…and it continues – Donald Bowens still out [Updated w/ LB news]

'09 Football32

Updated Entry – July 30, 2009
Pretty significant news coming out of Greensboro this morning and Ken Tysiac got it up on ACCNow in short order.

Coach O’Brien is talking Nate Irving and our linebacker play – and Dwayne Maddox is going to be given the first shot at replacing Nate Irving.

If Maddox can handle the job, that will allow returning starter Ray Michel to stay at middle linebacker. Sophomore Audie Cole – who has received rave reviews from the staff for his play during the spring – will replace 2008 senior Robbie Leonard at field linebacker.

If Maddox struggles, N.C. State has other options. Sophomore Sterling Lucas, who played well as Michel’s backup last season, could start and allow Michel to move to Irving’s spot. Promising redshirt freshman Terrell Manning could play at field linebacker and allow Cole to be moved.

The good thing for the Wolfpack is that it has developed enough depth to have decent options in the event that Irving is out for an extended period. But Irving still will be one of the best defensive players in the ACC whenever he is healthy.

He will be missed if he can’t play.

You may remember that SFN ran a poll near the time of Irving’s injury asking – Which linebacker do you predict will successfully ‘step up’ in 2009 if Nate Irving’s injury causes him to miss the season? The 657 votes broke down as follows (and we didn’t include Audie Cole in our choices):

Ray Michel 105
Dwayne Maddox 182
Terrell Manning 251
Sterling Lucas 91
William Beasley 28

Recognize that we were not asking who would replace Irving at his position; but where asking who would emerge as more of a major contributor than their previous role.

 

Original Entry – July 27, 2009
The bad luck that all NC State fans have learned is a major component of our livelihood began a month ago today…

…so it is quite fitting that today the news about Donald Bowens became public.

NC State head coach Tom O’Brien announced today that redshirt junior wide receiver Donald Bowens will miss much of the season with a knee injury. According to O’Brien, Bowens is expected to be sidelined until mid-October or November with the injury.

In 2007, Bowens posted the team’s best reception average at 15 yards per catch. He totaled 41 receptions for 598 yards and three touchdowns. Bowens had a breakout performance in his start against Virginia, recording 11 catches for 202 yards and two touchdowns. Those were the top marks ever posted by a NC State sophomore.

Bowens played in 2006 as a true freshman, registering 16 receptions for 200 yards and two scores.

He missed the 2008 season with a back ailment and injured his knee in the offseason.

The media – and many fans – seem to discount the impact of Bowens’ absence when you consider that Bowens’ would have been our #1 wide receiver heading into the 2008 season.

The fact that Bowens’ availability, or lack of availability, is not considered to be a cataclysmic event to the 2009 season speaks volumes about the performance and evolution of the Wolfpack’s current stable of wide receivers. For more on the topic of our wide receivers, you can click here.

The Wolfpack’s current stable of wide receivers is deep and generally young; the current core group will be able to support the program for at least the next three seasons if you choose to include JUCO commitment Tobias Palmer in the group. Heading into this season the Wolfpack boasts:

Donald Bowens R-Jr
Darrell Davis R-Jr
TJ Graham, So.
Steven Howard, R-So
Jay Smith, R-So
Owen Spencer, Jr.
Jarvis Williams R-Jr

On a related topic, I was glad to see these comments from Nate Irving’s teammates as highlighted by HD over at ESPN.

If you want to more closely follow the ACC’s Media Meetings then this link can keep you

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'09 Football

32 Responses to …and it continues – Donald Bowens still out [Updated w/ LB news]

  1. primacyone 07/27/2009 at 4:34 PM #

    That’s a big hurt, I don’t care what anybody says.

    Owen Spencer had danm’ed sure better have worked on his catching ability.

  2. choppack1 07/27/2009 at 4:37 PM #

    From what I was able to piece together about his injury, I’d be pleasantly surprised if he plays again for us.

  3. Clarksa 07/27/2009 at 4:41 PM #

    This isn’t really news to the “lunatic fringe” is it? I thought we already knew his best shot of returning would be at least mid-season…

  4. GAWolf 07/27/2009 at 4:54 PM #

    Not a real shocker for me.

    I was really impressed with Young and Eugene’s comments. It’s easy to see that this staff is having a very positive effect on these young men. Good luck to Nate and Donald. I look forward to seeing them both on the field as soon as possible.

