The Wolfpacker

JANUARY 2016 ■ 31 BY RYAN TICE N C State came into the year with a young, but promising, defensive line. It featured just one senior in fifth-year defensive end Mike Rose. The only other upperclassman was junior tackle Monty Nelson, who has been limited by injuries after a promising debut. What the group lacked in experience, though, was more than made up for in ath- leticism and raw talent. Rose came into college at just 215 pounds — his 6-4 frame now carries 270 — with some impressive track times, including a sub-11-second 100-meter dash. Sophomore tackle B.J. Hill and freshman end Darian Roseboro were both successful prep running backs. Roseboro and sophomore tackle Kenta- vius Street were four-star recruiting coups ranked among the top 100 prospects na- tionally. Second-year tackle Justin Jones was another four-star talent, ranked among the nation's top 250. Street began his college career at defen- sive end before moving inside and sopho- more end Bradley Chubb played linebacker up until this spring. It's just more evidence that when each big man tries to claim the ti- tle of most athletic lineman, they can make a compelling case. Potential is always a dangerous word around a football field, but NCSU's defen- sive front lived up to its promise this year — five of the Wolfpack's top 12 tacklers in the regular season were linemen, and they combined for at least one-third of the team's defensive statistics in every major category, except for interceptions (although they also had two of those). The line totaled 254 tackles (35.6 percent of the team's total), 55.5 tackles for loss (64.5 percent), 26.5 sacks (85.5 percent), 11 passes broken up (34.4 percent), 23 quarterback hurries (76.7 percent), seven forced fumbles (58.3 percent) and three fumble recoveries (33.3 percent). NCSU finished the regular season among the nation's top 30 in total yards allowed (22nd), sacks (26th) and tackles for loss (27th). The number of quarterback takedowns from the defensive front alone would have ranked 52nd nationally at the end of the regular season and prior to con- ference championship games. Competing For The Belt The line's performance all starts with Rose, the on-field leader of the unit, and defensive line coach/run-game coordinator Ryan Nielsen, who was a three-year starter at defensive tackle for USC. When watching the 36-year-old — who was head coach Dave Doeren's first hire at NCSU — at practice, what immediately stands out is how hands-on the former All- Pac-10 selection is with his players. He likes to remind them that he played the position "not too long ago." "They get a kick out of that," he contin- ued. "But it's hand-to-hand combat, it's a fight every play and it happens so fast. You have to practice full speed, violent and with technique — that's all playing defensive line is, and playing with great effort. "These guys have come a long way, and a lot of them played as true freshmen, so they have a lot of experience. Even though they're young, I don't look at them like that because they've played a lot of football." Since Nielsen has been in Raleigh, he has held a weekly contest that he took from his playing days. Every Thursday, they see who can get off the line the fastest and a championship belt is awarded to the win- ner. It is worn during pre-practice stretch- ing and the coach has even heard about it making its way to classrooms on campus. "They wear it everywhere, they're proud of it," he said. "It's their belt for the week, so it's whatever they want to do with it." Naturally, the defensive linemen always contend that they won even if the belt does not reside in their locker — which provides a glimpse into how competitive the big men are with each other, and it doesn't stop there. "We're competitive with tackles, sacks, TFLs," Rose said. "We're a competitive defensive line, and we want to make sure it stays competitive. It's not to see who is better than who; if we play at a high level, I feel like the back-end plays better, the linebackers play better." Follow The Leader Rose labored extensively with Nielsen on his pass rushing fundamentals before the season, knowing he needed to step up in that department. The hard work paid off — he finished the regular season second in the ACC and tied for ninth nationally with 10.5 sacks, while his 15 tackles for loss were eighth in the ACC and tied for 36th nationally. His sack total is tied for the third best single- season output in program history, while his stops behind the line of scrimmage figure is tied for the 11th most in one season. "He is one of the only seniors on the team," Nielsen said. "When you are being put in that position, you can go two ways. The pressure can get to you, and it hasn't for him. He has done a great job of being consistent." "It took a lot of work," Rose admitted. "It took a lot of patience. It took a lot of individual work with my coach. "I've been working on my explosion and getting off the rock, which has helped me get those sacks that a year ago I probably could've got if I would've focused on it more." He's just trying to raise the bar that was set by former teammate Art Norman, who finished last season with 6.5 quarterback takedowns to Rose's five. He hopes the one-upping continues. "Rose is trying to leave a good legacy here," Chubb said. "He is telling me that I need to pick up where he left off." There should be plenty of competition to continue the chain. Chubb has been im- pressive in his first season at defensive end, notching 5.5 sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss. Roseboro's four sacks in his freshman campaign are also encouraging. Defensive tackles aren't usually racking DOMINATING THE TRENCHES NC State's Defense Was Powered By Its Front And Should Continue To Be In The Future Fifth-year senior defensive end Mike Rose finished the regular season ranked second in the ACC and tied for ninth nationally with 10.5 sacks. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN

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