NC State Football

1. There is a capable back-up quarterback. Technically, there is a proven quarterback going into the season for the first time in a long time…since Phillip Rivers. We’ll leave it at that without diving into the Jay Davis, Marcus Stone, Daniel Evans, Harrison Beck, Justin Burke (just because you transfer, doesn’t mean I’ll forget about you) fiasco. Russell Wilson surprised everyone by becoming the first freshman to earn the quarterback slot on the All-ACC team last year while also racking up conference Rookie of the Year honors. When he was healthy, the redshirt freshman dazzled and normally was victorious.

However, when the generously-listed 5-11 signal caller went down, so did the offense’s production. Mike Glennon was a All-American prep QB that has been hailed as Raleigh’s Savior since he signed. Last year, he redshirted while Wilson came out of nowhere and cemented his grip on the job. Glennon was named the scout team offensive MVP last year and looked good in the spring game, posting a 23 for 38 effort for a touchdown and no picks. In his best backyard impression, Glennon quarterbacked both teams after Wilson left at halftime to suit up for the baseball team.

Glennon also got the majority of reps with the number ones in the spring when Wilson was playing baseball but after a short summer league stint, Wilson is back and focused on football. It feels good to have just one capable man under center and for this year, the Pack looks to have two youngsters capable of leading the offense. Tom O’Brien recently mentioned that both signal callers would see action in the first half of the opening game against South Carolina.

2. The defensive line will be among the most experienced in the ACC. Willie Young gets the glitz and glamour at defensive end, as he earned preseason All-ACC distinctions this summer. Remember, he redshirted with current NFLers Mario Williams, Manny Lawson, John McCargo and Tank Tyler on the roster. He’s played well enough that he should join his former teammates in the league after completing his fifth season.

Last year, Young tallied 12.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks while the other projected starter is fellow senior Shea McKeen. The 6-5, 255 McKeen missed the last three games last season with a broken ankle but played well before the injury. This year’s top back-ups, redshirt junior Audi Augustin and redshirt sophomore Jeff Rieskamp, saw a good amount of playing time last season following McKeen’s injury and preformed well.

According to head coach Tom O’Brien, though, the team’s best defensive lineman doesn’t line up on the end. Alan-Michael Cash should be one of the top tackles in the conference this season and is also rebounding from an injury. O’Brien called him the team’s best lineman several times last season and the fifth-year senior racked up 38 tackles, seven for a loss, 3.5 sacks and four quarterback hurries in ten games.

The starting job opposite of Cash will be decided between Leroy Burgess, a senior, and mid-year enrollee Nathan Mageo, who saw time this spring as the Pack’s top two tackles while Cash missed some spring practices.

3. The schedule. 8 Home games. A cupcake non-conference slate: South Carolina (7-6 last year), Murray State (5-7 in the powerful Ohio Valley Conference), Gardner-Webb (5-6 in the Big South) and closing with a noticeably weaker, LeSean McCoy-less Pittsburgh Panthers squad at home (9-4). The Pack could start 3-0 without facing a real test going into the game with Pittsburgh. They could also fall flat on their faces with players facing high expectations for the first time in their collegiate careers.

4.  Tom O’Brien’s recruits are beginning to age. This goes hand-in-hand with the coach being able to institute his mindset, playbooks, coaching staff, etc. When TOB was hired, he had a track record: an NCAA record eight consecutive bowl wins at a Boston College program that was tarnished at the time he took the job with a gambling scandal. He built Boston College into a legitimate football program and left as the school’s all-time win leader.

He accomplished those feats at a school that doesn’t get the biggest name recruits but he has unearthed some hidden gems (Matt Ryan, Mathias Kiwanuka) and developed many other players that are currently in the NFL. He has already gotten even better recruits at NC State than he ever did at Boston College and those youngsters, as well as the players who were already here, are beginning to develop under the third-year head coach.

