The procrastinator’s guide to the 2021 NC State football season

With 20 starters returning, including 10 on defense, N.C. State is supposed to be good this season, right?

This probably isn’t Dave Doeren’s most talented bunch (there were a lot of NFL guys on those 2016 and 17 teams), but this might be his deepest and most experienced team. The Wolfpack’s top four rushers and top three receivers return on offense and the 12 leading tackers from 2020 are all back.

That raises the bar for Wolfpack Nation more so than ever. Last year’s team (like everyone else) missed spring ball, then lost quarterback Devin Leary after just two starts. They still finished 8-4, a big turnaround from the 4-8 campaign of 2019.

So many guys who were thrown into the fire in 2019 are juniors and seniors now, and ready to prove they can take that next step.

“We were all out there just playing on talent (in 2019),” sophomore linebacker Payton Wilson said. “Not students of the game, not knowing what’s coming. Now we know what it takes and we have to put that on top of the talent to get where we need to be.”

Doeren is entering his ninth season and has led the Wolfpack to five bowls. On paper this team should take Doeren to bowl game No. 6, but the game isn’t played on paper. N.C. State has to perform and live up to the expectations, no matter how many starters return.

“I’m not going to say it’s better, we have to go prove that it’s better,” Doeren said. “But it has an opportunity to be much better than it did a year ago.”

The schedule is tough, including road games at Mississippi State, Miami and Florida State, but Doeren hasn’t had a team battle tested like this before.

Carrying the load

▪ QB Devin Leary, redshirt sophomore. Leary doesn’t necessarily have to carry the load because he has so many weapons around him, and he knows that.

“I mean, Coach always said, just be the point guard of the team, distribute the ball, make everyone else make the plays for you,” Leary said. “Being able to have everyone back is very helpful.”

But, all eyes will be on the quarterback position. Leary only appeared in four games a year ago before breaking his leg. N.C. State fans have yet to see Leary leading the way for a full season, but the sample sizes have been enough of an appetizer that expectations are high for the main course.

Leary completed 60 percent of his passes when he was healthy. The road win over ranked Pittsburgh in his first start was the type of performance fans hope to get out of Leary on a regular basis. That day he threw for 336 yards and four touchdowns, including the game-winner with 23 seconds remaining. If he can stay healthy and improve in year two under offensive coordinator Tim Beck, the sky’s the limit for Leary and the Pack offense.

“I think now this year being able to see everyone in person, being able to pick everyone’s brain,” Leary said, “Being able to communicate better with our offensive system is going to help us out so much more.”

The defense gave up 40 points or more four times last season and were picked apart on the ground (288 yards) against Kentucky in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl.

▪ Defensive front. The entire defense should be improved, especially against the run with what N.C. State is returning in the front seven. Wilson, Isaiah Moore and Drake Thomas provide one of the best linebacker units in the ACC.

“Drake and Isaiah are very smart players, they make me who I am,” Wilson said at ACC Kickoff last month in Charlotte. “They help me day in and day out learning the game. Our linebacker corps is very deep.”

Wilson and Thomas each missed the spring while recovering from surgery, but should be fully cleared by camp. Moore was second on the team in tackles a year ago (94) and is entering his third year as a starter at middle linebacker.

Areas of concern

Grant Gibson and Ikem Ekwonu are mainstays along the offensive line, and Dylan McMahon showed some consistency, starting the last seven games, but what about the rest of the unit?

Bryson Spears played both guard and tackle, but saw his snaps decrease from 505 in 2019 to 64 in 2020. Tyrone Riley arrived on campus in 2015 but injuries have reduced him to just seven career starts. If he can stay healthy, he can add some depth to the tackle position. Timothy McKay has experience, but missed the season after an injury in week three at Pittsburgh. The team only averaged 77 yards on the ground the final three games of the season.

Can’t-miss game

▪ Clemson, Sept. 25

The home finale against UNC on Black Friday is the obvious answer, but Carter-Finley will be rocking Sept. 25 when Clemson comes to town. If N.C. State takes care of business in the first three games, and the Tigers get off to their usual hot start, this could be a battle of undefeated teams. The Wolfpack hasn’t beaten Clemson since 2011, a win that also happened inside Carter-Finley Stadium.

The two teams had a classic battle in Raleigh in 2017 (38-31), but the Tigers have outscored N.C. State 96-17 in the two meetings since. It will be the first true road game of the season for Clemson. If this one turns out to be a night game, Carter-Finley Stadium will be ready to explode by kickoff.

A successful season is ...

A second consecutive bowl game and ending a two-game slide versus rival North Carolina. If N.C. State is still playing in December or January, Wolfpack Nation should be pretty happy.

Doeren has two nine-win seasons during his tenure in Raleigh, and had a chance for nine a year ago — the Miami game slipped away. Nine or more will be the expectation with this experienced bunch, but returning to the Atlantic schedule will be more challenging than outsiders think.

The Pack has to repeat what it did last season — win the games they were supposed to win — and pull off a couple of upsets to get to nine wins for the third time under Doeren.

At least they get Clemson, Louisville and UNC at home. Somewhere down the line they are going to have to pull a shocker — at Miami, Boston College or Wake Forest — to tilt the scales of fate a little bit. This team has the talent to meet those lofty expectations. However, no matter what they do Sept. 2-Nov. 20, a lot of the fans really care about getting that win over UNC on Nov. 26.

The Tar Heels have scored a combined 89 points in their last two wins. N.C. State can’t let this rivalry game get away from them again.

NC State projected starters

NC State football schedule

* — ACC game

This story was originally published August 30, 2021 at 7:30 AM with the headline "The procrastinator’s guide to the 2021 NC State football season."