WE RISE!!! (AKA – Some Much Needed Football Talk)

It won’t be long now.

Yes of course, it’s still technically the dog days of summer.  Which means for college sports fans, especially those whose MLB teams appear to be already thinking about booking October fly fishing trips (I’m looking at you every Oriole NOT named Jones or Machado), the boredom of no significant college sports material is causing a great deal of distress, if not suicidal thoughts.

But July is almost over, and pre-season camp will soon be upon us.  In less than two weeks, Tuesday August, 4th to be precise, the 2015 edition of Wolfpack Football will begin its quest to up its program’s stock in a loaded ACC Atlantic division as summer camps get underway.

The following Sunday, August 9th at 4:30pm, will be the annual Meet the Pack Day at CF.

RALEIGH, N.C. – This year’s ACC Football Kickoff had a different vibe for Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren than in his first two years at the helm of the NC State program. And that vibe was definitely a positive one.

“This is the first time I’ve had a returning starter at quarterback and the first time I’ve had a backup quarterback that I recruited,” Doeren told some of the 400+ media gathered in Pinehurst, N.C.

Doeren also couldn’t hide his positive outlook on his defense. His secondary is experienced, there is depth at linebacker and even though the defensive line is young, there are experienced players returning.

The positive mindset is something that his team exhibits as well heading into 2015. “You can’t beat teams if you don’t believe you can beat them and I don’t think there is a man in our locker room now who doesn’t believe we can win. Now we’ve got to put in the work and then go out there and do it,” Doeren added.

NC State’s Influx of Youth Brings much-needed Depth to Wolfpack (NCAA.com)

PINEHURST, N.C. — With only 11 seniors, NC State’s roster will skew on the young side again. Coach Dave Doeren was quick to point out that 70 percent of the roster is made up of freshmen and sophomores.

Doeren was even quicker to volunteer freshman Nyheim Hines as a first-year player who can make an immediate impact.

The four-star recruit can help the Wolfpack’s offense in a number of ways, Doeren said. Hines (5-foot-9, 180 pounds) was primarily a running back in high school, rushing for 2,362 yards and 38 touchdowns last year, but Doeren said Hines will be used as a slot receiver, to return kicks and maybe even as a “wildcat” quarterback.

“He has so many skill sets, I’d be shocked if he was not out there,” Doeren said Tuesday at the ACC Kickoff.

Hines, one of 24 freshmen, is part of the influx of talent in the program. Doeren said there’s a noticeable difference in practice from his first season. It’s what he calls “competitive depth.”

“We’re getting to the point now, and not across the board but at a lot of positions, there’s not just a guy backing him up but a guy who can take his job,” Doeren said.

NC State Building Depth with Youth (NewsObserver.com)

Salahuddin ready to go: Junior linebacker M.J. Salahuddin missed the 2014 season and spring practice with a knee injury, but he has been cleared to return for the opening of training camp Aug. 3, Doeren said.

Salahuddin injured his left knee in a noncontact drill in the first week of practice last year.

“The biggest thing for him now is the mental hurdle of playing football,” Doeren said.

Salahuddin started five games in 2013 and had 25 tackles. He was slated to start in the middle of N.C. State’s defense last year before the injury.

In his absence, sophomore Jerod Fernandez and was second on the team with 78 tackles.

Doeren said Fernandez, Salahuddin and Ford Howell will compete for the starting job at middle linebacker. Doeren said Salahuddin can play either linebacker spot.

Special teams reset: N.C. State has to break in a new punter and kicker. Freshman A.J. Cole was impressive in the spring with his punting skills and will take over for Wil Baumann, a four-year starter.

The competition to replace kicker Nik Sade, the school’s career leading scorer, will continue through August camp.

Freshman Kyle Bambard and redshirt freshman Jackson Maples are contending for kicking duties. Maples, from nearby Southern Pines, likely will handle the kickoff duties, Doeren said.

Bambard has been a “little more accurate” and with a “higher elevation” on field goals, but Maples still could win the job.

“I’m anxious to see those guys work,” Doeren said. “They’re very talented, (but) game day is way different than practice. We’ll just have to see how they react on game day.”

Sade made 55 field goals as a four-year starter and finished with 332 points, eclipsing running back Ted Brown’s school record (312) set in 1978.

So, lots of questionmarks for sure, but I can’t help but like the quiet confidence that seems to be the M.O. so far leading up to the season.  By mid-October, road trips to Blacksburg and Winston might blow it all to hell of course.