5.  Chuck Amato’s underachieving guys are leaving. Chuck was all flash and no results after Rivers left. Sure, maybe I'm a little harsh on the alum but he wore out his welcome with most Pack fans. Chuck had a moderately successful tenure with the Pack but the relationship really soured at the end after Chuck’s teams quit producing. He nabbed many highly touted players but patience wore extremely thin at the end of his run as the teams and highly-touted players (mostly from Florida) repeatedly flopped.

6.  Russell Wilson. It’s quite simple, R.W. is the top quarterback in the ACC. I’ll take Wilson over Riley Skinner any day of the week. Wilson does two things that coaches love while he may lack the prototypical size of an elite quarterback: he doesn’t turn the ball over and he JUST WINS. Want proof? I’ll let the ACC coaches tell you:

“I’ve been enjoying my summer and then you bring up Wilson,” Florida State legend Bobby Bowden said. “He is something else. I remember watching him last year – we beat them and I don’t know how. He’s the most dangerous quarterback that I saw last year and he might be the most dangerous in the country but I haven’t seen enough of him. He’s something else.”

“We’ll try to play about 14 guys at one time,” Bowden answered when asked how he planned to stop Wilson.

Not convinced?

Boston College head coach Frank Spaziani said the best way to stop Wilson was to keep him on the bench.

“I think Russell Wilson is a great, great football player,” Spaziani (sidenote: if you ever want a good quote, go to Spaz, he was a riot at the ACC Kickoff) said. “He’s still a baby in the system. I think he’s just going to get better and better as the team gets better.”

7.  Each running back has something to prove. Although Andre Brown left for the NFL, there is still a haul of capable backs in Raleigh. Toney Baker and Jamel Eugene were as highly regarded as Brown until injuries allowed Brown to take center stage. Eugene is always having to disprove his critics due to size concerns and he is bouncing back from an injury that forced him to miss spring practice. However, Eugene was the one that was named team MVP in 2007 when Baker and Brown were both injured. The redshirt senior Eugene has 1,168 career rushing yards.

Meanwhile, Baker has 1, 272 career rushing yards and 12 touchdowns despite not seeing game action in nearly two years since going down in the 2007 season opener. “The touchdown maker” was back in the spring and says he’s feeling good. In high school, Baker rushed for 10,231 yards and 161 touchdowns. Now you know where the nickname is from.

Whoever steps into the role as third running back must prove that he can contribute on this level and there’s a host of talented youngsters vying for that spot. Junior Curtis Underwood has shown potential in the limited amount of playing time he has seen due to the backfield’s number of injuries over the past few years. Redshirt freshman Brandon Barnes was highly-touted coming out of high school and mid-year enrollee James Washington is a speedy freshman who could factor into the decision.

8.  A balanced division. Bobby Bowden said it best at the ACC Kickoff: the ACC was pretty balanced last year. It looks to be the same this year in the Atlantic Division, at least. Sure, Virginia Tech will probably run away with the Coastal title but four of the six teams in the Atlantic tier received first-place votes from the media. Nobody is sure who will distance themselves but, with a quick start, the Pack can be the first to distance themselves. It will be keeping the distance once the conference slate begins that really counts, though.

9.  Special teams consistency. Tom O’Brien usually has good to great special teams play. The Pack returns special teams standouts TJ Graham and  Josh Czajkowski this year. Graham was one of the most exciting returners in college football last year as the sophomore burner racked up a 25.1 yard average per kickoff return and had a memorable 100-yard return last year.

Czajkowski is a redshirt junior kicker that was 16 of 19 last year but only had three opportunities from longer than 40 yards (making two). The kicker hit a 52-yarder in one the spring scrimmages and the staff should show more trust in him this season, in addition to the offense getting him more opportunities. Finally, as a special teams believer, I must mention that the Pack returns both long snappers, as well, and the duo splits the duties nicely: there was only one bad snap last season (the sound you here is Wolfpack nation knocking on wood)

10.  The emergence of young tight ends. What is a young quarterback’s best weapon? A reliable tight end and NC State has a few promising options. Although the team loses future NFL star (had to get that prediction in) Anthony Hill, he was injured much of last season and the Pack’s youngsters received valuable playing time in his absence. Redshirt sophomore George Bryan is flying under the radar but he’s going to be good. The 6-5, 270 pounder looked good at times last year, scoring four touchdowns, in limited action and has impressed in the spring.