    Spencer just needs to get his head on straight. His drops last year were strictly mental. He obviously has the ability to get open and that means he has the ability to be a big time receiver for us. He’ll be okay.

  5. McPete 07/27/2009 at 5:39 PM #

    I thought the last time TOB talked about Bowens (spring practice?) he said maybe mid season anyway.

    But he also said Javon Walker might not be ready for the start of fall practice but should be ready much earlier than Bowens. thats good news though.

  6. burnbarn 07/27/2009 at 5:45 PM #

    It has been said mid-season all along since spring.

  7. Greywolf 07/27/2009 at 6:06 PM #

    primacyone Says:
    July 27th, 2009 at 4:34 pm That’s a big hurt, I don’t care what anybody says.

    “Owen Spencer had danm’ed sure better have worked on his catching ability.”

    I sure hope Spencer did NOT work on his catching ability. If you know anything at all about the mind, working on your own mental problems is a BAD idea. Spencer doesn’t have a problem with his catching ability. He caught everything thrown his way — when he didn’t have time to think about it. It was the wide open catches he could see coming and let his mind interfere is where he had trouble.

    I expect the coaching staff had this in mind when they had a sports psychologist work with Owens in the off season.

  8. blpack 07/27/2009 at 7:23 PM #

    I think we will be ok at receiver. 3 juniors and 3 sophs with experience. Bowens would be a huge bonus, but right now we have to count him out. A running game wouldn’t hurt either. 38 days…

  9. leaderofthepack 07/27/2009 at 7:37 PM #

    This is an area that isn’t a huge deal for the football season since we are stacked at receiver. However, I do wish Bowens a speedy recovery.

  10. tuckerdorm1983 07/27/2009 at 8:48 PM #

    37 days 22 hours and 2 mins to be precise!

  11. Noah 07/27/2009 at 10:06 PM #

    I’m hoping that Jay Smith can emerge this year. He looked good towards the end of last year and made a couple of really nice catches in the spring game.

  12. Daily Update 07/28/2009 at 7:12 AM #

    If Owen Spencer is just as good as he was last year, then he will be one of the top WRs in the conference.

  13. TheCOWDOG 07/28/2009 at 8:19 AM #

    I think Spencer is the top receiver in the ACC already. In fact, the corp gets my vote as the best without ever having the notion that Bowens would be part of it.

    Decent article on McCargo here

    http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20090728/SPORTS03/907280312/tbd

  14. packalum44 07/28/2009 at 8:59 AM #

    Bowens will be missed but we’re fortunate to be deep at WR. I expect Jay Smith to develop and TJ will STRETCH the field like only one of the fastest players in the conference can do. Moreover, Russell’s deep ball got so much better towards the end of the season and he can chunk it. From what I’ve seen and heard of Glennon, his deep ball is even better. No need to talk about Owens and Jarvis as we know what to expect from them.

    Nate and Ellis are much bigger holes to fill.

    I love TOB but he’s not perfect. Although hindsight is 20/20, if Russell Wilson is not going to play 4 years, why redshirt him? He could NOT have been a worse QB as a true freshman as what we put on the field in 2007/2008. Same thing goes for Glennon. If he is as good as advertised, and there is a significant chance that he’ll leave early to go pro, why redshirt him last year? Have faith that you’ll have talent and depth at QB by his true senior year anyway.

    BTW, correct me if I’m wrong but does anyone know why we haven’t offered a QB for next year?

    Any update on that GA defensive tackle transfer? Will he be on the two deep?

  15. wolf2003 07/28/2009 at 8:59 AM #

    I thought this was noteworthy:

    Bowden was asked Monday what it would take for an ACC school to become a national contender.

    “Get a Michael Vick,” he said. “Take one great player, one guy, and put him on my team. Put him on Georgia Tech.”

    Bowden was asked if there’s a player in the ACC who has that kind of ability.

    “That quarterback at dadgum N.C. State [Russell Wilson] is a one-man team,” Bowden said.

    http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/story/1624089.html

  16. BJD95 07/28/2009 at 9:05 AM #

    Lots of news from media day. RW is indeed on track to graduate in three years, and Glennon will indeed get at least one series in the first half of games this year.

    Ten writers picked NC State to win the Atlantic, which is ten more than picked the Holes to win the Coastal.

    The receiving option that I think is most primed to break out is George Bryan.

