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NC State Loses 3 More Players for the Year

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NC State’s Football Team has been bit by the injury bug in a bad way in 2019, but the diagnosis just got much more serious today.

According to Joe Giglio of the News & Observer, three more players have been lost for the year:

Redshirt Junior Right Tackle Justin Witt
Junior Cornerback Chris Ingram
Sophomore Cornerback Teshaun Smith

Witt and Ingram are starters. Witt entered the Boston College game as the most experienced member of the Offensive Line with 1,241 snaps, starting all of last season. Ingram was a starter all of last year as well, and has 2 interceptions this year. Smith started 2 games this season when Senior Nick McCloud went down, and has been on the 2-deep all season.

NC State has now lost 7 players for the season, of which 5 were starters.

Redshirt Junior Right Tackle Justin Witt
Junior Cornerback Chris Ingram
Redshirt Junior Wide Receiver C.J. Riley
Redshirt Junior Tight End Dylan Autenrieth (Captain)
Graduate Redshirt Senior Left Tackle Tyrone Riley
Redshirt Freshman Cornerback Taiyon Palmer
Sophomore Cornerback Teshaun Smith

Witt, Ingram, Autenrieth, and C.J. Riley were starters, and Tyrone Riley was expected to start at Left Tackle to start the year.

The secondary, which hasn’t been a strength the past couple of years, couldn’t afford any injuries this season. Unfortunately, you can’t always get what you want. Three cornerbacks have been lost for the season from the 2-deep, and the other starter (and Captain) Nick McCloud hasn’t played since Week 1, and his status for the rest of the season is unknown.

NC State’s Freshmen Running Backs are exciting, but life without Autenrieth is difficult. Most of Reggie Gallaspy’s yards last year came behind the excellent blocking of Autenrieth.

Junior Wide Receiver has had more pressure than normal put on his shoulders due to C.J. Riley tearing his ACL. Riley was the eldest returning receiver as a Redshirt Junior, and was the fastest player on the team, serving as the one true deep threat.

If all of this isn’t bad enough, the Wolfpack was also without Graduate Redshirt Senior Defensive End James Smith-Williams, Sophomore Running Back Ricky Person, Redshirt Junior Defensive Tackle Val Martin, Senior Cornerback Nick McCloud and Freshman Wide Receiver Cecil Powell against Boston College this past Saturday.

Every one of them is a contributor. All of the above players are starters with the exception of Powell, who has flashed when given the opportunity.

In sum, that means that NC State was without 9 players on Saturday who were starters this past Saturday against the Eagles.

Nine out of twenty-two.

Smith-Williams has been dinged up all year. Person is expected back at some point. The extent of Martin and Powell’s injuries are unknown at this point. McCloud wants to get back and help this team win at some point this year, but after playing in only one game this year, he could play in three more games, and still redshirt.

My Boston College postgame article was emotionally charged. I’m not apologizing for that. There were still plenty of things in that game that I find inexcusable, but there is no denying the impact of injuries to this team.

Winning 9 games for the 3rd consecutive season was going to be a major stretch in 2019 after all the Pack lost with a complete roster.

I’m all about a next-man-up philosophy, but losing the amount of talent and starters that NC State has in 2019 is unprecedented.

The bye week couldn’t have come at a better time, giving this team extra time for new players in new opportunities to build chemistry.

 

Matthew is Co-Owner of Pack Insider. He writes for all sports, with a focus on football and recruiting, and is in charge of business strategy. He is an NC State alum who majored in business. Matthew is also the lead pastor of The Point Church in Cary, NC.

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NC State Football

Former NC State Running Back Jordan Houston Signs with Marshall

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Former NC State Running Back Jordan Houston has officially transferred to Marshall for his final year of eligibility. NC State played Marshall this past season, but Houston didn’t play against the Thundering Herd, because he had already opted to redshirt the remainder of the season.

After playing in three games this past season, Houston opted to redshirt the remainder of the season (despite the fact that he was the starter at the time), giving him the ability to transfer with one year of eligibility remaining.

Houston played in 51 games for NC State over 5 years on the field, rushing for 1,392 yards (4.3 yards per carry) and 6 touchdowns. He also caught 60 passes for 398 yards and 1 touchdown.

Houston was a 3-Star prospect in NC State’s 2019 recruiting class out of Flint High School in Oakton, Virginia.

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NC State Football

Philip Rivers will Finally be Enshrined in the NC State Hall of Fame in April

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Wolfpack legend Philip Rivers will finally be inducted into the NC State Hall of Fame on April 20th!

Rivers was elected into the Hall of Fame back in 2013 (2nd year of the NC State Hall of Fame), but he has deferred his enshrinement over the years due to time constraints.

 

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Rivers pretty much owns every NC State record for Quarterbacks, and still has the most Career Passing Yards and Passes Completed in ACC history, and he ranks 3rd in Touchdown Passes. Rivers was the ACC Rookie of the Year in 2000, and the ACC Player of the Year in 2003.

You can buy your tickets here.

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NC State Football

DJ Burns Had a Word for Wolfpack Fans After Winning the ACC Championship

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When NC State’s DJ Burns was giving his acceptance speech after receiving the 2024 ACC Tournament MVP Award, Burns had the following quote to say when asked what he wanted to say to the fans.

“I’m going to keep it real simple. Thank you to the ones who’ve been consistent throughout the ride, and welcome back everybody else.”

Burns’ words struck a chord.

Throughout much of this season, it was embarrassing to see all the empty seats in PNC Arena.

As the Wolfpack lost 7 of their final 9 regular season games, it was clear that this team wasn’t just losing games, but they were also losing much of the fanbase.

It’s clear from Burns’ words that the empty seats were noticed, and so were the words of fans online.

NC State finished the regular season 10th, and much of the fanbase was frustrated, and rightfully so.

But, frustrated doesn’t have to mean giving up.

‘Never giving up’ is kind of supposed to be NC State’s thing.

The words of Jimmy V reverberate throughout the history of NC State basketball.

This team didn’t always put W’s in the Win column this season, and it wasn’t always an easy watch, but never for a moment were these players not playing as hard as they could for their school, one another, and their coach.

They never gave up.

Fans have a right to be frustrated, but you can still show up for a team, even when they struggle, because that’s what loyal fans do. When players wear a jersey with NC State across the chest, and they don’t give up, their fans shouldn’t either.

NC State fans aren’t known to be fair weather fans. Let’s not get in the business of leading our players to think we are.

But, like Burns said, whether you’ve been along for the ride all season or not, it’s time to hop on.

 

 

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NC State Football

WATCH: PackInsider’s 2023 Sean Brown Highlight Reel

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This past season was a breakout season for Junior Safety, now turned Linebacker, Sean Brown.

This past season, Brown started in 11 of the 13 games that he played in, and ranked 3rd on the team in tackles (66) and pass breakups (5). He also had 5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 2 interceptions and 1 forced fumble. Brown’s PFF Grade of 63.7 ranked 13th on the team. His Tackling Grade of 86.6 ranked 2nd on the team behind Payton Wilson.

As you will notice in our Highlight Reel ABOVE, Brown lived in the box, and is a very ferocious tackler. He will fit right in at Linebacker next year for the Wolfpack.

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