The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/81131
"Nobody owns the jersey, everybody is fighting for a job," O'Brien said. "Tal- bert has done a great job. Carter's got the most experience. Watson is coming back from his redshirt year, and certainly he has a different dimension. "And Benson Browne, he's coming out of a redshirt year. He has a lot of talent. He's learning what it's like to play at this level now. It's the first time we've had four scholarship guys at this point that had been redshirted and you're not afraid to throw to in the football games." Watson probably had the play of the spring game when he took a short pass and showed off his athleticism by turn- ing it into a 74-yard gain for the White team before being tackled at the 1-yard line. Carter had a five-yard catch for the White team. Talbert made two receptions for 24 yards for the Black squad. ■ Offensive Line Offensive line play during a spring scrimmage can be misleading. The unit struggles to have continuity during the 15 practices before the game, and any of- fensive line coach will stress the impor- tance of consistency for the five up front. NC State started spring with fifth-year senior R.J. Mattes on the sideline with an ankle injury. He started at left tackle last season next to redshirt junior Duran Christophe. Mattes, however, returned to practice before spring was over. Christophe started the spring at sec- ond-string left guard because fifth-year senior Andrew Wallace was running with the ones. Wallace missed most of last season while returning from a torn ACL suffered in the Champs Sports Bowl practice in December 2010. Meanwhile, redshirt sophomore Tyson Chandler filled in for Mattes at left tackle. However, when the spring game started, both Chandler and Mattes were on the first string with Mattes sliding to left guard, and Wallace was back on the second line at left tackle. Joining Mattes and Chandler were re- turning starters Camden Wentz, a senior, and Zach Allen, a fifth-year senior, at center and right guard, respectively. Ju- nior Rob Crisp was at right tackle. "The offensive line is certainly vet- Redshirt junior tight end Asa Watson had the play of the spring game when he took a short pass and turned it into a 74-yard gain. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN 36 ■ THE WOLFPACKER eran, and at this point, leading the way," Bible said. "[Being older] doesn't guar- antee anything. It's still about execution and production. "Just because somebody has experi- ence doesn't guarantee a thing. We aren't taking anything for granted." ■