But for July….well, you know.

And here’s a little football/basketball 1-2 punch CH beatdown from the ’14-’15 academic year….definitely a fun five minutes of viewing….

Plus, we’ll soon be able to legally and without fear of recourse, look at things such as this….

(Yes…two photos of the Oregon ladies…I stand by that decision.)

CheerOregon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CheerBaylor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CheerGT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CheerFSU

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CheerOregon2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Football.  Is.  Good.

About Wufpacker

A 2nd generation alumnus and raised since birth to be irrationally dedicated to all things NC State. Class of '88 and '92.

'15 Football ACC Dave Doeren Football Recruiting General

Home Forums WE RISE!!! (AKA – Some Much Needed Football Talk)

Viewing 25 posts - 1 through 25 (of 27 total)
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  • #87673
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    It won’t be long now. Yes of course, it’s still technically the dog days of summer.  Which means for college sports fans, especially those whose MLB t
    [See the full post at: WE RISE!!! (AKA – Some Much Needed Football Talk)]

    #87674
    BJD95
    Keymaster

    YAY football!!!!

    BTW, I miss Smooth Operator so much already. Very excited to see Nyheim unleashed on an unsuspecting universe, though.

    Speaking of futbol…jerk chicken and Red Stripe for everybody, mon!

    #87675
    wulfpuppie
    Participant

    Can’t wait for the season to start! We should get 8 wins before we even get off the bus. Comes down to four games if we will have a good or great season. If we can win one of the games between Louisville, Va.Tech, Clemson, and Fla.ST. then it will be an OK season. If we can win two, then it will be a very good year and anything beyond that would be a great year. OH BTW MORE PICS!!!!!!!

    #87676
    YogiNC
    Participant

    I’m thinking that Louisville is very winnable. We could have taken that game last year and they lost quite a bit of talent. Va Tech is still rebuilding. Those two could happen. Just hope we don’t have an “oh crap” game thrown in there.

    This team is still VERY young, but they have been through the fire. The next two years could be very promising. I’d just like to see us up often so the second QB can get some playing time. Also want to see Hines part deux tear it up. If he gets the ball in the open field a lot there could be lots of opposition players watching his number getting smaller and smaller.

    I would dearly love to see Clempson and FSU struggle this year. For FSU I’d love the whole team to go out for a roudy night on the town and get arrested. That place should be renamed Thug U. Oh and last on my wish list would be for us to beat UNX by 100 points.

    Smarter than the average bear

    #87678
    44rules
    Participant

    Ugh BJD. Don’t remind me. I was in the Georgia Dome last night.

    Communism is not love. Communism is a hammer which we use to crush the enemy. Mao Zedong

    #87680
    BJD95
    Keymaster

    Ugh BJD. Don’t remind me. I was in the Georgia Dome last night.

    Probably regret not scalping your ticket to the INS field office now, eh? LMAO

    #87684
    rthomas44
    Participant

    Yes football will be here soon enough. However, for the fans of the red and white, no need to get excited for another extra month. I am looking forward to seeing the chickens and heels on kickoff weekend.

    #87686
    13OT
    Participant

    The 4 games on the Wolfpack’s schedule that will be the most telling about this program and Dave Doeren are the games at Old Dominion, South Alabama, Wake Forest and Boston College.

    A loss in Norfolk or Mobile would be nothing less than disastrous. Whoever set this schedule should be thrown off the top of Vaughn Towers.

    #87688
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/112492/nc-states-mike-rose-dont-call-wolfpack-a-dark-horse

    “I hate that dark horse term,” Rose said. “It seems like we have no chance, but we have a chance. I’d rather they say we have a chance to contend finally. We have the pieces in place to contend. And I think we do — a great quarterback, a stable of running backs, Mackey watch-list tight end, great offensive linemen, eight returning defensive players. If you put it all together and we play consistently all year, there’s no telling what we can do.”

    (Good Jacoby Brissett interview at the link, btw)

    #87689
    VaWolf82
    Keymaster

    Seriously? State’s playing at ODU and at USA? That’s a Wake Forestish thing to do. Stop that.

    http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2015/6/12/8761427/north-carolina-state-football-2015-preview-schedule-roster

    #87693
    tractor57
    Participant

    Time to upgrade the out of conference schedule I agree but with a plan. I feel much better about Pack football than I have in a decade.

    #87710
    DC_wolf
    Participant

    “With only 11 seniors, NC State’s roster will skew on the young side again. Coach Dave Doeren was quick to point out that 70 percent of the roster is made up of freshmen and sophomores”.

