In a year of lowered expectations, could NC State be ACC’s biggest surprise?
Expectations are lower for N.C. State this year, and for good reason. In some sort of bizarro-world scenario, N.C. State is weak at quarterback and strong in the secondary, a complete reversal of the general state of things the past few years.
The schedule isn’t necessarily hard, but it’s full of the kind of pitfalls that have tripped up the Wolfpack in the past: at Wake Forest and Boston College, a Thursday night home game against Syracuse. And Clemson, of course. Always Clemson.
In many ways, this will be the truest test yet of the foundation coach Dave Doeren has built at N.C. State, a measure of just how well things are going behind the scenes to develop depth and build a pipeline of talent, especially with the staff tweaks in the offseason on both sides of the ball.
N.C. State could also be a huge surprise, the biggest surprise team of the entire ACC.
After back-to-back 9-4 seasons, with the departure of cornerstones like Ryan Finley, Kelvin Harmon, Garrett Bradbury and Germaine Pratt, the Wolfpack certainly looks like a team that could take a step backward this season, especially since it had the talent to win more than nine games a year ago.
Yes, the Wolfpack has to break in a new quarterback, and there are some depth issues on the offensive line. But Matt McKay will be surrounded by talent, from Ricky Person to Bam Knight to Emeka Emezie. If he can get the ball out of his hands and into the right hands, N.C. State has some guys who can really make plays.
And even with all the turnover on defense, there’s still a lot of experience there, players who have seen at least some time and know what they’re getting into. And having a veteran secondary will allow the Wolfpack to do things it has not been able to do in the past for fear of breakdowns deep.
But it’s that schedule that really plays into N.C. State’s hands. Any other team, without the history of nightmares in Chestnut Hill and Winston-Salem, would look at it and say ... OK.
The Wolfpack has to go to West Virginia, which won’t be easy, and East Carolina will be pumped up for its first game under new coach Mike Houston, but any ACC team would feel pretty good about drawing Clemson and Syracuse at home, the best chance to beat the two best teams in the division.
Even the North Carolina game to close out the season is at Carter-Finley, in the first season with beer for sale in the stadium. The other Coastal crossover is Georgia Tech, both teams rebuilding under new coaches. It’s a good year to draw Georgia Tech.
It’s probably realistic to expect N.C. State to win seven games and eight is easily within reach. But a healthy chunk of the Wolfpack’s schedule looks like a bunch of coin flips, so that win total could grow if things fall the right way. It wouldn’t take much.
With all the turnover, it’s easy to write off the Wolfpack. But turnover isn’t always a bad thing, especially if there’s a solid foundation behind it. N.C. State is going to find out just how strong that foundation is. This may very well turn out to be a rebuilding year for the Wolfpack, but the conditions are ripe for more.
ECU at NC State
When: Noon, Saturday
Where: Carter-Finley Stadium, Raleigh
Watch: ACC Network
This story was originally published August 29, 2019 at 5:00 AM with the headline "In a year of lowered expectations, could NC State be ACC’s biggest surprise?."
