NC State football’s top storylines for the 2024 season

Intro hey everyone welcome on into another episode of wrl triangle and two I'm Lou Fernandez he is Mark Bergen and Mark we are almost at the college football season we're going through and recapping storylines what to watch for for each of the ACC local teams let's go to NC State Mark the wolf pack can you go from good to great we're doing storylines top story lines for each team if you didn't catch our videos with North Carolina and Duke check those out but we're talking about wolf pack can you go from good to Can NC State win 10 games this season? Great you had several years in a row now you win eight games you win nine games you win eight games you win nine games can you get to double digit wins Y for the second time in program history you've only done that in 2002 and I'm saying this you go into the year rank number 24 ultimately you want to play for the college football playoff and get in that top 12 can Dave Dorne and NC State do it this season that is my number one storyline for the wolf pack well and I think that's totally fair this the they've been very very consistent being in that kind of 789 window area so it's like okay what what comes next and it's the timing of all of this is so interesting with that 12 team college football playoff where before with the four teams I mean you had to win the ACC be undefeated and even then with Florida State being the prime example of this they didn't even guarantee that you were going to get into the college football playoff now you're hoping that ACC should be able to get two teams in although we you know we'll see how things go this season but at least you have one exactly at least you have one you have that possibility plus their schedule is I don't want to say easy but it is on paper easier than what you've seen in the past with NC State playing in the Atlantic so um I agree I think that's a great place to start for these storylines my storyline KC Concepcion's emergence next one I'm gonna go with L it on us leis Fernandez Casey concepion okay oh okay he is the storyline in general and I say that because he was so incredibly talented and good last year he was the NC State offense the May the way they used him you know rookie of the year he's preseason all ACC this year last year 64 catches 767 yards he averaged 12 yards a catch and then on top of that when he ran the ball because they did run the ball with him a lot he averaged 7.8 yards per carry so he is just lighning in a bottle he is incredibly explosive um so I'm I'm so curious to see what the next step is for Casey concepion um he was primarily what they wanted to do on offense last year and now they've expanded they've grown they've brought in different players receivers tight ends running backs quarterback which I'm sure we'll get to here in just a second so defenses are not going to be able to key in on Casey concepion how does that elevate his game as he moves into his true sophomore year yeah he was really impressive a year ago and I thought he got better and better as the season went along and I thought his success there were some Cor relation to getting him the ball and getting him the ball in space to make plays to the team success as well so that was on my list of how you're going to utilize his skill set that was not my number two pick though Lewis I mean I'm just I need to keep it keep it interesting I I I I'm also I'm a sucker I'm a sucker not a bad pick it's just not my number two I'm a sucker for good wide receiver play so when I when I I look at it like this when I watch NC State this year what am I going to be doing and nine times out of 10 when they get ready to snap the ball I will be trying to find Casey conion on the field and I think that's fair too because you're talking about a player if he continues at his trajectory likely has an NFL future so that's that's fair and you know that's fair you coaches that watch NC State that's gonna be the first thing they try and figure out too is where is Casey concepion on the field all right what you got next Do Grayson McCall's skills translate from the Sun Belt? Grayson McCall it's the connection with Casey concepion but he comes over from the sunbell a multi-time conference Player of the Year there three times only player in Sun Bel history to win the player of the year three times so how does that translate over from the sunb to the ACC I think it will translate over I found it compelling that Dave Dorne entering his 12th year saying that he is grateful that McCall is has transferred over because if you look at the quarterbacks on NC State's roster this is no knock on any of them I think it is one pass attempt of any other quarterback on the roster so you bring over Mcall has 10,000 yards passing at the Collegiate level 10,000 they need him to play at a high level though they need him to play at a high level because behind him there's not the depth that you would have so early on in the year if the Wolfpack can get out to a big lead I want to see some of the backup players remember you can play what four games and still maintain your red shirt to get some actual in-game college experience because McCall has that I think he'll perform at a high level I hate to even say that injuries can happen but injuries can happen Le so he has dealt with injuries in the past so that is to monitor you know in past injury does not always um correlate with future injury but it is something to monitor there is not a lot of experience behind Grayson McCall that's for sure um but I mean he's I the the thing you hit there was will his experience translates the ACC and it's not like Coastal Carolina where Grayson McCall I was at previously was is just you know kind of hanging out doing their thing like they were they were a good team with Grayson McCall there often kind of moving into that top 25 range um you know they they he his touchdown to interception ratio was about six to one while he was at Coastal Carolina so he took care of the ball completed about 70% of his passes um so I don't think that NC State needs their quarterback to put on a cape and be Superman I think NC State needs their quarterback to be able to run the Robert and I offense well one other thing before you get to other pick too with that just run the offense but also to maintain his health to stay healthy sure if you're trying to be Superman out there and taking hits that you don't need to take sure you need Grayson McCall to stay healthy if you want to go and be in that conversation for the college football playoff exactly and um you know I think one thing I will say before I move on my next point about Grayson McCall when you look at when you listen talked to the wide receivers and a lot of the coaches that are involved with that offense they've talked about his leadership and how it's kind of been about developing that chemistry early on taking the young group of wide receivers under his wing making sure everything is working out building growing teaching um and I think that you you brought up that word grateful I think we could see graceon McCall's impact go well beyond just how he is throwing the ball but also who he is throwing the ball to if that makes sense in the locker room NC State's first four games what's your next pick LS you got the you've got the next one here so I think I could go a couple of different ways with this one um but I am going to go specifically with back to kind of like the schedule the first four games of the season um wrl Sports investigative reporter Brian Murphy has brought this up several times essentially we will learn so so much about this NC State season after the first four games