    That jumped off the page to me (well, right after the pics of the cheerleaders). I’ve been watching CFB longer than I care to admit & those numbers tell me to temper my enthusiasms..

    #87711
    blpack
    Participant

    Lots to be excited about for the upcoming season. I think we beat L’ville, but will probably screw up a game somewhere too. Young team, good days ahead.

    #87712
    JohnGalt78
    Participant

    There is a little two letter word in our schedule that scares me….

    “at”

    ….it appears just before the words “wake forest”.

    #87713
    YogiNC
    Participant

    “With only 11 seniors, NC State’s roster will skew on the young side again. Coach Dave Doeren was quick to point out that 70 percent of the roster is made up of freshmen and sophomores”.

    That jumped off the page to me (well, right after the pics of the cheerleaders). I’ve been watching CFB longer than I care to admit & those numbers tell me to temper my enthusiasms..

    DC, last season there were only two teams in the nation younger than us and look at the results. This year I think we do well with the youth, they have experience. Oh, and we get back a couple of defensive guys. In that 70% also you have a lot of redshirts. This is DD’s second recruiting class and we landed some pretty lofty players. If we do well and UNX struggles (which is more than likely), recruiting could be a bonanza. And if the NCAA actually shows up with the sledgehammer like CD was saying then recruiting could be golden. Oh the possibilities!

    Smarter than the average bear

    #87714
    Greywolf
    Participant

    It’s been a year since we last had serious conversations about football — well, not counting recruiting. Good to see some of us are still looking in the rear-view to see where we are going.

    The incoming freshmen have some serious speed. We have serious depth at nearly all positions. We have the experience to execute, not think of what to do.

    The lion and tiger may be stronger than the wolf but the wolf don’t work at the circus.

    #87715
    bill.onthebeach
    Participant

    The sun don’t shine on the same dog’s ass all EVERY day. The sun is rising in West Raleigh!

    ^THIS!

    Suck It Heels…

    #NCSU-North Carolina's #1 FOOTBALL school!
    #87717
    Heelh8r
    Participant

    We might be young, but we are old where it counts the most, QB. He can make those youngsters look awful good. And we have speed. Lots of it, in the backfield and the receivers. It may be young speed, but they still have experience. I like our chances.

    #87721
    Khan
    Participant

    7-5

    #87723
    baccapacker
    Participant

    8-4

    #87724
    Khan
    Participant

    ^ I was just about to type 8-4, and then at the last second, thankfully I remembered: Oh yeah, we’re the Wolfpack.

    #87725
    PackofMac
    Participant

    Do not like the Friday night game in Blacksburg, never like going to everyone’s home stadium away from home….Wake Forest, at Florida State won’t be fun either. 8-4 if fair

    #87727
    13OT
    Participant

    If it’s 7-5 like some are predicting, that almost certainly means a second straight 3-5 in the ACC. And if State goes 4-4 in the ACC and is still 7-5 overall, that would be even worse, given this schedule. Eastern Kentucky and ODU should be easy wins, but Troy at home and South Alabama on the road won’t be gimmes.

    BC and Wake wouldn’t be difficult except that State never wins at BC and seldom wins at WF. The UNC game, played at the worst possible time of the season, could be anything from close to either team winning a blowout. Some of State’s home advantage will be negated by the school being on Thanksgiving break. Why can’t this game be played in October, or at least when students aren’t home on break?

    I want to get excited about this season, but I just don’t like the way this schedule sets up. Not one bit.

    #87728
    Greywolf
    Participant

    “I was just about to type 8-4, and then at the last second, thankfully I remembered: Oh yeah, we’re the Wolfpack.”

    I get it. Wolfpack fans have lived through “Wolfpack sh!t” what seems like forever and it’ the first thing that crosses some of our minds when we think about our pack doing well. You are not alone having these thoughts.

    We got a new coach and new players, all with a new attitude. Let’s retire the old “Wolfpack sh!t. “It’s time to generate a new Karma. Stopping Georgia Southern by causing a fumble on the 1 yard line and driving 99 yards to win by one is the new Karma.

    Khan, consider going back and telling us what you really think inside the new Karma. I’m going out on a limb and saying 9-3. And I feel like I’m chicken sh!t for not saying 10-2.

    #87729
    TheCOWDOG
    Moderator

    9-3….Bank.

    Last time I gave em 9, they got nine.

    …post season.

    Hey…we got a coach that is over his head. High School…

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