The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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JULY 2014 ■ 37 FOOTBALL 2014 questions and get more in depth on the con- cepts because the comfort level is different. Uremovich has an improved feel on how to motivate each of his guys after being around them for a year. The offensive line will be a little sleeker this season, with several members losing weight. Doeren was proud of how the team responded this offseason in the strength and conditioning program. "We've had tremendous gains in the off- season — not just gaining weight and set- ting personal bests, as far as lifts and jumps — but body changes, body fat changes and muscular gains," Doeren said. Brissett Takes Over At QB Brissett is the clear starter and has done an effective job of becoming the leader of the team, even though he has yet to play in a game for NCSU. "Jacoby has a great skillset and is a strong leader, but he needs game reps," Do- eren stated. "He's played in a few games at Florida and was a tremendous high school player, but he's been out for over a year and a half now." Brissett, who started three games at Florida, has been at NC State for two years of spring practices and has poured over Canada's offensive playbook. The next step is to get out on the field and get game ex- perience. "As good as he is, he needs a lot of reps," Doeren said. "He didn't play that much football at Florida. It has been a while since he had 60-70 snaps that were his in a game." Brissett won't run as often as some past Doeren quarterbacks, since he's more of a drop-back passer, but he does show elusive feet in the pocket. "He's not going to be a guy who will run like Jordan [Lynch of Northern Illinois], but he will have some runs," Doeren said. "That isn't who he is. He was a point guard in basketball and has really good spatial awareness. He sees things, knows where his guys are, and sees pockets and throwing lanes open up." The coaching staff's goal is optimize their players' strengths and avoid their weaknesses. "We are going to try our best to always make the players do their best," Canada said. "If it's something Jacoby never does well, then we won't do it. He just needs to continue to work on timing and under- standing the offense, and making good de- cisions." The Offense The offensive line wants to cut down on the 36 sacks the Wolfpack allowed last year and build off the solid run blocking that formed down the stretch last year. The latter is aided by what Canada declared as the strength of the offense this spring — the cadre of running backs that return, including junior running back Shadrach Thornton, fifth-year senior Tony Creecy and sophomore Matt Dayes. "Our running backs would certainly be the leaders of our offense coming out of the spring," Canada said. "I liked the changes that Matt Dayes made to his body and the way he worked. Then there was what Tony Creecy did for us, and his leadership. He really played very good this spring as well." NC State played four true freshman wide receivers at times last year, and, fortunately, they are now sophomores. Fifth-year senior Bryan Underwood will anchor the unit that also includes sophomores Jumichael Ra- mos, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Bra'Lon Cherry and Johnathan Alston. Redshirt sophomore David J. Grinnage and redshirt junior Benson Browne could form a good one-two punch at tight end after a quality spring. "When you look at our receiving corps, we have a lot of young talent out there and they got better every single day," Canada said. "Our tight ends made great strides and got better." The Defense NC State's biggest change defensively is the switch from a 4-3 (four defensive line- men, three linebackers and four defensive backs) alignment to a 4-2-5 (four defensive linemen, two linebackers and five defen- sive backs). The Wolfpack will go back to playing a strongside outside linebacker in a 4-3 if the matchups determine it. Nine ACC teams, including NC State, averaged at least 236 passing yards per game last fall. The nickel back will help combat some of the wide-open offenses the Wolfpack will face, especially units that play three and four wide receivers. "That is what we are playing right now because most of the time that is what we are seeing," Doeren said. "You just see so many three-receiver sets in our league. Sometimes, four-receiver sets is all they get into. We think it is the best lineup for us." Huxtable's goal for his defenders isn't complex. "We want to play great first-down de- fense and get them behind the chains on second down," Huxtable said. "Then get it to third down, and try to make some things happen and get off the field. We want to get the ball and give it back to our offense. "That is what we are striving for. We call third down our 'money down' here." The Atlantic Division of the ACC (Florida State, Clemson, NC State, Bos- ton College, Louisville, Wake Forest and Syracuse) is full of offensive-minded head coaches. Syracuse head coach Scott Shafer is the lone head coach on NC State's league schedule who has a defensive background. The head coaches at Florida State, Clem- son, Boston College, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and North Carolina all used to be assistant coaches or coordinators on the offensive side of the football. "It's a tremendous challenge for all of us," Huxtable said. "This league has gotten stronger and there are some good coaches. It's a challenge week in, week out. "The offenses in our league are strong. We have to work hard and be ready to per- form." Special Teams Another strength for NC State should come on special teams with the return of three seniors — kicker Niklas Sade, punter Wil Baumann and long snapper Scott Thompson. However, the Wolfpack will miss punt returner Rashard Smith, who graduated. "We need to identify a returner," Doeren said. "We did not have a good kickoff re- turn unit last year, and part of that is not having a steady returner." The Schedule Helping the cause this season is a non- conference slate that could lead to early success. The Pack hosts Georgia Southern in the season opener Aug. 30, followed by a home date with Old Dominion Sept. 6, a game at South Florida Sept. 13 and a return to Raleigh to face Presbyterian Sept. 20. ■ "I know these guys, and they know me and they know our system, our terminologies, our expectations. We know their limitations better. Just being together and going through what we did this year, there is a lot of respect and trust from the things we have been through." ■ Head coach Dave Doeren 36-37.FB Team Overview.indd 37 6/27/14 12:04 PM