The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/73006
2012 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ||||||| QUICK FACTS Position Coach: Keith Willis Sr. (6th season) career starts), DE Art Norman (8) and DE/DT Brian Slay (13) Starters Lost: DT Markus Kuhn (21) and DT J.R. Returning Starters: DE Darryl Cato-Bishop (9 Gill (1) and DT Thomas Teal (1) Top Reserves: Norman, DE Forrest West, DE Sweezy (20) Projected Starters: Cato-Bishop, Slay, DT T.Y. Mc- McKay Frandsen (1), DT A.J. Ferguson, DT Carlos Gray and DT Deylan Buntyn Waiting Their Turn: DE Sylvester Crawford, DE Desmond Owino, DE Kenderius Whitehead, DE Joe Wright and DT K'Hadree Hooker Moved In: None Moved Out: None Other Departures: DE Theo Rich (off the field) Mike Rose and DT Dave Mann Newcomers: Buntyn, West, DE Tyler Knox, DE and Jeff Rieskamp (graduated) FYI: Phil Steele's 2012 College Football ranked the Wolfpack's defensive line as the fifth-best in the ACC, while Athlon listed it as the No. 3 unit in the conference … Redshirt freshman defensive tackle Carlos Gray actually signed with NC State archrival UNC in 2010 before prepping a year at Oak Ridge (N.C.) Military Academy and switching his pledge to NC State … Junior Deylan Buntyn signed with Winston-Salem State out of Havelock (N.C.) High in 2009, but enrolled at New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, N.M., instead … Buntyn was rated as a three-star pickup by Rivals. com, which listed him as the No. 28 JUCO recruit nationally in 2012 … Buntyn is one of three defensive linemen to have transferred in to State — senior end McKay Frandsen, a former walk-on at BYU, came to State in 2011 after two seasons at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah; and redshirt junior defensive end For- rest West transferred in from Colorado last year after two seasons in Boulder … Redshirt freshman defen- sive end Mike Rose was a track standout in high school, recording personal-best times of 10.90 seconds in the 100-meter dash and 23.34 seconds in the 200-meter race … Freshman Kenderius Whitehead was listed as the No. 25 weakside defensive end in the country by Rivals.com in the 2012 class and played in the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl after notching 103 tack- les and 16 sacks as a senior … Freshman Desmond Owino moved to the United States in December 2010 and began playing football last fall for the first time … Owino briefly committed to UNC before switching his pledge to NC State, and he is rated as a three-star prospect and the No. 26 player in the state by Rivals. com … Freshman Tyler Knox was listed as the No. 32 weakside defensive end in the country and No. 7 player from South Carolina by Rivals.com, after win- ning defensive MVP for the South squad in the South Carolina Automobile Dealers Association North-South All-Star game and posting 70 tackles and seven sacks as a senior … Freshman Joe Wright did not play full-time defensive line until he was a senior in high school, but earned an offer from the Wolfpack after running the 40-yard dash in 4.8 seconds at State' Freshman K'Hadree Hooker was listed as the No. 33 defensive tackle recruit in the 2012 class by Rivals.com and played in the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas All-Star Game after making 18 tackles for loss and blocking seven kicks as a senior. 70 ■ THE WOLFPACKER s summer camp … End Brian Slay (55) recorded 22 total stops, five tackles for loss and three sacks as a junior last year. Redshirt junior end Darryl Cato-Bishop (92) started nine games in 2011 and made 26 tackles, including five sacks. PHOTO BY ERIC LUSK make plays. The job of the defensive ends is to get after the quarterback, and the addition of Colorado transfer Forrest West combined with the emergence of redshirt sophomore Art Norman could give State a formidable pass-rushing duo. Norman, who measures 6-1, 242 pounds, was one of the final players recruited into the 2009 class and also probably one of the last expected to make a quick impact at NC State. help this year in pressuring the quarterback from West, a redshirt junior who sat out last season after transferring in from Colorado. West, 6-1, 270 pounds, had 5.5 sacks as a sophomore for the Buffaloes, and Willis said that West had the most impact during the spring among the defensive ends. "He can rush the passer very well," Willis said. "Now hopefully from the end standpoint it becomes a little more poison because we let them run. This is the first time since being here we are in a position to do that." "I want to put these guys into position and just ■ Defensive line coach Keith Willis Sr. on his unit's depth As a redshirt freshman, though, Norman led the Pack with seven sacks and 30 quar- terback hurries. The latter stat was more than twice as many as anyone else on the team. "He can be really, really a good football player in this league," Willis stated. "He can be one of the top dogs." Willis in particular recalled when Norman had three sacks and a forced fumble in the win over Clemson. "He was spectacular that day," Willis said. "There's no turning back. That's what I said to him in our exit meeting. There's a price that comes with being great because he was great that day. The price is can you play great every game because now you are on the charts. Everybody is looking at you. Can you duplicate that same caliber of play every time you step on the football field?" Willis added that Norman is State's most athletic defensive end, but he should get some have Art coming from one end and you have him. Once upon a time you had Art and then hopefully the defensive end on the other side. Now with Forrest bringing some heat with Art, now guys pick your poison protection wise because if you are protecting over here to stop Art, you got Forrest, or vice versa." It speaks to the depth of the defensive end position that neither Norman nor West is locked into a starting position. In fact, senior Brian Slay and redshirt junior Darryl Cato- Bishop sat atop the depth chart at the Kay Yow Spring Game. Slay, who stands 6-3, 274 pounds, has 13 career starts to his credit, 12 of them coming last year. He posted 22 tackles, five stops for loss and three sacks as a junior. Slay also pressured the quarterback five times, broke up a pass, forced a fumble and recovered two, one of which he returned for a touchdown against Liberty in the season opener.