NC State won 8 games this year. They beat UNC, Florida State, and a pretty good Texas Tech team, and you still feel this is the season that got away from the Wolfpack.
The stars aligned with QB Devin Leary returning, and a talented shutdown defense. There was talk of being ACC Champions and a dark horse playoff team.
Leary got injured midway through the season, but still, a 10 win top 25 season was possible. It would have been the Wolfpack’s first 10+ win season since 2002.
After a 7-2 start NC State went on to lose 3 of their final 4 games including an inexplicable disaster of a home loss to Boston College.
That an 8-5 season is considered a disappointment speaks to how Dave Doeren has elevated the Wolfpack program, and that’s not a bad thing.
By most standards, 8-5 isn’t a bad season, but it is in 2022 at NC State. It mostly resided with an offense that couldn’t get out of its own way against Maryland in a 16-12 bowl loss or most of the season.
In will walks new OC Robert Anae and likely new starting QB MJ Morris.
I don’t think we’ll see a regression of NC State back to mediocrity.
Doeren has built a foundation where the floor is going to usually be 8 wins. NC State has won at least 8 games in 5 of the last 6 years. Can he get NC State over the hump? That’s the question of the day. NC State has been solid overall, especially in recent years, but never great.
That doesn’t mean 2022 wasn’t a missed opportunity for NC State, because it was.
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