The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1472609
JULY/AUGUST 2022 ■ 23 in their way-too-early top 25. Appar- ently, after further analysis, they had an epiphany. NC State jumped up to No. 10 in the post-spring edition. "It's fair to include the Wolfpack among the title contenders in the ACC and maybe have expectations for some- thing bigger if everything jells together," Erick Smith wrote. The heightened expectations are jus- tified. The Wolfpack finished the 2021 season ranked No. 20 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 19 in the coaches' poll. NC State's offense returns a re- cord-setting quarterback, two of his top three receiving options, two emerging weapons at tight end and five players with multiple games of starting experi- ence on the offensive line. The returning talent on defense is even more striking. Nineteen players who started at least one game in 2021 are back from a unit that allowed 19.7 points and 331.6 yards per contest last season. NC State was 19th nation- ally among 130 teams at the FBS level in 2021 in to- tal yards allowed and tied for 14th in points surren- dered. T h a t d e s p i te being decimated at times with in- juries, with seven p l a y e r s w h o started at least o n c e m i s s i n g games. "Some of them are NFL guys," NC State head coach Dave Doeren noted about the injured defenders. Doeren wants his team to embrace the respect given to the Pack, but he has a cautionary tale about the press clip- pings. All he has to do is nod toward the west in the direction of Chapel Hill. A year ago, the Pack's archrival North Carolina was a preseason top-10 team, but UNC finished the season with a los- ing record, 6-7, and needed a victory over a one-win FCS team, Wofford, to secure a bowl bid. Doeren doesn't want his team to fall into a similar trap coming off its strong performance last year. "We had a good season," he admitted. "We won some great games, went unde- feated at home and had a lot of success in a lot of ways, but we want to win the conference. "All those things they're saying are great, and [the players] have earned them, but it doesn't mean anything when it comes to how we're going to finish the season this year. We all visibly got to see the same thing happen across the road, and it didn't turn out well. "Our guys saw that, and they brought it up. I didn't have to bring it up to them. 'Hey guys, if we rest on our laurels, we can end up just like they were.' I'm not trying to put them down. That's just a great example of what can happen if you listen too much to that stuff." Doeren also reminds that the ulti- mate deciding factor of how the season will play out largely depends on health, something out of his control. The coach likes his team's d e p t h a c r o s s t h e b oa rd , a n d many of the po- sition battles to be played out are between proven players or for fur- ther depth pur- poses. "If everyone's healthy, we'll be fine," Doeren said. The health ca- vea t a l so l ea d s i n to w h a t t h e coach acknowl- edged were the fair expectations for his team this fall. "Look, if everyone stays healthy, yes, it's very realistic for us to say we can win a championship here, but in Game 6 if I'm playing with my third-string quarterback, then that changes things," Doeren noted. "That's where these pre- dictions don't mean [much] … because you're basing it off of 100 percent of your roster being fine. I can't predict that. "Everyone wants to say that, but it all depends on the health of your team. That's at the end of the day what football is about. Are you going to walk out there with your best players? And, if you're not, are your next-best players pretty good? Bama won it with their backup quarterback [in 2017]. By the way, he's a draft pick, he's pretty good. [If] they had a walk-on, maybe not. "But we have an experienced team with a bunch of guys who have won games, and the staff has great continuity. So, we're putting ourselves in the right place to be really good. Now we just need a little bit of luck." ■ 2022 Football Schedule Date Opponent (TV) Time Sept. 3 at East Carolina (ESPN) 12 p.m. Sept. 10 Charleston Southern (RSN) 12:30 p.m. Sept. 17 Texas Tech (ESPN2) 7 p.m. Sept. 24 Connecticut TBA Oct. 1 at Clemson TBA Oct. 8 Florida State TBA Oct. 15 at Syracuse TBA Oct. 27 Virginia Tech (ESPN) 7:30 p.m. Nov. 5 Wake Forest TBA Nov. 12 Boston College TBA Nov. 19 at Louisville TBA Nov. 25 at North Carolina TBA Dec. 3 ACC Championship^ TBA ^ at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. Dave Doeren's teams have gone 64-49 in his nine seasons at NC State. The Wolfpack is 17-7 in the past two seasons, including 13-5 in ACC play. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN