North Carolina State @ Pittsburgh preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 26, 2009 ) Pittsburgh 31, North Carolina State 38

North Carolina State fifth-year coach Dave Doeren got his signature road win at Florida State earlier this season and added a matching home triumph last week against Louisville. Now the No. 20 Wolfpack seek their first six-game winning streak in 15 years when they visit struggling Pittsburgh on Saturday.

“I told our team it was coming, I told y’all it was coming. Some of you believed me, some of you didn’t,“ Doeren told reporters after the Wolfpack knocked off then-No. 17 Louisville 39-25 on Oct. 5. “You can just feel it right now in our locker room. They believe they’re the best team. And they’re playing hard and they’re playing together and they’re tough and it’s fun … a lot of fun.” Junior Ryan Finley threw for 367 yards, Nyheim Hines ran for 102 yards and two TDs and Jaylen Samuels had seven catches for 104 yards against the Cardinals as the Wolfpack won their fifth straight game - the longest win streak since the 2002 team started 9-0. The defense sacked reigning Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson four times and returned an interception for a score that put the game away. Pittsburgh is in serious jeopardy of not qualifying for a bowl for the first year since 2007 after falling 27-24 at Syracuse last week, being outgained 500-358 while going only 3-of-13 on third down.

TV: Noon ET, AT&T SportsNet. LINE: North Carolina State - 12.

ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA STATE (5-1, 3-0 ACC): Finley is completing 71 percent of his passes - second in the ACC and seventh in FBS - with 10 touchdowns against no interceptions and ranks third in ESPN’s QBR metric (84.4) behind Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma and Mason Rudolph of Oklahoma State. Samuels, classified as an H-back, has scored a touchdown in five of six games, has at least five catches in every game and is the only player in FBS with at least 15 career rushing touchdowns and 15 receiving touchdowns. Edge rusher Bradley Chubb leads all Power-5 conference defenders in tackles for loss with 14 and is tied for third in FBS with 6.5 sacks for a defense that yields 23.7 points and 387 yards per game - but only 90.7 yards on the ground.

ABOUT PITTSBURGH (2-4, 0-2): Quarterback Max Browne (997 yards, five TDs, two interceptions), who leads the ACC in completion percentage (71.1 percent), will not play this week after leaving the Syracuse game in the second half with an undisclosed injury. Sophomore Ben DiNucci, who has played in five games and started earlier this season against Georgia Tech, completed 6-of-10 passes for 55 yards against the Orange and will get the start. Safety Jordan Whitehead had nine tackles and a pass breakup on defense last week and scored on a 35-yard run while gaining 73 yards on seven carries to lead the ground attack.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Pittsburgh leads the all-time series 5-3-1, but this is the first meeting since the Wolfpack beat the Panthers 38-31 in 2009.

2. Pitt PK Alex Kessman tied a school record with a 56-yard field goal last week and also converted from 49 and 42 yards out.

3. Hines is coming off the first two 100-yard efforts of his career and has at least 90 yards rushing in each of his last four games - good for 5.6 yards per carry and four TDs over that span.

PREDICTION: North Carolina State 45, Pitt 20