  17. wolf2003 07/28/2009 at 9:13 AM #

    ^I agree BJD95. George Bryan was instrumental in keeping some drives alive and finding the open zones in the defenses when we were in the red zone. He also made some spectacular catches as well. He has very soft hands and I think he runs better routes than what Anthony Hill did. I think this will be his coming out party.

  18. choppack1 07/28/2009 at 11:03 AM #

    “I love TOB but he’s not perfect. Although hindsight is 20/20, if Russell Wilson is not going to play 4 years, why redshirt him? He could NOT have been a worse QB as a true freshman as what we put on the field in 2007/2008. Same thing goes for Glennon. If he is as good as advertised, and there is a significant chance that he’ll leave early to go pro, why redshirt him last year? Have faith that you’ll have talent and depth at QB by his true senior year anyway.”

    I actually made that argument in 2007 with Wilson, but welcome to the disciplined, methodical era of TOB. I know that RW was considered his freshmen year, but the game where he was most likely to play, ECU – Evans played like Johnny U.

    Regarding Glennon – he was considered for the starting job last year. If you read the quotes – it’s obvious that he came in 2nd for the starting job.

    This much is obvious – if you are not the clear starter, TOB would rather redshirt you. This is actually good news – it would appear that he is committed to staying at State rather than doing everything he can to WIN NOW. He’s thinking long term.

    “BTW, correct me if I’m wrong but does anyone know why we haven’t offered a QB for next year?”

    Because TOB and Bible are notoriously picky about whom they offer. Once again, this is a good thing as they want nothing but the best. If you look at the QBs BC put in the pros from the TOB era, I think you’ll see that they want intelligent, strong decision making QBs.

  19. packalum44 07/28/2009 at 11:34 AM #

    ^ I understand this fact but do the pickings not get slim as the fall approaches? If Russell leaves after this year, as suggested by TOB, and we don’t offer a QB, that leaves us with 2. Glennon and the true freshmen Everett Proctor. Giving a scholly to a QB as a 3rd string backup might be better than not taking one at all. While schollys should rarely be wasted in BB (i.e. Sidney Lowe and company), this is not always the case in FB where we have 85 to give. Just a concern. I hope and think we will offer someone rather than not.

  20. VaWolf82 07/28/2009 at 12:02 PM #

    Out of all of the possible things to worry about….the way that TOB uses his scholarships is not one of them.

  21. choppack1 07/28/2009 at 12:07 PM #

    packalum – we’ll probably offer someone this year, our staff just hasn’t found a suitable candidate yet.

    Judging from the parade of QBs we saw in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 – do you really think we should offer someone just to offer someone?

    Or – do you think the staff should offer someone they believe can effectively manage the position?

  22. Noah 07/28/2009 at 1:03 PM #

    We’ve offered people. They just haven’t accepted.

  23. packalum44 07/29/2009 at 5:08 PM #

    While I do believe that TOB is the best thing to happen to our AD since Valvano, I will not put him so high on a pedestal that I won’t question his decisions. I’m not worried about how he allocates his scholarships…I’m worried about not having a 3rd string QB.

    A Jay Davis/Marcus Stone/Daniel Evans as a 3rd string is still better than NO 3rd string. However, I also have NO doubt that Dana and TOB would EVER mis-evaluate talent and offer a QB as awful as those.

    Just wondering, anyone know if we’ve offered and if not, why come? Thanks Noah.

  24. StateFans 07/30/2009 at 11:31 AM #

    ^ We have Everett Proctor this year, who will fit into a Russell Wilson designed offense very nicely.

    We will continue to recruit approximately one top QB every season, so this concern should subside in the future.

  25. choppack1 07/30/2009 at 11:41 AM #

    Thanks for the update…This is good news on the LB front.

    I’ll echo what this article says in that I’ve heard that the staff really likes Cole.

    Some things to keep in mind…The Maddox we saw last year was a true frosh and clearly forced into a position the staff didn’t want him in. It will be interesting to see how he reacts w/ another year under his belt. I’m hoping we see a pretty big jump.

    IMHO, my hope is that this year’s LB core will be similar to last year’s receiving core. Last year, we lost our best receiver, but by the end of the year, you really weren’t noticing Bowens was gone. This happened because our green guys developed nicely over the spring, summer and throughout the year. This year, I see our LBs in a similar fashion – lots of youth, but it’s not as it was last year – and there’s more of them. Practice should be good w/ lots of competition – and the depth appears to have improved significantly.

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