No. 17 North Carolina vs. NC State prediction, pick, odds: UNC hopes to finish strong 

OddsChecker prediction, pick, odds

Will the Tar Heels be too much for NC State to handle? OddsChecker's Matt MacKay is here with his picks, predictions, and odds for Friday afternoon's game between the NC State Wolfpack and UNC Tar Heels.

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Tar Heels quarterback Drake Maye still leads the nation in total yards with 4,211 this season.

"NC State is a very emotional game, it's a rival game, and I've always said that fans are the ones that create rivalries," UNC coach Mack Brown said. "NC State has played great defense; not good defense. Drake Thomas, Isaiah Moore and Payton Wilson are three of the best linebackers in the country."

Both teams are coming off loses. North Carolina saw its six-game winning streak snapped on Saturday in a surprise 21-17 loss to Georgia Tech.

The Tar Heels started that game against the Yellow Jackets off strong, as Elijah Green broke away for an 80-yard touchdown on UNC's first offensive play. Brown told his players and assistant coaches to mentally reset after that play.

"It's usually an imposter," Brown said. "It just looks like it's going to be too easy. And you jump out 17-0 and then you don't finish it."

Indeed, UNC was held scoreless in the second half as Georgia Tech scored a pair of touchdowns to take the lead. Brown called the loss and the Heels' performance "very uncharacteristic" and "very, very disappointing."

UNC might get two offensive weapons back for the NC State game. After missing the loss to Georgia Tech -- both with upper-body injuries -- tight end John Copenhaver and receiver Antoine Green both practiced on Monday.

The Wolfpack are coming off a 25-10 road loss at Louisville. NC State was forced to play redshirt freshman Ben Finley at quarterback due to injuries to Devin Leary and MJ Morris. In his first appearance of the season, Finley completed 16 of 35 passes for 201 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

It remains unclear if Morris will play against North Carolina.

"I'm not going have any answers on medical things," NC State coach Dave Doeren said. "Let's see this week how practice goes. We have four days. It's really nobody's business."

Last week was also a tough week for NC State off the field as a former player -- Joseph Boletepeli -- was arrested after stalking and making threats against Doeren.

"Outside of the COVID year where it was tough for everybody to be a head coach, this last week was the hardest in my career," Doeren said.

UNC has the advantage in the all-time series against NC State with a 68-37-6 record. The Wolfpack beat the Tar Heels last season 34-30 in Raleigh.