It’s that time of year again: good weather, good tailgates and some good football. As the countdown until the first football game of the season continues, the team continues training with an eye on the season opener on Sept. 5 against Troy.
This past Friday morning, students gathered at NC State’s practice field to watch and support the football team at the open practice, an event the team’s Leadership Council voted to hold for fellow students.
The practice field had a lot of energy both on and off the field. Students were excited to see this year’s team and what may be in store for fans this season.
“I don’t know if there is a game that I’m not looking forward to,” said Evan Patton, a sophomore studying sports management. “We’re obviously on an upswing this year, so I’m thinking we’ll have nine wins this year, which sounds pretty good to me.”
Andrew Smith, a senior studying supply chain and operations management, also has high hopes for the team this season and recognizes the program’s growth since head coach Dave Doeren began his tenure.
“The first year was a little bit of a down year, but he now has his recruits in place,” Smith said. “You can see it out on the field right now, how they’re working really hard; it just seems like a different team than it was. I’m pretty excited about the future.”
The team will again look toward redshirt senior quarterback Jacoby Brissett to lead the Wolfpack to another successful season. Brissett threw for more than 2,600 yards with a 59.7 percent completion rate in the 2014 season. Wolfpack fans support the team’s quarterback and believe he is a key player on the team.
“Jacoby is going to be a stud this year,” Patton said. “We also have two stud running backs in [junior] Matt Dayes and [senior] Shadrach Thornton. They’re all going to lead the team in offense.”
Wolfpack students seem confident in the team this season and want to see the players have a good year.
“[Sophomore defensive tackle] Kentavius Street is going to have a good breakout year this year,” Smith said. “He’s going to be a good pass rusher off the edge, so I’m pretty excited for him. I think he’s going to hold down the defensive line for us.”
Although students and fans are excited for football season in general, some students are looking forward to some games more than others.
“I’m definitely most looking forward to the Clemson game on Halloween night,” said Jimmy Casey, a senior studying economics. “It’ll be Halloween night, and both of us will hopefully be going in undefeated, and one of us is going to come out with a loss, and it’s not going to be us. But, they will also be our toughest game.”
Friday’s open practice was a clear reminder of the wave of positivity that has washed over Raleigh in anticipation of the brand new Wolfpack football season.
