Narrowing a 12-game regular season slate down to one word may seem like a challenge for most college football programs, but NC State has proven to be a living definition of resilience.
Through all the injuries, all the uphill battles and all the times where it seemed this team wouldn’t be able to regain after taking a blow to the chin, head coach Dave Doeren, his staff and this roster stood tall to finish the regular season 8-4 (4-4 ACC).
Highs and Lows
Perhaps the sweetest moment of the 2022 season for NC State was knocking off rival North Carolina on their home turf. In a 2OT thriller, redshirt freshman Ben Finley stepped up to the plate as the fourth quarterback to start a game for the Wolfpack this season. What ensued was nothing short of magic with Finley leading the red-and-white to its fifth win over the Tar Heels in the last seven meetings between the programs.
In the mind of NC State, everyday’s a good day to knock off UNC. Getting a win in “Carter-Finley West” against a then-top-20 Tar Heel team boasting what some considered to be a Heisman candidate made it even sweeter.
That win and all the narratives around it are sure to brighten the perspective on this season years down the road, but this team still came short of preseason expectations. Granted, starting the season as the No. 13 team in the country is a recipe for failure, but this returning class, mixed with promising young talent to fill the gaps left behind by last year’s seniors, was supposed to be made for the moment.
Through the first four weeks of the season, everything was going according to plan apart from a near disaster in Greenville, North Carolina. A win is a win, however, and No. 10 NC State was 4-0 heading into a matchup in Death Valley to determine the Atlantic. Appearing on College Gameday for the first time since 2004, the Wolfpack fell well short of an upset — failing to build on the historic 2OT victory against Clemson in the year prior at home. That’s when things began trending in the wrong direction.
Even after the loss to the Tigers, there was plenty of hope for NC State to regain and conquer the rest of its schedule. At the time, nothing could have been worse than watching redshirt junior quarterback Devin Leary take a hit in the backfield and stay on the turf, but that’s exactly what happened against the Seminoles. Despite a gritty comeback performance to knock off Florida State, the No. 13 team in the country at the time of writing, the game’s happenings cast a dark cloud over NC State’s future.
When it was discovered that Leary would miss the remainder of the year with a pectoral injury, it was graduate quarterback Jack Chambers’ time at bat. While the veteran signal caller led the Wolfpack to the promised land against Florida State, he did so without completing a pass — leaving many to wonder if he was made for the test of being a Power Five quarterback. If the game against then-No. 18 Syracuse was any indication, he was not. NC State fell to 5-2 behind an offensive meltdown that cast offensive coordinator Tim Beck and Chambers to the hot seat.
Heading into a much needed bye week to assess its options moving forward, NC State opted to stick with Chambers heading into a Thursday night matchup against Virginia Tech. Despite being 2-5 at the time, the Hokies jumped out to a 21-3 lead late in the third quarter to send the Pack into full desperation mode.
Enter true freshman quarterback MJ Morris.
For a program with a long history of valuing seniority at the quarterback position, seeing Doeren and his staff hand Morris the keys late in a must-win game came as a shock. Impressive is an understatement for what the 19-year-old accomplished, leading NC State to a nail-biting 22-21 victory to save the idea of a 10-win season and provide a green light at the end of the dock for a struggling Wolfpack offense.
Doing more than enough to earn the job, Morris became the first true freshman quarterback to start for NC State since program legend Phillip Rivers. With the moment, the young star torched Wake Forest for the Wolfpack’s marquee win in Raleigh this season — extending the home win streak to 16 and setting NC State up with a chance to make history.
In its final home game of the season, NC State suffered what may go down as the worst loss of the Dave Doeren era. Falling 21-20 on a late fourth quarter touchdown from the Eagles, the Wolfpack’s senior day was spoiled and the home win streak was no more. Morris had a bad afternoon, but that’s to be expected from a true freshman. At least he’d get the chance to right the ship in the final two weeks of the season, right?
The injury bug struck again, forcing Morris to the sidelines and Chambers back onto the field for NC State’s penultimate matchup against Louisville. Early into the game, Chambers once again lost his spot under center, this time to Finley, who had been elevated from the scout team as a result of an injury-stricken quarterback room. Even with occasional flashes of brilliance, NC State dropped its fourth game of the season to set up the aforementioned thriller in Chapel Hill.
Defensive Masterclass
Through all the adversity brought upon NC State this season, one side of the football never wavered in the face of obstacles placed before it. Defensive coordinator Tony Gibson’s unit has earned its spot among some of college football’s best in defensive rankings and has an incredibly talented returning class from last season to thank for it.
The linebacker trio of graduate Isaiah Moore, junior Drake Thomas and redshirt junior Payton Wilson have all likely notched a spot in the NC State Athletic Hall of Fame with their contributions to the program in 2022 and years prior.
Senior Tanner Ingle and Graduate Cyrus Fagan improved pass defense from the safety position that lost NC State games a year ago. Defensive backs like redshirt sophomore Shyheim Battle, senior Tyler Baker-Williams, sophomore Aydan White and graduate Derrek Pitts Jr. revamped the Pack’s coverage in the secondary tenfold.
And who could forget the run-stopping duo at defensive tackle in graduate Cory Durden and redshirt sophomore C.J. Clark.
It took every member of Gibson’s squad, returning and new, to have the Wolfpack in the top 25 of yards allowed per game in 2022. Even more impressive is NC State finishing the season as the 11th-best run defense in the country and clocking the third-most interceptions in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Gibson may have done enough to earn himself a bountiful contract as a head coach elsewhere this offseason. If that’s the case, Wolfpack fans are sure to remember the work his defenses did at NC State to keep this program competitive, even when it shouldn’t have been.
Mr. ACC
This season saw plenty of stars make the program proud, but none have etched themselves into conference history quite like graduate kicker Chris Dunn. His career has had its highs and lows just like any other. With moments like the onside kick in the UNC game last year and the go-ahead field goal against the Seminoles earlier this season, he may go down as the most impactful player in school history.
With his second extra point in the first half of the UNC game, Dunn became the ACC’s all-time points leader, passing former Clemson running back Travis Etienne with 479 career points. Adding to his trophy case of countless program records, Dunn now holds one of the most prestigious titles in ACC football as his college career draws to a close.
Even with the missed field goal against North Carolina that snapped his perfect streak in 2022, Dunn stands alone as the conference’s best to ever do it.
Raising Expectations
For the sixth time in his 10-year stint at NC State, Doeren will finish with eight wins or more. As one of three programs in the conference to never appear in a title game, the work Doeren has accomplished in his time with the Pack to establish a winning culture has been second to none. Even though this was supposed to be “the year,” to bring a team haunted by so many injuries and setbacks to an 8-4 record with six wins over bowl eligible opponents and five of those coming against seven-win or better teams is nothing short of a miracle.
The class recognized on senior day this season has played an equally important part in NC State’s new culture. The Thomas brothers, Leary, Moore, Wilson, Dunn, graduate center Grant Gibson and others all hold a claim as some of the best to ever don the red-and-white. If they all decide to move on to greener pastures, their impact on Raleigh’s football culture will remain in the new generation of NC State greats.
At the time of writing this, the Pack is still awaiting its bowl placement for a chance to cap off the season as a nine-win team. While Doeren has to wait another year to attempt breaking through that 10-win wall with NC State, nine wins for this team would be nearly as remarkable.
