NC State Football Season Preview

When you look at the stats from last season’s team, in particular the scoring offense, you would have thought NC State would have been an eight or nine win team. The Wolfpack averaged 30 points per game on offense, but gave up 31 points per game on defense, and because of that, it was only a five win season, and the speculation has begun as to whether or not Tom O’Brien is on the hot seat after three seven loss seasons.

 

The catalyst of this offense is quarterback Russell Wilson. The junior made headlines his freshman year by making first team All ACC after throwing one interception all season. He had a very good sophomore season, completing 59% of his passes for 3027 yards and a 31-11 touchdown-interception ratio. Wilson set a record last year by going throwing the most consecutive passes without an interception at 379. There is no reason to believe Wilson can’t have a similar season this year.

The top two rushers from last season are gone, and apparently Tom O’Brien was impressed enough by redshirt freshman Dean Haynes that he is currently listed as the starter. The odd part is that two weeks ago, Haynes was playing safety. But Haynes did play running back in high school, so he is no stranger to the position. His backup is a true freshman in Mustafa Greene. The leading returning rusher is Wilson with 260 yards rushing. Either way, whoever starts at running back is not going to have a lot of game experience, and don’t be surprise if the running game struggles out of the gate.

One thing NC State knows how to do well is gain yards through the air. As stated earlier, Wilson had a 3000 yard season, and Wilson found several different receivers. Five receivers caught at least 25 passes last season. But the stat that stands out the most is the 25.5 yards per reception Owen Spencer had last year. Spencer caught just 30 passes, which was third on the team, but had 765 yards, which was over 200 yards more than the next person. Spencer also caught six touchdown passes, which was tied for second on the team. Spencer’s counterpart, Jarvis Williams, led the team in receptions with 45, had 547 yards, and easily led the team with 11 touchdowns. At tight end, George Bryan was very dependable, catching 40 passes for 422 yards and six touchdowns last year. Darrell Davis was the other receiver who had a considerable role in the offense. The senior caught 25 passes for 380 yards. This receiving corps is very underrated.

Inexperienced is probably the best way to describe the offensive line for NC State. Three sophomores are expected to start, and there is only one starter back from last year. At center, Camden Wentz didn’t start, but did play in five games last year. Both of the starting guards are also sophomores. Andrew Wallace did start a couple of games at tackle, and played in every game. Zach Allen played in 11 games last year, but did not start. The only returning starter is senior tackle Jake Vermiglio. Vermiglio has started 20 games and has played in 32 games. The other tackle will be Mikel Overgaard, a junior who came over from junior college.

 

This defense has a lot of work to do in order to improve. The Wolfpack defense finished 99^th in the country in points allowed. And there’s not a lot of experience back. In fact, the entire defensive line is new this year. Senior David Akinniyi will start at defensive end, along with Jeff Rieskamp. Akinniyi is a transfer from Northeastern, and Rieskamp missed all of last year with an injury. At defensive tackle, Natanu Mageo is the most experienced of the defensive lineman. Mageo played in every game last year, and had eight tackles. Brian Slay will start alongside Mageo. Slay didn’t play much last year, only having six tackles.

The best part of the defense is the linebackers. It returns the most experience, and most of all, Nate Irving is back for his senior season. Irving missed last season recovering from a car accident that nearly killed him. Also returning is junior Audie Cole. Cole led the Wolfpack in tackles with 85, and was second on the team with four sacks. He will be joined by Terrell Manning, who started last year as a freshman, and ended up with 48 tackles. Backing them up is Dwayne Maddox, who started last year, but will move to a backup role with Irving back. Maddox’s 54 tackles are second among returning starters.

Another key for the Wolfpack is an improved secondary. Six players return who started last year. Cornerback CJ Wilson started six games as a freshman, and finished with 21 tackles. He will be joined by Justin Byers, who started twice last season. Safety Brandon Bishop started eight games and had 41 tackles last year, and Earl Wolff started four games and had 51 tackles. With so many different starters in the secondary, stability will be a big thing for NC State.

 

Field goals were not a big part of the scoring offense. Senior kicker Josh Czajkowski only attempted 12 field goals, making 10 of them. But he was a busy kicker when it came to extra points, hitting all 44 attempts. Back at punter is Jeff Ruiz, who graduated, but returned to the team. Ruiz averaged 37.9 yards per punt last season, with a 34.7 net. TJ Graham will be the return man again this year. Graham averaged 25 yards per kick return, and returned one kick for a touchdown, and averaged 10.4 yards per punt return.

 

This is a pretty tough schedule. The Wolfpack have two Thursday night games this year, and both are at home, as they host Cincinnati September 16 and Florida State October 28. They do draw Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, and North Carolina from the Coastal Division, and that is not easy by any means. The other non-conference matchups are the opener against Western Carolina, a road trip to Central Florida, and another road game against East Carolina.

 

Russell Wilson is a great option for any fantasy team. He throws a lot, is pretty accurate, and does a pretty good job of not throwing it to the other team. He threw for 3000 yards and 31 touchdowns last season, and with inexperience at running back, Wilson may throw the ball more early, which could help his totals. There aren’t many fantasy tight ends that are eye catching, but you can definitely look at George Bryan.

 

What will really tell the tale of this season is if the defense can improve. I believe in Russell Wilson and the running of the offense, but with not a lot of experience returning from a defense that wasn’t all that good, it makes it a real question mark. The schedule is tough, and if they want to get to a bowl game this year, they will need to pull off a couple of upsets. This looks like another 5-7 season to me.