Matt Kushner is also an experienced fifth-year senior but is rehabbing from a serious knee injury that happened during the second game of last season. Redshirt freshman Mario Carter was a highly-touted prospect coming out of Independence High in Charlotte but suffered a knee injury before his senior year. He rehabbed it back to strength last season and began practicing with the team before the close of the year. In the spring game, Carter led all receivers with six catches for 68 yards.

Two freshmen, Asa Watson (the younger brother of New England Patriots TE Ben Watson) and Anthony Talbert, both stand 6-4 and could factor into the depth chart.

***

That was the ten reasons for optimism among the Wolfpack faithful this summer.Tear it apart and criticize, bleacherreport. I'll have a ten reasons for concern later this week.

As reported by gopack.com

Like most athletes Jamelle Eugene strives for perfection and being the the best, in fact him and his teammates are so obsessed with being the best they have larger-than-life images of themselves in their dorms.

These images of themselves are Fathead like portraits.

It was originally started by Eugene and Defensive Back D'Andre Morgan, and is now also done by Wayne Crawford and Ray Michel.

But this self-abulation ends when they leave the complex, because when they are on the fooball field they play for Tom O'Brien and NC State, not themselves.

They are all focused on making sure the Wolfpack is worthy on the pre-season buzz they been hearing about, especially from the Seventh Annual Triangle Pigskin Preview.

As Eugene says "As a competitor, I feel like we are ready to live up to the expectations that people are talking about,” Eugene said. “But as members of this team, we are not focused on it. If you start listening to that, you will start getting into trouble and feeling pressure and pressing. Our goal this year is to come out and do what we are capable of doing and maximizing our talents and listening to the coaching staff, not predictions that are being made about us. Toney Baker is 100 percent"

Willie Young was quoted as saying "The Wolfpack is a more mature football team as it enters its third season under head coach Tom O’Brien. The trials and tribulations of the first two years, with an unusually large number of injuries and misfortunes and questions that come from coaching transitions. Certainly made the team grow up in a hurry, it also helped them realize they can overcome any hurdle. That’s what happened last year, when the Wolfpack went on a four-game winning streak at the end of the regular-season to become bowl eligible."

Jamelle Eugene and Defensive End Willie Young were the two Wolfpack players representing NC State at the 2009 ACC Football Kickoff.

Originally published by gopack.com

Tom O'Brien, David Cutcliffe, Moze Rinson, and Butch Davis all attended the seventh-annual Triangle Pigskin Preview.

Moderator Don Shea made sure every coach had their fair share of questions to answer.

Here is a few of the questions asked to Coach O'Brien:

1) "How is linebacker Nate Irving, who was injured in a car accident earlier this month?"

2) "How has first-team All-ACC quarterback Russell Wilson progressed since he was injured in the Papajohns.com Bowl game last December?"

3) "How much has the Wolfpack improved as a team since last year's 6-7 finish?"

4) "How many games do you expect to win this year"

O'Brien was armed and ready with answers to those questions.

1) "He doesn’t go back to the doctor until the end of August and that is all we can say right now,” O’Brien said. “I really don’t have an update. He still has some doctors to see, but until that happens, we will have to wait until later to see what his status will be."

2)"The coach said he and his staff used the spring to help Wilson – who missed time with three different injuries last year, all resulting from what the coach called “god-awful hits” – avoid situations where he might not have to tuck the ball in his arms and run, but they are by no means trying to keep him in check."

“We wouldn’t ever want to discourage Russell from running around with the football,” O’Brien said. “That is something that he does very, very well. In talking to a lot of defensive coordinators around the league, they don’t like him running around back there.”

“Do we get a vote?” asked Cutcliffe, sitting next to O’Brien. “We want him to stay in the pocket.”

The answer was no.

