2013-14 Preview (ACC) NC St.
NC State is hoping a new coach can get them out of mediocrity and hopefully bridge the gap that is growing between them and those folks in Chapel Hill lately. The guy they chose is Dave Doeren who came to Northern Illinois and didn’t screw up what others had built there.
NC State Wolfpack (Team Link)
Coach: Dave Doeren
2012 Record: 7-6
Odds of winning BCS Championship: +2000 (Field)
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I know that may sound like a bit of a dig but I think it is fair. He wasn’t at UNI very long and even though they had an unprecedented season last year the seeds of that success were already sewn.
The process at NC State is likely to be a little more difficult so we will see what he is really worth in Raleigh.
The Wolfpack qualified for a bowl last year and got smoked by Vanderbilt. Those words may seem a little odd to read but it is actually true.
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The weird thing about NC State is they seem to always have Florida State’s number, and they did beat them last season, but other than that all of their wins were against teams with losing record (not counting their FCS opponents).
This team needs a lot of work and it might take awhile to revitalize.
Last year the Wolfpack was pass happy thanks to NFL bound signal caller Mike Glennon.
The offense balanced out to being mediocre on the whole but Glennon and a host of other starters are now gone. AT NIU Doeren ran a read option attack that prominently featured the QB running the ball but they do not have that kind of personnel to repeat the approach.
This year the starting QB for NC State will be Pete Thomas, a statuesque transfer from Colorado State, who started when he was there. Doeren wants him to be able to run effectively but this is an experiment so we will have to wait and see what the results will be.
Thomas has both starting offensive tackles returning to protect him but other than that the only other starter that returns is WR Quintin Payton. In case you weren’t counting that means there will be 8 new starters on the field for their first offensive snap of the season.
RB Shadrack Thornton, who led the team in rushing last year, even though he technically was not a starter should be very pleased as Doeren has brought in offensive coordinator Matt Canada from Wisconsin.
We all know how they like to run the ball in Madison so his numbers should climb.
The outlook on defense is the same with 3 starters returning from a mediocre unit by ACC and national standards. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
You would think that it would be a good thing to have your leading sack artist returning but Darryl Cote-Bishop has actually been pushed to the second team heading into fall camp, hopefully it is just for motivation.
The Wolfpack are missing NFL bound cornerback David Amerson but some think that is actually addition by subtraction as he took way too many chances and when he didn’t get the interception put the defense in some very bad spots.
Again a first year coordinator, Dave Huxtable will try and sort out who fits his 4-3 scheme best along the way.
2013-14 Record Projection: 5-7
I never understand why some jobs are appealing and guys jump after a little bit of success. At Northern Illinois there may be a glass ceiling but there is one at NC State too. The Wolfpack are never really going to compete for a national title and even ACC titles will be exceedingly rare given the dynamics of the conference.
In 2013 NC State is going to take a step back. There is not a lot returning this season and layered upon that will be new systems on offense and defense.
For me that means they will only win in situations where there is a talent imbalance in favour of NC State and that won’t happen very often. One thing to think about with this team though is that they should improve throughout the season and be much better in November then they are in August.
They will show better too because the schedule is backloaded with winnable games.
Wolfpack 2013 Schedule
AUG 31 – Louisiana Tech
SEP 7 – Richmond
SEP 19 – Clemson
SEP 28 – Central Michigan
OCT 5 – @Wake Forest
OCT 12 – Syracuse
OCT 26 – @Florida State
NOV 7 – North Carolina
NOV – @Duke
NOV 16 – @Boston College
NOV 23 – East Carolina
NOV 30 – Maryland
