Post-spring breakdown of N.C. State, FSU's Game 6 opponent in 2022

With spring football having wrapped up on campuses across the country, the Warchant staff is checking in on Florida State’s upcoming 2022 opponents to see how they fared during the spring.

We'll look at each team's question marks, key departures, new arrivals and more.

Next up on FSU's schedule is North Carolina State, a program coming off a strong 9-3 season in 2021, during which the Wolfpack finished ranked No. 20 in the final AP poll and beat the Seminoles for a second straight year.

For FSU, the N.C. State game comes on Oct. 8 as the fourth of a five-game Atlantic Division stretch that ends with Clemson a week later. N.C. State, however, must face Clemson on the road the week before welcoming in FSU to Raleigh.

In case you missed them, here are our earlier post-spring check-ins: Wake Forest (Oct. 1) | Boston College Eagles (Sept. 24) | Louisville Cardinals (Sept. 16) | LSU Tigers (Sept. 4).

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One of the hallmarks of N.C. State the past few seasons, especially in 2021, was balance on both sides of the ball.

Last year, the Wolfpack sported the ACC’s No. 2 scoring defense (19.7 points per game allowed) and No. 3 total defense, while quarterback Devin Leary tossed 35 touchdowns and was third in the conference in passing yards.

Can the Wolfpack keep up a strong balance offensively and defensively with some key pieces lost in several units?

N.C. State loses its top two running backs, top wideout and a few starters on the defensive line, but it still is expected to be in the mix for preseason ACC Atlantic favorite.

In a recent USA Today early preseason poll, the Pack were all the way up to No. 10 in the rankings.

Other than a down season in 2019, Dave Doeren has consistently won eight or nine games with the Wolfpack. He is 4-5 against FSU in his career, but has had success lately.

As he enters his 10th year with N.C. State, Doeren doesn’t lose anyone from his on-field staff. In fact, the only turnover on the staff in the last couple of years was the addition of former Kentucky head coach Joker Phillips as assistant head coach and receivers coach.

N.C. State and Doeren also have former East Carolina head coach Ruffin McNeill in the fold as special assistant to the head coach. He took that position in 2020 after serving as assistant head coach at Oklahoma.

While Leary is back at quarterback, the Wolfpack do lose a fair amount of production in the backfield, at wide receiver and also their top offensive lineman.

The departures of running backs Ricky Person and Zonovan "Bam" Knight definitely loom large. In the spring game, the group of backs that saw the most work were freshman Michael Allen, sophomore Demie Sumo-Karngbaye and junior Jordan Houston. Houston had over 500 yards on the ground in 2019 and has six career touchdowns. Former four-star wideout signee Micah Crowell is now listed as a running back on the roster.

The Wolfpack offensive line did a get a very nice boost recently when sixth-year guard Chandler Zavala won his appeal for another season in Raleigh.

But defensively up front, there will be a few new names to break in, especially on the edge. N.C. State lost its top two tacklers and sack producers from last season. Davin Vann, a sophomore who had four sacks last year, returns.

In better news for the Wolfpack, nearly every key name returns in the linebacking corps and defensive backfield. Redshirt junior linebacker Drake Thomas racked up 99 tackles last year and is one of the better returning linebackers in the division. Senior Isaiah Moore also will be back as a starter.

Safety Tanner Ingle was all-conference last year and had over 80 tackles. Both starting cornerbacks are back in Derek Pitts and Raleigh native Tyler Baker-Williams.

As for transfer portal activity, N.C. State wasn’t too active in the portal in terms of bringing in proven starters. One year ago, the Wolfpack brought in a pair of former FSU starters -- defensive lineman Cory Durden and defensive back Cyrus Fagan. Both enter their final year of edibility this fall.

* Offensive lineman Ikem Ekwonu was certainly the most talented player to depart the N.C. State roster this offseason. After three years as a starter at guard and tackle, Ekwonu was one of the first players off the board in the NFL Draft last week, going No. 6 overall to the Carolina Panthers and returning home as a Charlotte native. He was also the first offensive lineman selected. He’ll certainly be the biggest challenge to replace for N.C. State.

* The running back duo of Ricky Person and Zonovan Knight combined for nearly 1,400 rushing yards and eight touchdowns last year. Individually, the two weren’t gamebreakers (they each went undrafted and signed rookie free-agent deals). But with both gone, the Pack need a rusher to emerge in camp. Doeren praised the junior Houston for his performance during the spring.

* Sticking with the offense, leading wideout Emeka Emezie also took his talents to the NFL. Emezie was a go-to target for Leary and other N.C. State signal-callers during a stellar career. Emezie caught 47 or more passes in four straight seasons and ended his career with 2,895 yards. After him, the No. 2 and No. 3 options last year are back in Thayer Thomas and Devin Carter. Plus, the experience of Leary should help mitigate the loss here and elevate the receiver room.

In every early ACC game on Florida State's schedule, an experienced and proven quarterback awaits the Seminoles’ defense. And N.C. State is no different,

Devin Leary enjoyed a breakout year with 35 touchdowns and just five interceptions last year, breaking Philip Rivers' school record of 34 passing TDs. He completed 65.7 percent of his passes and was impressive down the stretch, completing four touchdown passes in four of the last five games (including against FSU.)

The 6-1, 215-pound redshirt junior does not have prototypical quarterback size, but he is extremely efficient. At one point last season, he threw over 200 straight passes without a pick.

Several North Carolina State media outlets were researched to contribute to this report: GoPack.com (official team site),The Wolfpack Central (Rivals), and The Raleigh News & Observer.

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