3) "O’Brien added that the Wolfpack’s internal expectations are high, now that the program is in its third year and players have completely bought into the system. He didn’t talk about the fact that the Wolfpack is frequently mentioned as a sleeper pick in the ACC’s Atlantic Division, but he learned throughout the course of the Wolfpack Club’s Spring Caravan that fans are excited about the coming year."

“This time a year ago, we went into the first game with a center who had never snapped in a college game and a quarterback who had never taken a snap in a college game,” O’Brien said. “We have a situation that for the first time since I have been in Raleigh, we are not relying on walk-ons. There is certainly reason for enthusiasm and high expectations, but I have found that you really don’t have to do too much to raise the expectations of the Wolfpack nation.”

"And, while Irving’s injury is potentially a setback to the defense, it’s not something that his team has never dealt with before. In each of the last two seasons, the Wolfpack has lost a projected contributor before the season began. Two years ago, it was tight end Anthony Hill. Last year it was wide receiver Donald Bowens, followed shortly by running back Toney Baker."

“We can’t possibly have as many injuries this year as we have had the last two,” O’Brien said. “Hopefully, we have turned that corner. Our kids are hardened to that fact and they understand that they may have to pick things up and play harder.

“I think we are much better physically and mentally prepared to accept what is in front of us in order to be a much more competitive football team this year.”

4) "We are going to shoot for all of they."

Many college football fans are unfamiliar with NC State Wolfpack quarterback Russell Wilson. In '08, was named Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Rookie of the Year; he was also the first freshman to be named First Team All-ACC quarterback.

Wilson's tenure got off to a slow start. In the opener versus South Carolina, Wilson took the field as the starter, but quickly left the game with a concussion. Wilson returned during the Wolfpack's third game against Clemson. He initially struggled to get acclimated to the starting role.

As the season progressed, Wilson got more comfortable. He led the Pack to a 6-6 record—5-4 in games started and completed—including an incredible four-game winning streak to finish the season. 

This gave the Pack their first bowl bid in three years. Against Rutgers, Wilson helped the Pack get out to a quick 17-6 lead versus Rutgers, but exited the game early with a knee injury. NC State went on to lose the game 29-23.

Through the course of the '08 season, Wilson showed an ability to lead a loose-knit team to a .500 record despite a difficult schedule. 

NC State will once again open this season with South Carolina. This time the game will be in Raleigh, and Wilson has year of experience under his belt.

Make no mistake, Wilson could be college football's next great athletic quarterback. What Wilson lacks in stature (5-foot-11, 190 lbs.) he makes up for in speed and agility. At the same time, his intellectual prowess matches his superior athletic ability. 

The only statistical category that was questionable was his completion percentage, which was 54.5 percent in '08. This low percentage is attributed to his unwillingness to force passes into coverage. In situations of danger, Wilson ran out of the pocket and, if necessary, throw the ball away.

A benefit from this strategy was Wilson's low interception total—a mere one interception—in '08. He currently holds the active streak for most passes without an interception. The decision making skills that he demonstrated were those of a veteran quarterback.

Wilson will benefit from NC State's experience: all of his starting wide receivers and two of three tight ends return. NC State lost Andre Brown to the New York Giants, but will have talented backs in Jamelle Eugene, Toney Baker, Curtis Underwood, and newcomer Brandon Barnes. 

The big question is still the offensive line, which gained experience in '08 but still lacks great athletic ability and depth. Wilson's running skills do allow for the linemen to be less than perfect.

It seems like Wilson's only flaw is his ability to remain healthy; a product of his eagerness to leave the pocket. Teams target Wilson by trying to lay big hits on the small quarterback. It's something that, even in the best circumstances, can't be avoided. 

Nevertheless, Wilson is en route to a stellar '09 campaign and could potentially lead NC State to their first ACC title in 30 years.

Wilson, also a star shortstop on NC State's baseball team, and was initially drafted out of high school, but elected to go to college. Watching Wilson play both sports is like watching a work of art. 

Wilson truly showed his greatness in two football games last season against North Carolina and Miami (Fla). He played brilliantly against UNC in Chapel Hill, a team that every Pack fan relishes to the fullest extent. Given the possibility of a bowl bid, Wilson had enormous pressure to perform against Miami (Fla).