okay lay lay it on us I can p up if you need me to go the first game Western Carolina on Thursday August 29th at Carter Finley Stadium game number two in Charlotte against the Tennessee Volunteers arold Stopman gr Lis and I first started working together yeah yeah but that's going to be a neutral sight game I would expect to see more Wolfpack fans they're just given the proximity to Charlotte Tennessee fans are wild man I know wild we love we v f we love you by the way we we love you I I don't know I'm I I'm expecting that just to be a a a rock as atmosphere it's uh it's kind of a coin flip game Tennessee coming into the year ranked 15th so you got two top 25 teams there game three Louisiana Lafayette I believe it is Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech excuse me Louisiana Tech and then game four at Clemson so after you get through the first four games of the Season you going to know just about everything you need to know about the um the what The Season's Outlook will be in terms of a postseason now we we've seen NC State finish very well down the stretch last year so it's not like their season is going to be over but if they come out of that stretch four and0 with wins against Tennessee and Clemson then you are in the driver's seat to get to Charlotte for the ACC Championship game and to possibly represent the ACC in the college football playoffs and see I'm looking at though and I hope this isn't stepping on one of your picks but with the conference realignment you're playing K and Stanford this year as well yeah so you're going to be traveling a lot more than you were in previous years yeah you know we mentioned the first four games but hey if you're going out to Cal right going out to Berkeley you know is because it's something you haven't done exactly it's something you haven't done to this point so I I think we're those first four games will tell us so much about this NC State team particular games two and four all right let me keep this easy and I'm How will NC State replace Payton Wilson? gonna be simple like you leis in this Regard in this regard okay uh replacing pton Wilson sure and you're talking about one of the most heralded defensive players in program history yeah uh he's already like beloved in Pittsburgh he's a rookie linebacker they feel like they got a because he flies around the football and how do you replace that and I don't think it's just one player uh I know we've talked to the NC State players about stepping up um the defensive lineman who's a defensive Edge rusher his name Scapes my mind right now talking about uh Davin van Davin van yeah and we've talked to him here at wrl sports about you know what he expects to accomplish this upcoming season in his leadership role on the defense how you fill that void is going to be huge for this defense and that's really been the calling card for the wolf pack of how have you won games it's been been playing as high level of Defense if you can play and getting what you can from the offense the last few years so how you feel that void of a guy where he wins the Chuck Bednar award um again I have nothing but good things to say because when it translates on the field of not just the combine him flying to the football uh he's a playmaker that I don't think one guy just replaces given what he gave to this program in his time with the wolf pack yeah no I I think that's that's definitely a point I was going to bring up so I think that's very good um and he's you know he he was so good for NC State heartbeat of the defense all of that stuff um for my Can DC Tony Gibson elevate Wolfpack defense? final Point here yeah I'm gonna go from the heartbeat of NC State's defense the past few years to the the brain of NC State's defense the past few years Tony Gibson their defensive coordinator okay um he is one of the best assistant coaches in the country especially from a defensive perspective so my storyline will be how does he take this defense and elevate it raise its ceiling this year um the defensive backs are very talented um Aiden white is one of the best quarterbacks in the country um eight interceptions he has not allowed a passing touchdown in two years um which is you know good luck ACC receivers good luck who we who we attribute passing touchdowns too responsibilities that's according to NC state's official website so keep that in mind okay um but he the what what he's able to do with the defense consistently it's he's one of those rare um you know uh defensive coordinators where or assistant coaches in general where you don't worry you say ah you know he's there he'll figure it out he'll put something together um just his presence raises the floor of of NC State's defense NC State's team so you know where is this defense able to go as in general with him so it kind of ties into what you were saying earlier because there are a lot of pieces that you have to replace um but NC State's defense has proven that they are up to the task um and so their offense you know see their growth there one thing I'll point out so NC had three losses last year in the regular season right the Notre Dame loss bunch of rain it was at Carter Finley um Notre Dame was obviously the better team that yeah I was there and it's like you go into PNC Arena for about an hour you come back and uh Estee the running back for Notre Dames running off for a touchdown as soon as you get back into the stadium so the other two games that NC State lost versus Louisville and at Duke uh their offense scored just 13 combined points in those games and that's not going to get it done and you know they they lost the little oblique was 13- 10 and then the Duke game was 24-3 so oftentimes their defense is going to show up um so I'm just excited to see what Tony get goes back to what we were talking about when we were talking about the Tar Heels is the complimentary football and how that I I think you're gonna kind of know what to expect from this Wolfpack defense yeah absolutely um so just to recap or do you want I got one honorable mention one honorable mention Jordan Waters the transfer from duke just because he's transferring over from the triangle school so that is my honorable mention but yeah let's recap and can you Recap go from good to Great potentially a 10- win season potentially a college football playoff appearance now you got casy concepion what watching him at all times Grayson McCall in this offense okay uh my second one was the first four games of the season for NC State um which to recap are Western Carolina Tennessee in Charlotte uh then you play uh Louisiana Tech at home and then you play at Clemson so depending on how finish those four games you can have a really good chance of kind of propelling yourself into that college football playoff uh conversation 4 and0 even three in one I think three three in one like you're in a good position four- 0 it's like oh wow watch how Francy stes so if you I'll say this here's my hot take if you go four and0 in that stretch I think you could be looking at an NC State that is creeping towards the top 10 yeah if you go four and0 in that stretch see I see it uh replacing pton Wilson how you go about doing that uh that's a committee approach no not it's not like you're just gonna drag and drop and here's the next Pon Wilson um and then um finally my my last one was just Tony Gibson in the defense what what do they do to continue to elevate that group in general with just how good of a defensive coordinator he is um always excited to see what that is so another edition of wrl triangle in two check out our top story lines for the other triangle teams UNCC in Duke Mark Bergen LS Fernandez thanks so much for watching