Practice doesn’t start until July 29 but the N.C. State players are already noticeably “locked in,” coach Dave Doeren said.
That’s because the Wolfpack will open the season with a high-profile nonconference game. After a string of openers against Louisiana Tech, Georgia Southern, Troy and William & Mary, N.C. State opens the 2017 season in Charlotte on Sept. 2 against South Carolina.
The Wolfpack players actually started talking about this game in the run-up to last season’s Independence Bowl, a 41-17 win over an SEC team (Vanderbilt).
The return to Bank of America Stadium, where N.