North Carolina State Football 2013 Spring Wrap Up.

Quick spring summary

The biggest question mark for N. C. State under first-year head coach Dave Doeren concerns the all-important quarterback position and how the team will adjust to life without Mike Glennon, not to mention adjusting to the new staff’s no-huddle, spread offense.

When you have a quarterback controversy, you have a quarterback problem, so it may be foreboding that after three weeks of competition the Wolfpack’s spring depth chart lists the dreaded “or” between the names of redshirt junior Pete Thomas, a transfer from Colorado State, and sophomore Manny Stocker.

Neither Thomas nor Stocker really separated themselves in the Kay Yow Spring Game. Thomas went 15-for-26 for 168 yards and no touchdowns. That’s a completion percentage under 60 percent, though he did not turn it over and the 6.5 yards per attempt is at least approaching respectable. His day would have looked a whole lot better had the normally sure-handed Quintin Payton not dropped a perfectly thrown bomb that hit him in stride after he got behind the defense.

Stocker was not any better, completing just 11 of 20 attempts for 96 yards. He did throw for one score but was also picked off. Stocker displayed more mobility and a better internal clock than Thomas, who was sacked four times to Stocker’s two even though Stocker was typically the one facing the first-team defense.

In the long run, the winner of this year’s competition will likely just be a one-year stopgap as the staff anxiously awaits Florida transfer Jacoby Brissette to become eligible in 2014. But the bottom line is that the QB question has not been answered yet.

Name a few players who could have breakout seasons

For a team that has gone through a coaching change, N. C. State has a surprising amount of experience, especially on the defensive side of the ball, where nine of the 11 likely starters have previous starting experience.

The greenest member of the unit is sophomore linebacker M.J. Salahuddin, a special teamer last season who has packed on 30 pounds in an attempt to earn the middle linebacker spot. Doeren has been effusive in his praise of Salahuddin, noting his hitting ability and his enthusiasm for the game.

If Salahuddin becomes an immediate star as captain of the defense, this unit has a chance to be very good so long as it can avoid injuries in the secondary, where the team lost three contributors from a year ago. Dontae Johnson is back at corner and Juston Burris, a nickel back/sometimes starter in a 4-2-5 look last season, is ready for an expanded role. Jarvis Byrd is back after a couple of seasons lost to injury. But, projected free safety Hakim Jones and all of the second string secondary are untested underclassmen.

Offensively, someone needs to break out at running back, and more and more it looks like it will have to be a true freshman. Shadrach Thornton has the physical tools to be the guy, but he spent most of the spring game watching walk-ons get his carries after he fumbled twice. Thornton managed just six yards on 10 carries last Saturday.

Junior Tony Creecy had 75 yards on 20 carries, an average of 3.8 yards per run, which pretty much matches his career average. Three yards and a cloud of dust is about all he is going to give the offense, so it will be up to three-star recruits Matt Dayes, Josh Mercer, or Dakwa Nichols to step up from day one if the Pack are to improve on a running game that netted just 3.07 yards per carry last season (114th in the FBS).

Position group grades

QB: C   If all Thomas or Stocker had to do was manage the game and let the defense and running game win it, N. C. State would be in good shape, but it will be hard for the new staff to turn a team that has been one dimensionally pass happy for over half a decade into a balanced offense overnight. Thomas and Stocker simply have not shown that they will be able to win games on their own.

RB: D-   Creecy is a competent second or third string option. The Pack need Thornton to step up and be the man, but he will not be able to do so until he solves the ball security issues that plagued him as a true freshman and throughout the spring.

WR: B+   This is one of the Pack’s most experienced units. Payton should be a competent possession receiver, Bryan Underwood has had problems with drops but caught 10 touchdowns last year, and Rashard Smith is capable of making guys look silly when he gets the ball in space.

TE: B   Asa Watson is a graduate student with above average athleticism for the position and Anthony Talbert is a redshirt senior, so the Pack should be in good shape at tight end, though it remains to be seen how much the position will be utilized under the new regime.

OL: D   Part of the reason for Tom O’Brien’s ouster was that he could never develop the gritty, over-achieving line play he was known for at Boston College. Despite losing three starters from last year, this year’s line will have four players who have started in the past. The Pack gained less than two yards per rush in the spring game and the defense recorded eight sacks, so it looks like more of the same up front.

DL: B+   There is solid depth on the two-deep at both the interior and end positions. T. Y. McGill, in particular, should change the line of scrimmage and help allow an undersized, but fast linebacking unit to run around and make plays.

LB: B   Salahuddin has turned heads all spring and D. J. Green is back after a year-long suspension. All of the Pack backers look like overgrown safeties, which could be a negative if the opposition tries to ram it down their throats on the ground, but in the current realm of air raids and hurry ups, the Pack seem to have the perfect skillset along the second line of defense.

DB: B+   Johnson is a rangy 6-3 playmaker at corner who was better than David Amerson last year even though the early NFL entrant got all of the press. Burris was very good last season as well. After two seasons on the sidelines with injuries, Byrd brings the smarts of a player coach to go with great cover skills at the safety spot, and Jones has all the physical tools to be a player. If the front seven does its job, these guys will make plays.

ST: D   The Pack have made plays in the return game in recent seasons, and the shifty Smith should make sure that remains the norm, but third-year punter Wil Bauman will lose the team 5-10 yards of field position every game if Smith doesn’t make up for it. Niklas Sade is erratic as the place kicker. He missed 10 field goals last season and two extra points; Sade was just 3-for-6 in the spring game, though two misses came from 50+ yards.

What “surprises” can we expect from this team?

If N. C. State was in the SEC and playing a couple of tough OOC games in 2013, Doeren would likely be staring at a painful two or three-win debut. Of course the Pack play in the much more forgiving ACC and have the ultimate OOC schedule for a team breaking in a new offense.

East Carolina, Central Michigan, and Louisiana Tech were among the most porous defenses in all of college football last year, ranking 102nd, 105th, and 112th, respectively in the Fremeau Efficiency Index. The Pack rounds out the OOC schedule with an FCS squad, and ALL of their OOC games are at home, giving them eight total games in the friendly confines of Carter-Finley Stadium.

They may be the worst seven or eight-win team in college football, but expect the Wolfpack to become bowl eligible in the first year under Doeren no matter how bad the growing pains are on offense. Anything less would be a major disappointment.

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David Sanders of Backing The Pack provided the information for our North Carolina State Football 2013 Spring Wrap Up. For more NC Statefootball information, commentary and analysis, you can follow David on Twitter @Omega_Wolf.

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