Wilson foiled the tough Hurricane defense on a 29-yard touchdown run that truly showed his ability to turn a broken play into a positive one. 

Wilson gives all Pack fans a hope that they haven't felt since the days of Philip Rivers. We are watching the beginning of a headlining college football star. 

This summer, the National Football Post is breaking down every team in the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-A) to identify players who might warrant interest from NFL teams in the 2010 draft.

After a slow start to the 2008 season, the North Carolina State Wolfpack finished the year with four consecutive wins in the ACC and look poised for bigger and better things this season.

Offense

Jamell Eugene: No. 29, RB, 5'9", 196

An undersized back who displays natural instincts as a runner. Does a nice job making quick, decisive reads at the line of scrimmage, lowing his pad level, and taking what the defense gives him.

Showcases good balance and footwork when asked to change directions and knows how to make a man miss in space. However, he lacks burst out of his breaks and isn’t much of a threat in the open field. Plays at one speed and is considered more quick than fast.

Does a nice job breaking tackles for his size, but lacks the power to carry the load inside.

Impression: Displays some natural running ability, but doesn’t possess the speed or power to offer much upside at the next level.

Ted Larsen: No. 58, OC, 6'2", 300

A flexible lineman who does a nice job dropping his pad level on contact and getting his hands under defenders. Keeps his base low when sliding laterally and looks natural when asked to redirect in pass protection.

Lacks elite quickness in space, but does a nice job working his hands and feet through contact and staying on blocks off his shoulder. Exhibits a smooth, compact punch and recoils quickly after striking his target.

Fires off the ball quickly in the run game and can create a bit of an initial surge up front. Works his legs hard through contact, but lacks natural power in his base. Has a tendency to get overextended and lose his balance when trying to finish blocks and is often shed after his initial surge.

Impression: Isn’t an elite size/speed athlete, but is technically sound and has the makings of a possible starter at the next level.

Jeraill McCuller: No. 50, OT, 6'7", 335

A massive right tackle prospect who carries his weight well and looks coordinated off the ball. Exhibits a smooth kick-step and uses his length to get into defensive linemen quickly on the outside. Displays good athleticism for his size and makes it tough for opposing pass rushers to turn the corner on him. Is patient in pass protection and does a nice job keeping his base down, head up, and not lunging into blocks.

However, he struggles redirecting in space and isn’t crisp with his footwork. Has a tendency to get elongated in his lower half and isn’t real sudden when asked to change directions.

Lacks ideal hand placement and struggles staying on block; looks content to simply steer opposing linemen away from the play. Isn’t as powerful as his frame would indicate and can be overwhelmed at the point of attack by the bull-rush.

Impression: Needs to get stronger in his base, but possesses some intriguing quickness off the snap and looks like a draftable right tackle prospect at the next level.

Defense

Willie Young: No. 97, DE/OLB, 6'5", 250

A long-armed athlete with a thin base who isn’t real effective at the point of attack. Lacks power in his lower half and can be sealed away from the ball easily on the outside. Isn’t real instinctive and struggles using his hands to keep opposing linemen from getting into his legs; consistently ends up on the ground.

Has a big first step off the snap, but isn’t overly explosive and isn’t a consistent threat to reach the corner. Lacks power on contact and doesn’t generate much push on his bull-rush. Does a nice job dropping his pad level when he flattens out toward the corner, but lacks the balance to fight through contact and is consistently pushed past the pocket.

Displays some short-area quickness when rushing the passer, and his combination of length and lateral mobility make him tough to stay in front of. However, he gets too high and leggy when trying to change directions and lacks the burst to quickly close on the play once he gains a step. Has a questionable motor and looks lazy when his initial surge gets stalled.

Impression: A tall, lanky defender who lacks the power and explosion to be effective as a 4-3 defensive end at the next level. Doesn’t look like a 3-4 OLB, either.

