The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/811149
40 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY MATT CARTER N C State completed its spring practices April 1 with the annual Kay Yow Spring Football Game at Carter-Finley Stadium. The format was a little different this year. The four quarters were divided up into specific formats. The first was devoted to scripted plays while the second was situational football, including two-minute drills to end the period before halftime. The third quarter was ex- clusively red zone, and the final period was devoted to live scrimmage action for reserves with a running clock. NC State got 15 workouts in this spring, and now the team will be turned over to strength and conditioning coach Dantonio "Thunder" Burnette and his staff to get ready for the upcoming season. Here are five storylines that emerged from spring: Junior Nyheim Hines Leads The Pack At Running Back The No. 1 question on offense for the up- coming season is who will replace running back Matthew Dayes. Last season, Dayes ran 249 times for 1,166 yards and 10 touchdowns en route to second-team All-ACC honors. Somewhat lost in how well Dayes, who also caught 32 passes for 271 yards, played is how much NC State relied on him. If team rushes, which are typically kneel downs, and quarterback sacks are removed from the rush- ing stats, Dayes accounted for 51.2 percent of the team's official carries. That number does not take into account the times NC State's quarterbacks tucked the football and scrambled for positive yards on what were originally passing plays. Dayes was also responsible for 61.7 per- cent of the rushing yards once sack yards and team-rushing totals are removed. Unfortu- SPRING AHEAD NC State Football Moves To Summer Conditioning After Successful March Practices Junior Nyheim Hines (No. 7) may be the post-spring favorite to take over the running back position vacated by Matthew Dayes. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN