The Wolfpacker

50 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY MATT CARTER N C State did not release any at- tendance figures for its Kay Yow Spring Game, held April 12 at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, but the safe bet is that the huge majority of the fans in the stands were there to see a pair of quarterbacks. One was Russell Wilson. The former Pack standout was back in Raleigh to have his No. 16 jersey honored during a ceremony at the end of the first quarter. Wilson's name and number joined those of fellow NCSU quarterbacks Roman Gabriel (No. 18) and Philip Rivers (No. 17) to be etched into the midsection of Carter-Finley. The other quarterback fans were itching to get a look at was Jacoby Brissett, the redshirt junior transfer from Florida who is hoping to rekindle the memories of those past great quarterbacks after a year in which State's offense failed to generate a consistent attack. Playing against the second-string defense, Brissett completed 24 of 37 passes for 365 yards with a pair of touchdowns and just one interception. He showed why head coach Dave Doeren was comfortable naming him the starting quarterback well before spring practice started. "Some years you know who the starting quarterback is going to be, and some years you don't," Doeren said. "That's part of col- lege football. So I can focus my attention on other certain things now. "It's his job to stay hungry, keep a chip on his shoulder and know that he has to do his job the right way. He has a responsibility. He still has to handle his end of the deal. He knows that, and he will." Brissett's performance highlighted an of- fensive performance by the first stringers on the Red team that generated 449 yards of total offense while turning it over just once in a 34-0 win over the White squad. Developing The Passing Game NC State returned its top three rushers at running back from last season (or four if you count sophomore Bryant Shirreffs, who ran for 158 yards and a touchdown as a quarterback in 2013 and is now playing run- ning back). State averaged a healthy 162.7 yards per game on the ground, the most for a Wolfpack squad since posting 178.8 rushing yards per contest in 1997. That came despite an inconsistent passing attack that allowed defenses to load the box. NCSU ended the year 56th in the Football Bowl Subdivision with an average of 240.8 yards per game, but the 14 throwing touch- downs topped only 20 of the 123 teams in the nation. So it is no surprise that the emphasis for the spring scrimmage was testing the pass- ing attack, starting with Brissett. He did well, setting him up for the challenge of live game action in the fall. Doeren feels that the year off allowed Brissett to get his body in proper shape and his mind in the right frame. "He went through some things before he came here that kind of got him off center, and I think he's in a really good place men- tally and spiritually now," Doeren said. "He needs a lot of game time now, but last year, just to watch him lead and compete in prac- tice every day and how serious he takes his performance and the game itself is exciting. "Now it's just a matter of getting a guy that has a lot of accolades back into it be- cause he didn't play a lot at Florida. He played some as a freshman and really none as a sophomore, and then he sat last year and just played on the scout team. Got to get a lot of reps in him as we move forward into competition." Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Matt Canada was pleased with the progress Brissett showed in the spring. "Once we got to the spring and he could actually practice, I think his understanding of the offense improved every day," Canada said in an interview with ESPN.com. "Not that it wasn't good, but when you're out there getting the reps, it's going to improve just based on repetition and experience. "He did a nice job leading the group and leading the offense. The kids on offense would all point to him as their leader on of- fense now. He took care of the ball well for the most part throughout the spring, and I was pleased about that." The spring game was not solely about getting Brissett up to speed. His receiving corps features just two upperclassmen: fifth- year senior Bryan Underwood and redshirt junior Maurice Morgan. The rest of the unit consists of freshmen and sophomores. It was a true freshman who enrolled early that stole the show in the scrimmage. Bo Hines repeatedly earned praise throughout the spring from coaches, and he found him- self running with the first string April 12. He backed that faith up by catching 10 passes for 132 yards. Doeren said that Hines was NCSU's most consistent receiver. "I wanted to see what our receivers would do," Doeren said. "As I've been saying all spring, Bo Hines is a very reliable player and made some plays." Hines was not the only receiver to shine. Underwood caught three passes for 112 yards and both of Brissett's touchdown passes, including a 72-yard bomb. Doeren, though, wants to see more from a pair of sophomores who played a lot last season: Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Ju- michael Ramos. "[They] need to play better, I guess, than I thought they would in the spring," Doeren said. "I thought Valdes had a really good finish, started a little slow, and Ramos was the opposite. So just need a consistent per- formance. "A lot of times when a guy plays as a true freshman, he gets a big head, and that's the one thing those guys can't do. There's good players coming in, and we've got a couple of other freshmen that will be here that will add to the depth and competition. But those two guys need to have tremendous summers for us." At the tight end position, redshirt sopho- more David J. Grinnage looks to build off a promising rookie season. He caught a 38- yard pass in the spring game. Redshirt junior Benson Browne should add depth to the po- sition. Doeren praised Browne, who caught a 10-yard pass in the scrimmage, as one of the pleasant surprises of the spring. Will Still Be Physical NC State is not going to abandon its run- ning game, though. With fifth-year senior Tony Creecy, junior Shadrach Thornton and sophomore Matt Dayes all back, the Pack has a solid unit. Doeren credited them with being one of the highlights of the spring. "Probably the consistency out of our tail- GETTING BETTER The Offense Flashes Improvement In Kay Yow Spring Game Redshirt junior quarterback Jacoby Brissett completed 24 of 37 passes for 365 yards with a pair of touchdowns and just one intercep- tion in the Kay Yow Spring Game. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN 50-52.Spring FB Offense.indd 50 4/29/14 12:00 PM

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