When the football team arrived at Wallace Wade Stadium Saturday afternoon to face in-state rival Duke, it was perhaps as healthy as it has been since its opening game way back in September.
That new found health and the return of injured players — namely red shirt sophomore linebacker Nate Irving — may have had more to do with the Wolfpack winning than anything else.
In the three close conference losses leading up to Saturday’s battle with the Blue Devils, the defense allowed an average of 30 points a game. Saturday, Duke scored 17, seven of which came late in the fourth quarter well after the outcome of the game had been decided.
Coach Tom O’Brien said having Irving back in the lineup gave the team — and especially the defense — added confidence.
“He was our best player on defense,” O’Brien said. “We haven’t played as well without him in there. When he’s back there is a sense of comfort among the guys.”
Irving downplayed his importance to the success of the defense but said it was nice for the entire unit to get to play together again.
“This is the first game actually our whole defense has been able to play together since maybe the first game,” Irving said. “When we’re all together, you can tell.”
On top of the strong play from the defense, the Pack offense continued to improve with the play of redshirt freshman quarterback Rusell Wilson — who has no attempted 142 passes since his last interception, good for second best in school history.
“He’s gotten better each and every week,” O’Brien said of Wilson. “And once again, he doesnt turn the ball over, which is huge in a game like this.”
Wilson credited his success against the Blue Devils to his wide receivers, who made several acrobatic catches throughout the game.
“[The receivers] all wanted the ball in their hands,” Wilson said. “They did a great job tonight, exceptional really.”
The Pack, now at 3-6 overall and 1-4 in ACC play, has three weeks left to keep improving, something senior running back Andre Brown said he hopes results in a visit to a bowl game.
“We’re trying to go to a bowl,” Brown said. “We got three games left. We’re gonna take it one game at a time. We’ll learn from the film and get ready for Wake Forest.”
With its win over Duke Saturday, the Pack improved to 2-0 this season against in-state opponents and setup showdowns with Wake Forest this Saturday and North Carolina Nov. 22 for a chance at winning what Irving called a “mythical state championship.”
“We’re the only team that plays every team in-state,” Irving said. “To be able to win all the games is something big for us.”
O’Brien, who is now 4-1 against in-state opponents in his career at N.C. State, said it was nice to get the first ACC win out of the way.
“It’s obviously great to get the first one so you guys don’t have to write that we haven’t won an ACC game this year,” O’Brien told the media. “Now we can go on and focus on Wake Forest.”