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I’ve never been the biggest Dave Doeren fan. He went his first 4 years without a winning record in the ACC. 2018 was a 9 win season, that was a huge disappointment given the schedule. In 2019, injuries decimated the Wolfpack, and they were the worst team in the ACC. Doeren is still searching for his first signature OOC victory.
The 2020 start didn’t help. There was a shaky win over Wake Forest and a blowout loss to depleted Virginia Tech. Then NC State found something. QB Devin Leary came in and the offense exploded with wins over Pittsburgh and Virginia. At 3-1, the Wolfpack were on the brink of a top 25 ranking facing Duke.
A little bit of luck, and a lot of resiliency is what we are starting to see out of this year’s 2020 NC State team.
It was on full display against Saturday.
Down 17-7 late in the first half, NC State blocks a punt to make the score 17-14. Clinging to a 21-20 lead, QB Devin Leary takes a brutal hit that knocks him out of the game. Bailey Hockman comes in and throws a TD, that WR Thayer Thomas catches on his helmet to secure the score.
Now 4-1, NC State can aim for higher goals in 2020. Certainly they aren’t in the class of the ACC’s very best teams, but a really solid season is possible. Next week is a monster game with top 5 ranked UNC team setting up the biggest UNC/NC State in recent memory. Miami is a test after that, but the season finishes with FSU, Liberty, Syracuse, and Georgia Tech. That’s an extremely manageable finishing stretch for NC State.
If they could steal UNC or Miami, we could see NC State put together a 9-2 regular season. Even 7-4, or 8-3 would be an excellent turnaround from the 2019 debacle.
There just seems to something different about this year’s 2020 NC State football team. They are an opportunistic team that’s forcing turnovers, and making some big plays on offense. Up 28-20 against Duke, and the Blue Devils driving, the Wolfpack came up with an interception that effectively sealed the game.
The loss of Leary creates another opportunity for NC State to play though, but they’ve been resilient all year.
It’s been Dave Doeren’s best coaching job so far in Raleigh.
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