The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/672211
42 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY MATT CARTER N C State announced several additions to future schedules in football, highlighted by home-and-home series with Vanderbilt of the SEC and Texas Tech of the Big 12. In 2014, the ACC mandated that begin- ning in 2017 league teams play at least one Power Five opponent (Notre Dame would also count) yearly, a requirement that the Texas Tech and Vanderbilt games help ful- fill. NC State will host Texas Tech in 2022 and travel to Lubbock in 2027. The Pack is 4-1 all time against the Red Raiders, includ- ing prevailing against them in Lubbock in 2002 and in Raleigh a year later. The 2002 road win was a 51-48 overtime thriller, and the quarterback for Texas Tech that after- noon was Kliff Kingsbury. Kingsbury took over as his alma mater's head coach in 2013 and is 19-19 in three seasons with a pair of bowl appearances. The Wolfpack has only played Vanderbilt twice previously, losing both times, includ- ing the 2012 Music City Bowl in Nash- ville, Tenn. Dana Bible was the interim head coach in the 38-24 loss, and current head coach Dave Doeren took over the program after the game. NCSU will travel to Vanderbilt in 2026, and the Commodores come to Raleigh in 2028. In addition to those two series, NC State announced a home-and-home series with Connecticut from the American Athletic Conference. UConn will play at NCSU in 2022 with the Pack traveling to Storrs a year later. NC State has won both times the teams have played previously, but both were nail-biters. In 2003, linebacker Freddie Aughty-Lind- say intercepted future NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky with 20 seconds left and the score tied 24-24, and Aughty-Lindsay managed to navigate 56 yards on the return for a score as time expired, giving NC State the win in Raleigh. The Pack waited nine years to return the trip. On a gusty Saturday afternoon that severely limited offensive production, the Pack held on for a 10-7 win at Connecticut in 2012. NC State also announced that VMI will play in Raleigh in 2023. Plenty Of Position Switches Spring practice is a period for coaches to experiment. They can try players at different positions to make sure they have the right pieces in the right places before preseason camp opens in late July or early August. NC State got a head start on that during bowl season, when redshirt junior Pharoah McKever moved from defensive end to tight end, and redshirt freshman Vernon Grier went from wide receiver to cornerback. The latter had changed back to wideout by the end of spring practices, one of many moves. Here is a rundown: • Senior Johnathan Alston from wide re- ceiver to cornerback. • Redshirt sophomore Coult Culler from defensive tackle to offensive guard. • Redshirt sophomore Deshaywn Mid- dleton from defensive tackle to offensive guard. • Sophomore Freddie Phillips from nickel to cornerback. • Junior Germaine Pratt from safety to linebacker and then back to safety. • Junior Kentavius Street from defensive tackle to defensive end. Pack Has Personnel Changes Two players were dismissed from the team prior to the end of spring practice, and a potentially valuable addition is likely. Post-graduate transfer Joseph Scelfo, a first-team All-Sun Belt Conference center from South Alabama, is expected to enroll at NCSU this summer and be immediately eligible for the Pack. Scelfo, a 6-1, 295-pound native of Bogart, Ga., was a two-year starter for the Jaguars and was named to the watch list last season for the Rimington Trophy, awarded to col- lege football's best center. Redshirt freshman wide receiver Freddie Simmons, who was expected to play a major role in the passing game, and early enrollee tight end Bryce Dixon both departed after violations of team rules. "There are rules you have to live by, and when you don't, sometimes you don't get to stay and sometimes you do," head coach Dave Doeren said. "It's unfortunate." ■ WOLFPACK FOOTBALL NC State Loads Up On Games For Future Schedules 2016 NC State Football Schedule Date Opponent (Time TBA) Sept. 1 William & Mary Sept. 10 at East Carolina Sept. 17 Old Dominion Oct. 1 Wake Forest Oct. 8 Notre Dame (50th anniversary of Carter-Finley) Oct. 15 at Clemson Oct. 22 at Louisville Oct. 29 Boston College (Homecoming) Nov. 5 Florida State Nov. 12 at Syracuse Nov. 19 Miami Nov. 25 at North Carolina The Pack will host Texas Tech at Carter-Finley Stadium in 2022 and Vanderbilt in 2028. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN 2017 vs. South Carolina (at Charlotte) at Notre Dame Marshall Furman 2018 West Virginia at Marshall Georgia State James Madison 2019 at West Virginia Ball State East Carolina Western Carolina 2020 Mississippi State Delaware at Troy (tentative) 2021 at Mississippi State Furman 2022 Texas Tech Connecticut at East Carolina Charleston Southern 2023 Notre Dame at Connecticut VMI 2024 Western Carolina 2025 at Notre Dame 2026 at Vanderbilt 2027 at Texas Tech 2028 Vanderbilt Future Non-Conference Football Games