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NC State Football

Derrick Eason’s Selflessness Impressed Doeren

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5 years ago

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NC State head coach Dave Doeren spoke of the selflessness of Redshirt Freshman Derrick Eason in yesterday’s weekly press conference. When a coach watches a player make a sacrifice for the sake of the team, they swell up with pride.

The depth of the Wolfpack Offensive Line took a serious blow this offseason. Kendall Brown is no longer with the team. Jalynn Strickland is still on scholarship at NC State, but is no longer on the football team due to medical hardship. Graduate Redshirt Senior Tyrone Riley, who was expected to start at Left Tackle, will miss the entirety of the 2019 season due to injury.

While Doeren is extremely excited about the True Freshman offensive Lineman (3 of them are on the Week 1 2-Deep Depth Chart), the attrition at the position group raised concern.

Here’s where the sacrifice of Eason comes in.

Eason was a 3-Star Defensive End prospect that ultimately chose the Wolfpack over the Fighting Irish. He played last season on the EDGE, seeing action in 3 games (3 plays from the line of scrimmage), which means he was able to maintain his Redshirt season.

This offseason, Eason moved to Defensive Tackle, and there was a lot of buzz surrounding how well he was adjusting to the middle.

When the need was presented to Eason, he was willing to switch to Offensive Tackle, if it was what was best for the team. Eason is listed as a backup to Justin Witt at Right Tackle, along with True Freshman Timothy McKay, on this weeks Depth Chart.

“I’m proud of Derrick for doing it, because it’s a selfless thing. You know, really, it’s about our depth. We feel like with Josh Harris and CJ Clark, two of the guys we signed, who are going to be available here soon, that we have depth inside (defensive line) that’s going to be coming back to the roster. Whereas on the O-line we don’t.

And so Derrick played O-line in high school. He was pretty good at it, and he’s a big long guy. He was willing to help the football team. And obviously, if it’s a thing that doesn’t work out, we know we can move him back, but it gives us the ability to have another player there.” Doeren said at his weekly press conference

Eason has many years ahead of him in Raleigh, and only time will tell whether or not he ends up staying on the Offensive Line. What is easy to know, is the fact that sacrifices like this make a team better, and draw them closer together.

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Matthew is Publisher and Co-Owner of Pack Insider. He is also the Lead Pastor of The Point Church in Cary, NC.

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NC State Football

Colorado DT Transfer Chazz Wallace is Taking an Official Visit to NC State Tomorrow

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7 hours ago

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May 6, 2024

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NC State has offered Colorado Defensive Tackle Transfer Chazz Wallace (6’2″/295), and he confirmed with me that he will be taking an Official Visit to Raleigh tomorrow.

Wallace played in 10 games for Coach Prime this past season, starting in 4. He finished with 11 tackles and 1.5 sacks. His PFF Grade was 56.4.

Prior to Colorado, Wallace spent his first three years at Old Dominion.

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NC State Football

NC State Offers FCS DT Brandon Lane

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16 hours ago

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May 6, 2024

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NC State offered Stephen F. Austin (FCS) Transfer Defensive Tackle Brandon Lane (6’3″/300) yesterday.

Lane started in 6 of the 11 games he played in for Stephen F. Austin this past season. He finished the year with 44 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. His PFF Grade was 74.6, which ranked 4th on the Lumberjacks Defense. His 79.9 Run Defense Grade ranked 3rd on the team. In 2022, Lane played 7 games as a reserve for Stephen F. Austin, recording 11 tackles 2.5 tackles for loss and 1 sack.

Lane spent his first two collegiate seasons at South Dakota State (2000-21). In 2000, he played in 1 game. In 2021, he played in 3 games as a reserve for the Jackrabbits. The 2000 season was the Covid Year, and the 2021 season was his redshirt year. As a result, Lane still has two years of eligibility remaining.

Around a week-and-a-half ago, Lane committed to Michigan St., but then he decommitted from the Spartans on May 2nd.

I don’t think Michigan St. is necessarily off the table, and he has visited Washington and West Virginia.

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NC State Football

Congrats to NC State Football’s Spring Graduates!

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3 days ago

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May 3, 2024

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Congratulations to the 7 NC State Football Players that just graduated this Spring.

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2024 Football Spring Graduates

Linebacker Devon Betty (1 year of eligibility)

Defensive End Davin Vann (1 year of eligibility)

Cornerback Aydan White (1 year of eligibility)

Offensive Guard Anthony Carter Jr. (2 years of eligibility)

Offensive Lineman Matt McCabe (2 years of eligibility)

Offensive Tackle Patrick Matan (2 years of eligibility)

Offensive Lineman Brendan Lawson (no longer on the roster)

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NC State Football

Proposed Bill in the NC House Would Require NC State & UNC To Play One Another, as well as ECU, UNCC and App St.

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4 days ago

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May 3, 2024

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A bill has been proposed by members of the North Carolina House of Representatives that would force NC State and UNC to play one another, as well as East Carolina, UNC Charlotte and Appalachian State.

According to House Bill 965, which you can read here in full, NC State and UNC would be required to play one another annually in Football, Men’s Basketball and Women’s Basketball. The Wolfpack and the Tar Heels would also be forced to play a game annually in all three sports against either ECU, UNC-Charlotte or App St. Every six years, NC State and UNC would be required to have played a home and away game against each of the three school in all three sports.

Here’s the exact wording from the proposed bill:

Competition Required. – A high-enrollment institution shall do all of the following in each eligible sport: (1) Every academic year, play at least one home or one away game against (i) another high-enrollment institution and (ii) an eligible constituent institution that is not a high-enrollment institution. (2) Every six academic years, play at least one home and one away game against each eligible constituent institution that is not a high-enrollment institution. A high-enrollment institution shall alternate home and away games that are scheduled against the same eligible constituent institution that is not a high-enrollment institution.

For glossary of terms being referenced above:

For the purposes of this bill, “High-enrollment institutions” = NC State and UNC, while “Eligible constituent institutions” = East Carolina, UNC Charlotte and Appalachian State.

It’s worth noting that NC State already has games schedule against each of these teams home-and-away in Football between now and 2031.

2025 – East Carolina (H)

2025 – @ App St.

2026 – App St. (H)

2028 – @ East Carolina

2030 – Charlotte (H)

2031 – @ Charlotte

What are your thoughts?

For more details, check out this article at WRAL.

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