Will Saturday be the last home game for NC State seniors? It doesn’t have to be
On Saturday, the N.C. State football program will honor 12 seniors as the Wolfpack hosts Georgia Tech on Senior Day.
Head coach Dave Doeren has a special place close to his heart for senior days. He remembers his senior day at Drake. For the guys, he wants them to go out on a high note, but most importantly relish in every small thing that happens on Saturday, because it could be their last. Their last bus ride to Carter-Finley Stadium, their last time playing at home and running out of the tunnel in front of their teammates and fans.
Or is it?
Over the summer, due to COVID-19 and the uncertainties it caused across college athletics, the NCAA gave all student-athletes a mulligan on the 2020-21 season. No athlete lost a year of eligibility and seniors could return for another year if they elected to.
The Wolfpack will honor wide receiver Emeka Emezie; tight ends Cary Angeline, Dylan Autenrieth, Thomas Ruocchio; offensive linemen Joe Sculthorpe, Justin Witt, Tyrone Riley; linebacker Louis Acceus; defensive linemen Val Martin and Daniel Joseph; and defensive backs Chris Ingram and Matthew Wagner.
It could easily be the first of two senior days for many in that group. Eight of those 12 have already earned their degree or will officially graduate Friday. Authenrieth and Riley were both granted extra years of eligibility last offseason by the NCAA because of injuries. Authenrieth is in his fifth year of eligibility, Riley is on his sixth. Wide receiver C.J. Riley was also granted an extra year last summer after missing all but seven snaps in 2019, but wasn’t on the list of players to be honored Saturday. Perhaps that’s an early indicator that he has already decided to return. C.J. Riley has also already earned a degree.
But none of that matters if any of those seniors decide they are not ready to move onto the next phase of their lives. The Wolfpack has one game on the regular-season schedule plus a bowl game. After that Doeren will sit down and have what he referred to as some honest conversations with his seniors about what’s next.
“In any of these situations where a guy has that decision to make, I always kind of start with, ‘Do you think you can get better by coming back,’ ” Doeren said. “ ‘Or do you think that you’re as good as you’re going to be in college?’ ”
With the exception of Wagner, a walk-on who hasn’t taken a snap, each senior has contributed to the team. Emezie is one of the top receivers in school history (sixth in receptions, seventh in receiving yards) and leads the team with 603 receiving yards this season. Angeline is tied for the lead in touchdown receptions this season (six) and has the third most touchdown receptions for tight ends in all of Football Bowl Subdivision.
Sculthorpe, Witt, Riley and Autenrieth have started a combined 74 games at N.C. State. Autenrieth is a two-time captain. That’s the kind of experience that could very well return in 2021.
Although they have plenty of options to weigh, Sculthorpe said his main focus right now is Georgia Tech.
“My number one priority is finishing the season out strong with the team,” Sculthorpe insisted. “After that, that’s when I’ll start having conversations with family and coaches and start to figure things out.”
Sculthorpe said the outcomes of the final two games will factor in on if he returns or moves on.
Angeline, like Sculthorpe, wants to wait until the end of the season before he decides. He did admit he and his classmates have talked about it.
“I think it’s a unique situation,” Angeline said. “Guys have definitely been talking around the building, just asking around. A lot of guys are in the same boat, just weighing out the options and seeing what’s best for them.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Doeren was honest, saying the conversations with the seniors vary on a case-by-case basis.
From an NFL standpoint, he has had the talk several times before. Ryan Finley passed for 3,518 yards and 17 touchdowns in 2017. That was good enough for fifth all-time in school history. But he wanted to improve his game, returned for his senior year and passed for 3,928 in 2018, third in school history for a single-season. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
Bradley Chubb wanted to come back and improve his draft stock and all he did as a senior was break the school record for career sacks (26) and tackles for loss (60) and became a unanimous first team All-American and ACC Defensive Player of the Year as a senior. Chubb was be selected fifth overall by the Denver Broncos in 2018.
But the NFL isn’t in the future for every college football senior.
“I got to look at these seniors, you know, where they are in the education part, can they graduate, can they earn a second degree,” Doeren said. “Are they a developmental-type player that maybe needs another year in the weight room, you know, to improve their stock and give themselves the best opportunity to make it in the NFL?”
If the seniors decide to return, they won’t count against the team’s roster limits. Under normal circumstances, NCAA FBS programs can have a maximum of 85 scholarships.
Georgia Tech at N.C. State
HOW TO WATCH: 4 p.m., ACC Network
▪ N.C. State is a seven-point favorite over Georgia Tech.
▪ The Wolfpack has not defeated the Yellow Jackets in Raleigh since 2000.
▪ In seven wins this year, N.C. State has outscored its opponents 114-84 in the second half.
▪ The Pack has played every team in the traditional ACC coastal Division this season and is 3-3 so far.
▪ Saturday’s victory over Syracuse was win No. 54 for Dave Doeren at N.C. State. He is second all-time in wins behind Earle Edwards.
▪ The Yellow Jackets are the third ACC team State has faced that’s in the top five in the league in rushing. The Wolfpack is 0-2 (Virginia Tech, North Carolina) in the previous two games.
▪ N.C. State has dropped three in a row to Georgia Tech and is 6-9 overall versus the Yellow Jackets at Carter-Finley Stadium.
This story was originally published December 4, 2020 at 9:00 AM with the headline "Will Saturday be the last home game for NC State seniors? It doesn’t have to be."
