Wolfpack seems to have found groove in a hurry
North Carolina State appeared back on track after a schedule snag created by Hurricane Florence. The Wolfpack made it through the non-league portion of the schedule — barring a game replacing the called-off game vs. West Virginia added to the slate — unscathed.
N.C. State conquered what will be the only road test until mid-October by defeating Marshall 37-20.
Coach Dave Doeren said the Marshall game provided reassurance in several areas, including the most physical he had seen his offensive line this season.
The Atlantic Coast Conference portion of the schedule begins with Saturday afternoon’s visit from Virginia (3-1, 1-0).
N.C. State (3-0) will aim to win its conference opener for the third straight year.
“I think you’ve got two teams playing a conference game that are playing good football,” Doeren said.
N.C. State’s passing attack has clicked at an efficient pace and that has helped to compensate as the Wolfpack tries to unleash a more consistent rushing attack. N.C. State has racked up 370.7 passing yards per game — about 100 more than any other team in the ACC.
“We have a good thing going and we expected it to be like that,” Doeren said.
This has given the ground attack time to come around.
“I think we were getting off and knocking (defenders) three or four yards off the line of scrimmage,” Doeren said. “The tight ends were helping.
“It all ties together, when the O-line can be physical in the run game, it can help our protection.”
N.C. State had receivers C.J. Riley and Thayer Thomas banged up in the Marshall game, but it’s possible both could be ready by the end of the week, Doeren said.
The strong start to the season has come while the N.C. State defense has been just too strong for a few of the opponents. That could start to be altered as conference play begins.
It might be tricky dealing with Virginia, which has revamped its offense and has a versatile quarterback with Bryce Perkins at the controls.
“Watching all this triple-option film that we’re going to play this week,” Doeren said of the change of pace that has even impacted the coaching staff.