Sophomore Safety Josh Jones had a very successful freshman season last year. He was second in the ACC in interceptions (4), and 4th nationally among all freshmen. Jones finished 5th on the team in tackles (56) and 2nd in pass breakups (7). He was even an honorable mention for CFN’s Freshmen All-American team. It’s also worth noting that he accomplished all of this while only starting in 8 out of the 12 games that he played in. Despite all of the success, Jones felt that he wasn’t very consistent last year.
“I’m not using being young as an excuse. I played a little inconsistent last year,” said Jones. “One game I would be on, and then the next game I wouldn’t. This year’s all about consistency. Every game I want to be me, bring energy, and be a force.”
What type of force does Jones want to be? Simple. He wants to be one of the best.
“I’m working on a lot of things so that I can be a force in the ACC…one of the best safeties in the ACC,” said Jones. “That’s what I plan on being.”
Jones comes into this year with a lot more confidence, and one of the ways that was built was through watching the upperclassmen in the secondary.
“I watched how the guys with experience prepared for games. I watched them practice,” said Jones. “I had to learn a lot about how to practice last year. I pick their brains, and watch how they do things.”
The secondary that will take the field this season is the second most experienced secondary in the ACC. Hakim Jones, Juston Burris, Jack Tocho, and Jones have played in 113 games combined, with 83 of those beings starts. Jones believes that he is a part of one of the best secondaries in the conference.
“I feel like we are one of the best secondaries in the ACC. We’ve got size. We’ve got speed. All you can ask for,” said Jones. “All of our starting defensive backs are 6’0″ and above and 200+ pounds. We just have to keep working together and growing, and we’re going to be one of the best secondaries in the ACC, if not the best.”
Some players set goals to do better than they did the year before. Some players want to improve in specific areas of their game. Others just want to be the best. Josh Jones is one of those guys.
“I’m 100x more confident coming into this season. I’m more comfortable,” said Jones. “I have that swagger to me, where I want to be the best, and I’m not going to settle for less.”
Prior to the announcement, NC State already had their non-conference slate booked for both of those seasons.
As a result of the addition of the Virginia series, a previously scheduled non-conference game from each season would need to be dropped. While it hasn’t been officially announced by the school, Joe Giglio and David Glenn seem to think that the series with Appalachian State is going to be dropped.
State swaps out a home-and-home with App State for one with Virginia
Given the ACC’s stance on road G5 games, that was going to happen
NC STATE BACKS OUT OF FOOTBALL SERIES WITH APPALACHIAN STATE…. David Glenn Weighs in on Required #NCPOL Scheduling Bill per UNC, NC STATE, ECU, CHARLOTTE AND APP https://t.co/5sfWzmRa93 via @YouTube
— NORTH CAROLINA SPORTS NETWORK (@TheNCSportsNet) May 16, 2024
It would make the most sense, considering the Mountaineers were the only opponent the Wolfpack was scheduled to play in both 2025 and 2026. It would also make sense, considering the fact that ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips isn’t a fan of ACC teams playing Group of 5 schools on the road.
I will tell you this much. The Mountaineer faithful certainly believe NC State is dropping the series with App State, and it just takes a little scrolling on X (formerly Twitter) to get a read on their feelings on the situation.
CBS Sports released their Top-25 Power 4 Coaches in College Football, and NC State’s Dave Doeren came in at #16. Heading into last season, he went into the season ranked #25.
16) Dave Doeren: The NC State coach finally gets some overdue credit. He’s always hovered around the bottom of our top 25 or just outside it, and now he finds himself firmly entrenched in it thanks to all the changes at the top. Coaches who take mid-tier programs and overachieve never get enough credit, in my estimation, and the consistency Doeren has established at NC State — where he spent most of his time in a division with Clemson and Florida State — is one of the most impressive things any coach in the country has done. I’m glad to see Doeren getting closer to the top 15. 2023 rank: 25 (+9) (CBS Sports)
Numerous CBS Sports’ analysts voted in the poll, and Tom Fornelli actually ranked Doeren #8.
DraftKings released their way-too-early odds for the game, and Tennessee is currently a 5.5-point favorite.
Here’s the deal, as NC State fans, if we want to be a big time Football program, NC State fans need to gobble up tickets to this game. Let’s do our part and make sure that Bank of America Stadium is painted RED. Buy Tickets HERE.
NC State announced this morning that the Wolfpack and UVA will play in a home-and-home non-conference series, with the game in 2025 being in Raleigh, and the game in 2026 being in Charlottesville.
To reiterate, despite the fact that both teams are in the ACC, these games are considered non-conference games, and won’t count toward conference records. This is similar to what UNC and Wake Forest did a few years back.
Here’s what’s interesting about the addition of these games in 2025 and 2026. Prior to the announcement, NC State already had 4 non-conference games scheduled for both years.
It would be my assumption that one of the previously scheduled non-conference games for each season will not take place now.