Alan-Michael Cash: No. 49, DT, 6'1", 296

Lacks the size and girth to handle the double-team inside and is consistently sealed away from the play with any kind of additional attention. Rarely takes a positive first step up the field and is slow to get on top of opposing linemen.

Has a tendency to get way too high off the ball and struggles keeping his pad level down when asked to change directions. Lacks some timing and coordination with his club move and uses it more as a way to keep linemen off his frame than to shed blocks.

Isn’t much of a factor on slide-down blocks and is consistently washed away from the play. Doesn’t play with the type of natural leverage his frame would indicate and lacks the length to disengage from blocks in all areas of the game.

Impression: Doesn’t possess the type of skill set or size to warrant much attention from NFL scouts.

Nate Irving: No. 56, OLB, 6'1", 235

A physical, wrap-up tackler who possesses impressive lower-body strength and drives his legs through contact. Exhibits a good first step, but displays only average range in pursuit. However, he reads and reacts quickly to the play and is consistently around the football.

Does a great job playing with leverage when taking on linemen in the hole and holding his ground at the point of attack. Is consistently walking offensive linemen toward the play and uses his hands well to shed blocks and get after the ball. Plays the piano well down the line and keeps himself clean when shuffling through traffic.

Showcases fluid footwork in his drop and does a nice job keeping his feet under him and quickly redirecting out of his breaks. However, he has a tendency to lose track of receivers behind him and needs to do a better job feeling out his surroundings in zone coverage.

Impression: A physical outside linebacker who knows how to win at the point of attack and consistently make plays on the ball. Has the makings of a starting inside or outside linebacker at the next level.

Coach Tom O'Brien announced on July 2 that four members of his squad would not be returning to play for North Carolina State in the fall.

Three players who had announced that they would be playing for NC State in February have decided not to enroll in the college, and sophomore Dominique Ellis has decided to transfer to another school. Linebacker Tyson Chandler, defensive tackle Raynard Randolph, and wide receiver Bryan Underwood have all declined admission at the university.

Ellis started all 13 games last season at the cornerback position, tallying 13 tackles.

"I appreciate everything the NC State coaching staff has done for me and taught me,” Ellis said.  “I learned a lot from them, but at this time, I think that for personal reasons, it’s in my best interest to continue my career at another school.”

The three prospects for the Pack will spend the fall semester in prep school after coming up short in their academics, disqualifying them from playing for O'Brien in the fall.

Alongside Nate Irving's car crash on June 27, NC State has been reeling from disappointments throughout the summer. While O'Brien has a strong group of returning players to choose from, he will lose valuable time to work with the new recruits that will be attending prep school in the fall. A relatively young team, NC State should still be able to impact the Atlantic Division of the ACC this fall.

NC State's season will begin with a game against South Carolina in Raleigh, N.C. on Sept. 3 and will be broadcasted on ESPN. Conference play will start with a fight in Winston-Salem against Wake Forest on Oct. 3 and a home game against Duke on Oct. 10.

Originally Posted on SportInformant.com

As reported by gopack.com, and Yahoo Sports

NC State Junior Linebacker Nate Irving was, unfortunately, injured in a car accident on June 27. He is currently hospitalized at Wake Med Trauma Center with non-life threatening injuries.

In the accident Irving suffered a broken leg and a collapsed lung after running his vehicle off the road at 4:40 a.m. Sunday on Interstate 40 in Johnston County.

State troopers think Irving might have fallen asleep at the wheel before crashing into two trees. Irving has been charged with careless and reckless driving.

A WakeMed Trauma Center spokeswoman said Irving was in good condition Monday after surgery Sunday night.

Wolfpack head coach Tom O'brien has been quoted as saying, "Our thoughts and prayers are certainly with Nate and his family, All of his teammates and coaches will be there to support him as he recovers and goes through the process of rehabilitation.”

Irving was awarded honorable mention on the All-ACC team in 2008; last year he missed almost a third of the season with injuries.

This is a huge blow for the Wolfpack defense—one of the best Linebacking corps in the ACC is now spread a little thin with game experience.

The Wolfpack have two red-shirt freshman at linebacker in Terrell Manning and William Beasley.

