The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1389905
22 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY MATT CARTER C State head coach Dave Do- eren enters his eighth season in Raleigh with arguably his most veteran squad. After eligibility was fro- zen in 2020 due to the CO- VID-19 pandemic, not only did Doeren return those who were expected back, but also six seniors who would have otherwise left after their college football playing time had expired. That group in- cludes a couple of key starters in wide re- ceiver Emeka Emezie and defensive end Daniel Joseph. For Doeren, the only comparable group in terms of experience would be the 2017 squad that finished 9-4 overall and ranked in the top 25 of the final polls. Yet the coach is also quick to point out that NC State is far from alone in terms of having a veteran roster. "I feel like every team that I look at in our league is returning a lot," he noted. "I think you're going to see across the board in college football: more veteran teams than normal because of the ability to have these COVID seniors." Thus if the Pack is to build off an 8-4 campaign in 2020, which included a team- record seven ACC wins, it is going to do so because of its talent level more than anything. In Doeren's eyes, that's quite possible. "We got a chance to be a very good foot- ball team," he acknowledged. "We got to handle our business. We have to be oppor- tunistic. I think we have to be disciplined and not beat ourselves. Like any team you have to have some breaks from an injury standpoint where you have continuity on the field at key positions." Motivated For More Last year in the offseason, Doeren did not have to worry about finding motivation. It came easily. The players were determined to show that the 4-8 overall record in 2019 was an aberration, the result of a year in which everything that could go wrong went wrong, notably with injuries sustained across the spectrum of the position groups. Yet there were challenges facing them. A significant one was that two new coor- dinators were robbed of spring practices and offseason meetings to install their sys- tems. Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Tony Gibson estimated that they were only able to get in about 70 percent of their defense, and the execution level of that 70 percent was around 50 percent. "Just because we didn't get to practice it with the kids," Gibson noted. "It was new to them going into a game week most of the time." Despite that, and a broken leg to red- shirt sophomore starting quarterback Devin Leary, the Pack kept finding different ways to win: the offense outscoring Wake For- est, the defense shutting down Liberty and special teams coming up with key plays, including in that aforementioned Flames contest, in addition to Duke and Virginia. "I think we played complementary foot- ball as well as I've seen here," Doeren said. "What that means is different sides of the ball were picking each other up at key mo- ments and feeding off what was needed for the roster. … It just seemed like when there was an opportunity, normally a one-posses- sion game, somebody would pick up one side of the ball that needed to be picked up." N " This is a team that has had failure, they've had success. They know what both feel like. They want to take the program to another level, and they are really motivated to do that. " Doeren A STRONG A STRONG HAND HAND Head Coach Dave Doeren Has A Lot To Work With In 2021