Break out the bodypaint and get ready to tailgate because the college football season is now upon us.
While everyone gets excited at the thought of another season filled with drama that only college football can supply, the NC State Wolfpack has to be one of the most elated.
Heading into Week 1, the Pack is ranked No. 24 in the AP Preseason Poll and are considered by many to be a fierce competitor for the ACC, especially now with Florida State having lost to Georgia Tech across the pond in Ireland.
Expectations are high for the Pack, who finished last season 9-4, mostly due to its new-look offense highlighted by a few key transfers.
“Coach [Robert] Anae and his staff have done a nice job of evolving and tweaking our system, looking at our talent and how it’s changed and how our offense needs to change based on that talent and what our strengths are,” said NC State head coach Dave Doeren who’s heading into his 12th season with the Pack.
The Wolfpack’s offense will be led by quarterback Grayson McCall, who transferred to Raleigh from Coastal Carolina – where he threw for over 10,000 yards and 88 touchdowns – for his final year of eligibility.
“He comes in with a wealth of accolades and is not only our starter, but a captain as well,” Doeren said of his new QB. “He’s fun to coach. He’s a football guy and has great experience. He’s a winner, has grit running through his veins, is tough and again, another guy with a chip on his shoulder. Wasn’t recruited on this level out of high school in Charlotte and now comes in with an opportunity to play against a lot of coaches that didn’t recruit him.”
Also from the portal are new starting running back Jordan Waters from Duke who last season, ran for 819 yards, 12 touchdowns, wide receiver Noah Rogers from Ohio State who was a four-star recruit, tight end Justin Joly from UConn who had 578 yards and two touchdowns last season and center Zeke Correll from Notre Dame who was a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award given annually to the best offensive line in college football.
“The backfield and the receiver and the tight end rooms, all those rooms have really been made over through the portal and through development,” Doeren said. “We’re going to be able to rotate and we’re going to need to rotate in these games.”
In total, the Pack added 17 players to the roster from the transfer portal.
“We are a team with a lot of new players, 42 right now, but it’s one of the closest groups of guys that I’ve been around and that’s unique,” Doeren said. “It’s really been one of the biggest and most fun challenges that I’ve had outside of a season. Building a team not just from a talent standpoint, but from a chemistry standpoint.”
But while everything new in the offense is exciting, it’s the dependableness of the defense that will more than likely help propel NC State to new heights with returners in nearly every position.
For years, the Pack’s defense has felt like a bygone conclusion. A veteran group, the heart and soul of the team, the Wolfpack’s bread and butter.
They’ve been by far NC State’s best side of the ball year after year and with all the excitement surrounding the new-look offense, the defense has almost felt like an afterthought.
“Fifth straight year with the same staff led by Tony Gibson so I’m excited about that continuity,” Doeren said. “Those guys possibly have another chip on their shoulder with the lack of respect they get with losing one player that was so good (Payton Wilson) and how are they going to make up for that player’s loss. There’s a lot of guys that want to show that to everybody.”
But if the Wolfpack wants to reach its goals, namely winning its conference for the first time since 1979 and competing in the newly expanded CFB Playoffs, it’s all about delivering on both sides of the ball.
“To be the best team that we can be, we have to put a premium on eliminating self-inflicted wounds,” Doeren said. “That’s execution and unforced errors. … Now it’s all about consistency. We’ve got a lot of guys so it’s about who’s going to be the most consistent performer and that’s what games are about. Finding that out.”