Terrell Manning is four-star recruit and sixth ranked at weak-side linebacker by scout.com. William Beasley is a three-star recruit and ranked 36th at strong-side linebacker by scout.com.

Ray Michael has the most game experience, playing in 12 games twice, in 2006 and 2007, mostly on special teams.

Hopefully he will be healed in time for the College Football Season.

Donald Bowens is a talented young player who was the only true freshman to start a game for the Wolfpack in 2006.

He played in all 12 contests, he started the Southern Miss, Boston College and Florida State games, two of the team's three wins.

He totaled 16 receptions for the season, including a high of four for 76 yards at Southern Miss.

He was the recipient of the Wolfpack's longest pass of that season, a 46-yarder from Marcus Stone, and he also scored a TD against Florida State.

The next year he posted the team's best reception average at 15.0 yards.

Was also the recipient of the longest throw of that season, a 53-yarder from Harrison Beck in a game against Louisville.

He had one of the top receiving games in school history in the win over Virginia, his 11 catches for 202 yards marked the fifth-best single-game reception and receiving yards totals ever by a Wolfpack player.

They were also the top marks ever by a wolfpack sophomore and the highest since Jerricho Cotchery in 2003.

He pulled down five catches for 93 yards in the win at East Carolina, he added 103 yards of kick returns for 196 all-purpose yards.

He came on strong as a kick returner during the second half of the season, he ended up ranking sixth in the ACC with a 21.5 yard average, even though he didn't have a return until the seventh game of the season.

In 2008 he suffered a hairline fracture in this spine that ended his season.

He has the ability to help the wolfpack on offense if the defense has another one of it's defensively weak games.

I think he will be important if the Wolfpack are to compete in the ACC.

In 2008 Tom O' Brien and his crew decided to red-shirt freshman Mike Glennon and have relativity unknown red-shirt freshman Russell Wilson become the starting quarterback.

That year NC State Wolfpack were 6-7 last year with four straight wins to get to it's first bowl game since winning the 2005 Mieneke Car Care Bowl against USF.

In 2009 the Wolfpack need three things if they are to compete for the ACC Title: Keep the injuries to a minimum, find a third receiving option, and play better on defense.

1) In the first game of the season starting QB Russell Wilson and the rest of the offensive unit struggled to get anything started against a tough South Carolina defense.

During the game Russell Wilson suffered a Grade 3 concussion and had to be taken out of the game.

That wasn't Wilson's only injury that season he also suffer a shoulder injury against ECU and a knee injury in the bowl game against Rutgers.

Wilson wasn't the only major injury lose, Nate Irving among others missed games with an ankle injury.

The Wolfpack have been one of the most injured teams in college football and if they are to take the next step and compete in the ACC week to week the injuries need to be minimized.

2) There is no question that Russell Wilson can hurl the ball down-field to receivers like Jarvis Williams and Owen Spencer, but who will step up to take pressure off of them?

In my opinion Red-shirt tight end George Bryan can step up to become Wilson's third Option.

He is 6-foot-6 and 255 pounds, Bryan has been timed at 4.8-seconds in the 40-yard dash.

He has already shown that he is one of Wilson's favorite options in the end-zone catching four touchdowns. On the season he caught 18 passes for 201 yards

If he steps up it can also limit the amount of times Wilson has to scramble out of the pocket which could limit the amount of injury's which would also help the team.

3) There is no question that the Wolfpack can score on offense scoring at least 21 points in nine out of 13 games.

The Wolfpack have a on-the-field leader in Nate Irving who is one of the best athletes on the defensive side of the ball.

Unfortunately the Wolfpack have lost Irving for the entire season due to injury, so experinced linebacker Ray Michel will have to step up and lead a relatively young linebacking core.

The defensive line also needs to put more pressure on the quarterback, more specifically Willie Young needs to apply more pressure on the QB.

The defensive back-field also needs to step up with the departure of second leading interceptions leader in Jeremy Gray.

If the Wolfpack can achieve these then they can reasonably reach the ACC Title game.