A little less than two weeks before its first game, the NC State football team had a closed scrimmage limited to invites in Carter Finley Stadium this past Saturday in preparation for the start of the season. 

According to head coach Dave Doeren, the scrimmage was light contact with no tackling. This was largely due to the fact that they want to minimize injury risk as much as possible before the season starts. Considering the fact that players are currently dropping like flies in the NFL due to injury, this was the right call.

Doeren also mentioned that the team spent a numerous amount of time with the two-minute drill and special teams work. The Wolfpack has plenty of options at kick returner, including junior wide receiver Bra’Lon Cherry, junior running back Matt Dayes, redshirt freshman wide receiver Maurice Trowell and freshman wide receiver/running back Nyheim Hines. 

“Nyheim is an electric guy back there who we feel good about,” Doeren said. “We need to get him on offense a little bit to get the butterflies out until we have him returning kicks, but ultimately, we’d love for him to be the guy. We have four guys we can put back there, but he gives us something back there we haven’t had in a while.”

Hines had a particularly good day, scoring a rushing touchdown and adding a handful of catches during the two-minute drill. The Garner, N.C. native played running back in high school, but will likely see the majority of his time as the slot receiver due to his athleticism, versatility and the loaded depth at the running back position. 

Redshirt freshman quarterback Jalan McClendon will serve as redshirt senior quarterback Jacoby Brissett’s primary backup this season after being redshirted last year. With Brissett graduating after this season, McClendon is the early favorite to take over the reins once he leaves.

“We need him to be ready to be our starter, first and foremost. Every backup is one play away from having the entire team depend on him,” Doeren said. “He needs to prepare as if Jacoby can’t play, like he is the starter. If he does that this year, the transition won’t be as hard next year. If he sits back, it will be very tough on him. (Freshman quarterback Jakobi) Meyers is doing well also, so we’re not going to just hand the torch over to him.”

Last season’s starting offensive tackles Rob Crisp and Tyson Chandler graduated, causing the coaching staff to make some changes along the line. 

Graduate guard Joe Thuney moves back to left tackle, where he spent the majority of his time in 2013, after starting last season at left guard. Graduate guard Alex Barr will start at left guard and redshirt freshman Will Richardson will start at right tackle, per News & Observer. Senior center Quinton Schooley and sophomore guard Tony Adams will take remain in their respective spots of center and right guard.

“I’m comfortable with the group we have right now,” Doeren said. “We’re a little bit ahead of where we were last season.”

There will be plenty of new faces to look out for this coming season, as NC State hopes the crop of young talent will make an impact for the better once the team hits the field.