to win the game. I'll take 3-2 right now ... 3-2, shake the hand and come on back to the house and let y'all (media) talk about how bad the offense is, and we'll be 3-0 and moving on to the next one."