The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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86 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY TIM PEELER T he great thing about ending a football season on an upward trajectory is that you start the offseason heading in the right direction. That wasn't at all the case heading into last spring, following NC State's winless ACC season of 2013. But head coach Dave Doeren managed to turn the ship around last sea- son, and the Wolfpack finished the campaign as one of the hottest teams in college foot- ball, winning four of its last five games. That included wins over rivals Wake Forest and North Carolina, and upending favored Central Florida in the Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl. College football, however, is a game that rewards consistent excellence, not momen- tum. Establishing a foundation for that was Doeren's goal during offseason drills, spring practice and the April 11 Kay Yow Spring Football Game. So the coach was content to let his team continue in an upward fashion without many shakeups, learning to fill in the holes caused by the loss of a few veteran players and wel- coming a handful of talented newcomers from a successful recruiting class that will look to make an immediate impact. Eight new players enrolled in January, two from Doeren's 2014 recruiting class and six who graduated early from high school. "We got out of [the spring] what we wanted to," Doeren said. "Our guys stayed healthy and we got better all the way around." The Wolfpack has plenty to be excited about entering its third season under Doeren. There are no daunting questions about quar- terback consistency as there were going into last year. Quarterback Jacoby Brissett owns the position after shaking off the transfer rust last year and throwing for 2,606 yards with 23 touchdowns and just five interceptions. There's even a succession plan with redshirt freshman Jalan McLendon, slated to take over the offense in 2016, getting his first snaps in game situations. Leading rusher Shadrach Thornton re- turns as a senior, looking for his first 1,000- yard rushing season, and junior Matt Dayes proved to be an awesome asset, providing 1,278 yards in all-purpose yardage. He ripped off a 50-yard run that was one of the big- gest highlights of the spring game. Fresh- man Reggie Gallaspy II was the star of the spring game, rushing for 131 yards, which will likely earn him more looks this fall. Brissett believes the offense benefitted from its end-of-season momentum. "I really think the bowl game helped springboard us into the offseason workouts," Brissett said. "Every day, we came out and really competed. I think every day of the spring you just saw us get better each and every day." Last year's young de- fense, which gave up an av- erage of 27 points and 373.1 yards per game last year, is now a more seasoned squad, with eight starters returning. It will have some gaps to fill up front, which is a natural opening for four-star defen- sive end Darian Roseboro, but the big questions from last year about the second- ary and the linebacking corps are less pressing. Jerod Fernandez and Airius Moore, who were successful sharing middle linebacker duties last year, will be on the field at the same time this year. Leading tackler Hakim Jones, a fifth-year se- nior at free safety, returns, along with strong safety Josh Jones, who was second in the ACC last year with four interceptions. Not that there aren't some holes that need to be addressed for the Wolfpack, which fin- ished 8-5 overall and 4-4 in the ACC last year, to avoid a midseason downturn, as hap- pened when the Pack lost its first four ACC contests during the hardest part of its 2014 schedule. The Pack offense was limited by a lack of receivers during the spring, having lost both Bo Hines and Marquez Valdes-Scantling to offseason transfers while having tight end David Grinnage and three receivers out of spring practice with injuries. Other than Hines, it was an underper- forming group last year, and Doeren made a change on his staff, hiring former Syracuse offensive coordinator George McDonald, who has long been familiar with offensive co- ordinator Matt Canada, after the two worked together for three seasons at Northern Illinois. McDonald will look to develop overall con- sistency and a few deep threats. Doeren thinks Bra'Lon Cherry showed that potential in the spring. Juniors Johnathan Alston and Jumichael Ramos have also been productive receivers in the past, though Ra- mos caught only one pass in 2014. Redshirt freshman Maurice Trowell had a good spring. Incoming freshmen Brian Sessoms, Freddie Simmons, and running back Nyheim Hines, a candidate to move to re- ceiver, will certainly help. "We need to get all our receivers back on the field," Doeren said. "There were a lot of guys who weren't available. But throughout the spring, the small num- ber of guys we did have out there got a ton of reps. Bra'lon is finally healthy and ready to contribute. We need to do a better job of getting the ball to him. "Overall, I'm not too con- cerned about our receivers. Plus, we will have some guys coming in here during the summer who will help us out." Doeren also has some concerns about the offensive line, which must replace veteran tackles Tyson Chandler and Rob Crisp. Se- nior Alex Barr is the only upperclassman among the candidates to replace them, along with three redshirt freshmen in Tyler Jones, Will Richardson and Zac Kuder and true freshman T.J. McCoy. "I was disappointed in some of the protec- tion issues I saw," Doeren said after the spring game. "We didn't handle the blitz very well." Those are educational tweaks that can be addressed during the summer. As important as winter and spring workouts were, the up- coming months will be even more important. "We'll give the guys about a month off after spring drills to get healthy, but we need to have a great summer," Doeren said. "We need to come to fall camp at full strength, 105 healthy bodies and build on the playing time and experience we have returning. "We are still a young team, with only 10 seniors on the roster. We need everybody who got experience last year to come in immedi- ately and be ready to go." ■ ■ PACK PERSPECTIVE Building On Last Season's Momentum Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker. You may contact him at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu. Quarterback Jacoby Brissett said the Pack's strong finish last year helped launch the team into offseason workouts and spring practice. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN The Wolfpacker is a publication of: Coman Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 2331, Durham, N.C. 27702. Offices are located at 324 Blackwell St., Ste. 1020, Durham, N.C. 27701. (919) 688-0218. The Wolfpacker (ISSN 0273-8945) is published bimonthly. A subscription is $39.95 for six issues. For advertising or subscription information, call (800) 421-7751 or write The Wolfpacker. Postmaster: Send address changes to: The Wolfpacker, P.O. Box 2331, Durham, N.C. 27702. Periodical mail postage paid at Durham, N.C. 27702 and additional offices. First-class postage is $14 extra per year. E-mail: thewolfpacker@comanpub.com • Web site: www.thewolfpacker.com