After three N.C. State defensive linemen went in the first round of last year’s NFL Draft, the media exploded with questions about whether coach Chuck Amato could reload his defensive front.
But in the preseason the team was confident the younger players could get the job done. Junior defensive tackle DeMario Pressley, who returns as the only defensive lineman to start every game a year ago, said in fall camp he was confident the new guys could step right in.
“It’s really no difference,” Pressley said. “The ends that we have now are really fast and they’re coming along really good. We should do fine this year and be able to keep that strong defensive mentality.”
And after the Appalachian State game, it appeared Pressley’s assessment was right-on, as the defense allowed just 133 total yards and only allowed the Mountaineers to pick up six first downs.
The defensive line had a large hand in the performance as well, sacking the quarterback four times and helping to control the running game. Appalachian State only managed 67 yards rushing in the game.
But since then, the tables have turned. Against Akron the defense gave up 381 total yards — 267 of which were came through the air — and allowed the Zips to put together two late scoring drives, including the game winner as time expired.
Then in the Southern Miss game it got even worse for the Pack. The Golden Eagles torched State ‘s defense for 442 total yards — but this time the running game did the damage.
As a team, Southern Miss ran for 261 yards, led by freshman running back Damion Fletcher, who had 177 yards on 28 carries.
Now three games into the season and coming off back to back losses, redshirt sophomore defense end Ray Brooks said the defensive play has not been where it needs to be.
“We’ve played fairly well,” Brooks said. “But we haven’t played to the fullest of our potential.”
Redshirt freshman defensive tackle Teddy Larsen, who played 28 plays against Southern Miss, said the inexperience of the line has definitely been a factor this season.
“Everybody’s real young,” Larsen said. “We only got two guys who had significant playing time [before this year]. So we’re all pretty new. But we’ve done a pretty good job of stepping up. And we can still improve so much, which makes me excited.”
Brooks said the line hasn’t had the intensity in game situations to match last season’s squad.
“We’re playing about at our practice level,” Brooks said. “And in games you have to play a lot harder than you do in practice. So we can do a lot better than we have.”
According to Pressley, though, against Southern Miss, aggressiveness was not the problem. He said the Golden Eagles used the Wolfpack’s game plan against it.
“As a defensive line, we are taught to get up field,” Pressley said. “And they used that to their advantage.”
Brooks agreed with Pressley when he said Southern Miss’ play selection caught the defensive line off guard.
“As a whole team we did bad,” Brooks said. “But the defensive line could have done a lot better. We shouldn’t let them bust big plays on us. We didn’t prepare well for the draw and they busted that play on us a lot.”
This week it will not get any easier for the defensive line as it faces a Boston College offensive line full of juniors and seniors that averages 306 pounds per player.
Amato said the Pack will have to figure out how to use Boston College’s size advantage against them.
“Just like with every other defensive line, we’re much smaller,” Amato said. “We have to rely on technique and playing with [our] pad level low. We can’t stand up. And I don’t know why they would stand up on [Boston College’s line], because [our line] can’t see over them anyway.”
Brooks said he preferred to play against bigger, taller opponents and feels State’s speed will be the difference in the game.
“It doesn’t matter how big they are,” Brooks said. “If you’re smaller it’s actually an advantage. You can get up under their pads and get good leverage and push them back. It can be tough to play against big guys. They’re stronger, but we’re faster.”