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Auburn Transfer Safety Donovan Kaufman Commits to NC State

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4 months ago

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NC State just picked up a commitment from Auburn Transfer Safety Donovan Kaufman (5’10”/204). Kaufman took an Official Visit to NC State on the weekend of January 26th, after entering the Portal on the 16th.

Rivals ranked Kaufman as a 4-Star prospect in the 2020 recruiting class. They ranked him as the #186 overall player nationally, the #11 Safety, and the #9 player in the state of Louisiana. Out of high school, Kaufman committed to Vanderbilt.

In his first season of college football, Kaufman played 2 games (started) for the Commodores as a True Freshman, collecting 15 tackles and a pass breakup in limited action.

In 2021, Kaufman transferred to Auburn, where he played in 13 games as a Freshman (2020 didn’t count against eligibility due to Covid), starting in 7 of them. In 414 snaps, Kaufman had 33 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 interception, 2 pass breakups and 3 forced fumbles.

In 2022, Kaufman was the returning starter at Safety, starting in the first 7 games, before suffering an injury that kept him out of the final 4 games. Still, he played in 459 snaps, which was a new career high. As a Sophomore, Kaufman recorded a career high 39 tackles, as well as 2 pass breakups and 1 forced fumble. His PFF grade was 72.1 that year, which is the best grade of his career.

This past season, Kaufman started in 4 of the 12 games he played in, recording 395 snaps. As a Junior, Kaufman had 37 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery and 2 forced fumbles.

Kaufman has played 1,369 collegiate snaps in 34 career games, starting in 18.

NC State is returning both of their starting Safeties from 2023 in Devan Boykin and Sean Brown. Boykin is recovering from a torn ACL suffered in December, but I’m hopeful he will be full go by the start of the 2024 season. Robert Kennedy III started for the Wolfpack at Nickel this past year, and he has run out of eligibility leaving a hole there. I could see Boykin moving to Nickel. Either way, there will be a starting role open at Nickel, or one of the Safety positions if Boykin moved to Safety.

Adding a player with Kaufman’s experience into the Wolfpack’s secondary is tremendous at this point from the Transfer Portal. Don’t be surprised if he is competing for the starting job at Nickel or Safety this Fall.

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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

ESPN Ranks NC State In Their Top-15 of Their Post-Spring Way-Too-Early Preseason Top-25

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5 hours ago

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May 20, 2024

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ESPN released their Post-Spring Way-Too-Early Preseason College Football Top-25 today, and they ranked NC State 13th.

  1. Georgia
  2. Ohio St.
  3. Texas
  4. Oregon
  5. Notre Dame
  6. Ole Miss
  7. Alabama
  8. Missouri
  9. Utah
  10. Michigan
  11. FSU
  12. Penn St.
  13. NC State
  14. LSU
  15. Tennessee
  16. Clemson
  17. Kansas St.
  18. Oklahoma
  19. Oklahoma St.
  20. Arizona
  21. Virginia Tech
  22. Kansas
  23. Iowa
  24. Miami
  25. USC

Here’s what they had to say about the Wolfpack:

Spring update: Dave Doeren has quietly guided the Wolfpack to 34 wins the past four seasons, including a 9-4 mark last year, despite having a mess in the quarterback room. That position shouldn’t be a problem with former Coastal Carolina star Grayson McCall taking over the offense. He threw for at least 2,400 yards with at least 24 touchdowns and fewer than three interceptions in each of three straight seasons from 2020 to 2022. McCall battled a head injury last season. He’ll be surrounded by plenty of talent at NC State, including transfer receivers Noah Rogers (Ohio State) and Wesley Grimes (Wake Forest) and returning star KC Concepcion, the ACC Rookie of the Year in 2023. Tight end Justin Joly (UConn) and tailback Jordan Waters (Duke) were big additions as well. NC State faces September tests against Tennessee in Charlotte and Clemson on the road, but it doesn’t play Florida State, Louisville, Virginia Tech or Miami — four of the best teams in the ACC — during the regular season. (ESPN)

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NC State Football

Does the Addition of the UVA Series Equal the Elimination of NC State’s Series with App St.?

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4 days ago

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May 17, 2024

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Earlier this week it was announced that NC State and Virginia would play one another in a home-and-home series, with the Wolfpack hosting in 2025, and the Cavaliers hosting in 2026.

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.

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.

This situation brings to mind the bill that has been proposed in the North Carolina House of Representatives that would force NC State and UNC to play App St., ECU and UNC Charlotte in Football, Men’s Basketball and Women’s Basketball.

If the addition of UVA means the elimination of App St. on NC State’s schedule, what are your thoughts? Share in the comments.

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CBS Sports Ranks Dave Doeren as 1 of the Top-20 Coaches in College Football

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4 days ago

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May 16, 2024

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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.

ACC Coaches that made the Top-25

3. Dabo Swinney (Clemson)

8. Mike Norvell (FSU)

16. Dave Doeren (NC State)

19. Jeff Brohm (Louisville)

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NC State vs. Tennessee Kickoff Time & TV Network Revealed

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5 days ago

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May 15, 2024

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Kickoff time and TV Channel details have been revealed for NC State and Tennessee’s game in the Duke Mayo Classic in Week 2 of next season.

The game will be a primetime game on Saturday 7th, at 7:30pm on ABC.

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This game has the makings to be a Top-25 matchup.

Here’s a look at some of the Way-Too-Early Preseason rankings for the Wolfpack and the Volunteers:

Action Network: NC State #24/Tennessee #17

ON3: NC State #22/Tennessee #15

247: NC State #21/Tennessee #11

ESPN: NC State #17/Tennessee #15

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.

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