The North Carolina State Wolfpack capped off a resurgent 2014 season with a Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl win over Central Florida, 34-27. Coach Dave Doeren enters his third season in 2015 on a much higher note than a year ago, following a 3-9 campaign with no conference wins.
After putting all that behind them, getting bowl eligibility and a win, the Pack is poised to make even more noise next season. NC State added five wins in a year, finishing 8-5 this past season, including a three-game winning streak.
The building blocks are being assembled for 2015 as we speak. Within the research triangle recruiting battle, NC State still has to contend with North Carolina. Even with UNC dealing with an academic scandal, and a football defense that is weak as water, Chapel Hill is a brand and a program that can get a player noticed.
The third member of the triangle area, Duke, is in a renaissance period for football. Three straight bowls and continued contention for the ACC Coastal Division are unchartered waters for the Blue Devils. Duke and Coach David Cutfliffe have themselves trending in the right direction. They were a bad game away from back-to-back ACC title game appearances, and made their third straight “good” bowl appearance.
Albeit was another postseason loss, Duke managed to make it a game against those considered on another level. Stringent academic requirements automatically put Duke in a hole when recruiting for football, and it’s still known as a basketball school.
NC State 2015 class
As of now, the Wolfpack have two of the Top 100 on the Rivals list. Coming in at number 39 is defensive tackle Darian Roseboro from Lincolnton, NC. He’s 6’4” and 264 pounds, and is a four-star recruit.
Sneaking in at number 99 is running back Nyheim Hines from Garner, NC. He’s 5’8” and 178 pounds. Hines is also a four-star recruit.
Hines is among eleven recruits who are committed but have not yet signed their letters of intent.
The above-mentioned Roseboro is one of six players who have signed their letter. These include a four-star running back named Reggie Gallaspy.
Also signed are two three-star recruits: linebackers Riley Nicholson, and Freddie Phillips (position undermined).
Rounding out those who have already signed are two-star recruits T.J. McCoy (OL) and James Smith-Williams (LB).
Wolfpack Recruiting Rankings
NC State comes in as the ninth highest ranked ACC squad in the Rivals rankings. They are number 40 overall and come in right behind numbers 38 Boston College and 39 Wake Forest.
In-state, UNC still leads the way at number 24. Within the Atlantic Division, NC State is sixth, beating out only Syracuse at the moment.
247Sports has the Pack ranked at 36 overall as of now. Scout has them at 43.
National Signing Day is Wednesday, February 4th. There is sure to be a lot of drama, de-commits, and big news to drop between now and then. A lot will change, and until those pens hit paper with signatures and the crisp new hats are on teenage heads, nothing is certain.
Who Needs Replacing?
While the Pack is gaining a Hines in Nyheim, their offense will lose a big part of its late season run in wide receiver Bo Hines. Hines, who was NC State’s leading receiver this past season is transferring to an Ivy League School. Hines will likely go to Yale for academic reasons. This is a big loss in the passing game, and a big target for quarterback Jacoby Brissett will be needed to replace Hines.
Seniors Tyson Chandler and Rob Crisp will both be gone from the offensive line. Turnovers killed the Wolfpack in their 3-9 bottoming out two years ago, and Brissett was able to keep those numbers down. If the line keeps him protected, he won’t be rushed, and can hit his receivers instead of foes.
Consistency on the line is a huge need, and spring practices will go a long way to see who steps up to replace the big fellas up front.
All three of the Pack’s leading rushers return in Shadrach Thornton, Matt Dayes, and Brissett. Thornton got the lion’s share of the yards in 2014, and they’ll need him to keep it up and stay healthy. Dayes is a great second back, and showed up in the bowl game against UCF with two third quarter touchdowns that put the Pack way ahead.
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