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FACTS & STATS: Site: Carter-Finley Stadium (57,583) -- Raleigh, North Carolina. Television: ACC Network. Home Record: UNC 5-1, NC State 3-1. Away Record: UNC 1-2, NC State 1-3. Neutral Record: UNC 0-0, NC State 0-0. Conference Record: UNC 2-3, NC State 1-3. Series Record: UNC leads, 63-31-6.

GAME NOTES: The NC State Wolfpack will try and continue their recent dominance over the North Carolina Tar Heels, as the two are set for an ACC clash at Carter-Finley Stadium.

NC State has won the last four meetings with its in-state rival and three of the last four matchups at Carter-Finley Stadium. Still, UNC owns a 63-31-6 series edge, as this will be the 101st meeting.

North Carolina is looking to build on last week's 49-24 thumping of Wake Forest. With that victory, the Tar Heels became bowl eligible for the fourth consecutive year. It was an especially encouraging performance by the offense, which notched the program's highest point total in a conference game in the last 10 years.

As for the Wolfpack, they are coming off an ugly 34-0 shutout loss at Florida State this past Saturday. The loss snapped their first winning streak of the season (two games) and leaves them needing two victories in the final four games in order to become bowl eligible. Following this week's tilt, NC State will travel to Boston College next Saturday before returning home to face Clemson and Maryland to close out the regular season.

If the Tar Heels can replicate last week's effort on the offensive side of the ball, they'll certainly have a good shot at ending their recent slide in this head-to-head series. The 49 points were the most by a Tar Heel team since a 49-38 triumph over William & Mary in 2004. It is also marked the program's highest point total in an ACC game since beating Duke 52-17 in 2001. Redshirt freshman tailback Giovani Bernard was the headliner, as he rushed for 154 yards and scored three touchdowns, while sophomore quarterback Bryn Renner threw for a career-high 338 yards and three scores. All told, the Tar Heels racked up a season-high 562 yards, its highest yardage total since 2004. Bernard now has 965 yards this season and is 35 yards shy of becoming the first 1,000-yard rusher at UNC since Jonathan Linton in 1997. He leads all freshman runners in the country with 107.2 yards per game and overall ranks third in the league and 21st in the country. His 12 TDs tops the ACC. Renner leads the ACC and is ranked sixth in the nation in pass efficiency (171.9 rating), having thrown 19 touchdowns, just four shy of the single-season school record of 23 by Chris Keldorf in 1996.

While the Tar Heels' offense is coming off its best performance of the season, the defense also managed to force a season-best five takeaways last week, which included four interceptions and a fumble recovery. Linebacker Zach Brown, a Butkus Award semifinalist, once again made his presence felt with a game-high nine tackles (2.5 TFL), a sack, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and an interception. On the season, Brown leads UNC in tackles (62), tackles for losses (9.5), sacks (5.5), forced fumbles (two) and interceptions (two). He has also been one of the main reasons why the unit ranks third in the ACC in rush defense, allowing just 106.3 yards per game. Elsewhere, defensive end Quinton Coples has registered 4.5 sacks this year and is fourth in the country among active players with 21.0 career sacks. He is tied with Lawrence Taylor for fourth in career sacks at UNC. Overall, the Tar Heels have excelled at tightening up in the red zone. In 30 trips into the red zone, UNCs opponents have scored just 14 touchdowns.

Quick starts have not been NC State's strong suit, as the team has managed just 24 first-quarter points on the year, and that includes five games with no points in the first quarter. However, the Wolfpack have been able to finish strong, out-scoring six of eight opponents in the fourth quarter. But last week, they simply started slow and finished slow as they managed only 12 first downs and 166 yards of total offense for the game. In fact, the Pack crossed midfield only twice and never ventured into the red zone. It was a day to forget for Mike Glennon, who had thrown for 1,717 yards and 19 TD's coming into the game but finished with 130 yards and two interceptions on 19-of-34 passing. T.J. Graham, who came into the game leading the nation in all-purpose yards, picked up 76 of his 116 yards on kickoff returns. It was the first time since a 34-0 loss to South Carolina in the 2008 opener that the Wolfpack were kept off the scoreboard.

While the offense searches for answers from last week's sub par performance, the NC State defense could be the X factor in this matchup. The Pack enter the game leading the nation in interceptions with 15. That total is largely accredited to Thorpe Award semifinalist and game-changer David Amerson, the national leader in picks with 8. Naturally, takeaways have been key to the team's success this season. NC State is 4-0 when forcing three or more turnovers and are 0-4 when causing two or less. Last week, turnovers were hardly a factor as Florida State coughed up the ball only once and ran up 444 yards of total offense. The Seminoles also scored touchdowns on all three of their trips to the red zone. Senior linebacker Audie Cole paced NC State's defense with 10 tackles, including nine solo, in the loss. Junior linebacker Terrell Manning posted six tackles (2.0 TFL), an interception and a sack.

Wolfpack head coach Tom O'Brien has not lost to UNC since taking over at NC State in 2007. Despite some ups and downs this season, he has his team playing a disciplined brand of football as the Pack lead the ACC and rank 11th nationally in fewest penalty yards per game (33). Historically, his teams have played their best during the second half of the season, and a home matchup with in-state rival North Carolina could serve as a springboard into another strong second half.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: NC State 34, North Carolina 24