By Jim Johnson
SouthernPigskin.com

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Dave Doeren has taken the Pack from 3-9, during his first season in Raleigh, to 8-5 last year, and and markedly improved his team in nearly every facet of the game.

The NC State Wolfpack have quietly become one of the scarier teams in the ACC. Theyre not the brand that Florida State or Clemson or even Miami is, but theyre a snake in the grass. People tend to forget about them until they jump out and bite you.

Dave Doeren has taken the Pack from 3-9, during his first season in Raleigh, to 8-5 last year, and and markedly improved his team in nearly every facet of the game.

Jacoby Brissett, who had to sit out for a year after transferring from Florida, was the biggest difference-maker last year. Coach Dave Doeren raved about Brissetts impact on the program, stating that it was impossible to overstate his importance. He went on to say, x9cI told everybody last year, it’s his team because he’s the quarterback. The quarterback’s the CEO of your football team. You can go from Pop Warner to the NFL, if you look at their quarterback play, if it’s good, if he manages the team the right way, if he’s tough, if he’s a leader, those teams probably win some games. Vice versa, if you have a team that has no identity at that position, they’re probably not very good. So he’s helped us immensely. You can have a lot of other things, but if you don’t have, that it’s hard to reach the goals you have as a program.x9d

With Brissett taking the snaps and senior Shadrach Thornton at tailback, the Wolfpack boast one of the strongest, most experienced backfields in the conference. Thornton jumped from 768 rushing yards in 2013, up to 907, last year, despite carrying the ball almost exactly the same number of times. His bump in yards per carry placed him just barely outside the top ten in the conference. Thorntons steady consistency, coupled with Brissetts arm talent and mobility could potentially give defensive coordinators fits, this coming season.

Apart from the quarterback and running back, which will be the focal points of the offense, the entire unit should be improved from last year. Nine starters return, including all of the skill players, leaving the only holes to fill on the offensive line. Both offensive tackles from a year ago are now in the NFL, but guard Alex Barr has slid over to fill the need at Right tackle. Redshirt freshman Tyler Jones is set to start at left tackle, following a strong spring showing, and is really the only offensive question mark.

The offense ought to be one of the better units in the ACC, but the defense is the fulcrum from which NC States season swings. Only UNC gave up more points per game, within conference play, in 2014.

Although young, the offense is largely experienced. That is not the case on the other side of the ball. Five starters return in 2015, leaving over half of the defense to be replaced, for the most part, by freshmen and sophomores. Hakim Jones will have a lot of responsibility on him to be the leader of this defense as they try to contend for an ACC Championship berth. Dave Doeren spoke about Jones earlier, saying, x9cHakim has been really consistent. Hes a great open field tackler, and hes played a lot of football.x9d Johnson absolutely has played a lot of football, but that is not a characteristic he shares with the bulk of his defensive teammates.

If the defense does end up working itself out, the question of special teams still looms large. NC State hasnt had to deal with any problems in their kicking game for quite awhile. Even so, Doeren remains confident in his two new replacements. x9cWe had a bunch of different types of specialists come through our camps, felt like A.J. Cole and Kyle Bambard were two really good guys, not just from a kicking standpoint, but the personalities,x9d said Doeren, x9cThese guys are further along than I think most freshmen would be from a maturity standpoint. They’re both talented. The thing about kicking and punting, it’s like being a golfer a little bit. You can go to the range and look like a really good golfer. You get on the tee and there’s thousands of people up and down the fairway, maybe we’re not as good a golfer anymore. We’re not going to tell how good they are until they get in games and see how they can handle the pressure of college kicking.x9d

70% of North Carolina States football team will be underclassmen, this year. Thats the same number it was last season. Nowhere in the rules does it say that experience is a prerequisite for winning, but it always seems like it comes in handy. Offensively, they have experience where they need it, under center. Defensively, they have a great player in Hakim Jones that will have his work cut out for him making sure his younger teammates mature as fast as they can.

With Florida State, Louisville, and the preseason favorite to win the conference title, Clemson, in their division, NC State has its work cut out for it. Even so, the ACC is as up in the air as its been in years. Maybe it wont be this season, maybe it will, but the Wolfpack lie waiting in the shadows, and if you arent careful, you will get bit.