A ‘completely different’ NC State program aims for a piece of history

Garrett Bradbury can see the forest from the trees when it comes to the progress of N.C. State’s football program.

The All-America center also knows the view could have been a little bit better.

When Bradbury, and the nine other fifth-year seniors who are still on the team were recruited by coach Dave Doeren, the Wolfpack was coming off of a 3-9 season, including an 0-8 mark in the ACC.

“The program is completely different now,” Bradbury said.

N.C. State flipped 3-9 in 2013 into 9-3 this season and closes it out with No. 21 Texas A&M (8-4) in the Gator Bowl on Monday night (7:30 p.m., ESPN) in Jacksonville, Fla.

N.C. State will be missing two of its best players (receiver Kelvin Harmon and linebacker Germaine Pratt) and two of its assistant offensive coaches (Eli Drinkwitz and Dwayne Ledford) but there’s still a pretty good chunk of history at stake.

A win over the Aggies, and first-year coach Jimbo Fisher, would give N.C. State a double-digit win total for only the second time in its 127-season history. The 2002 team, with star quarterback Philip Rivers, went 11-3 and beat Notre Dame in the Gator Bowl. There’s a nice bit of symmetry here for the Wolfpack with its return to Jacksonville.

“Looking back and being able to say we did that would be huge,” Bradbury said of the 10-win plateau.

But when Bradbury looks back, he’ll have some regret.

“I don’t know,” Bradbury said. “I mean, it wasn’t what I wanted for a senior year, in terms of the regular season.”

That’s because there were missed opportunities. N.C. State started the season with a 5-0 record and encouraging ACC home wins over Virginia (35-21) and Boston College (28-23).

The Wolfpack climbed to No. 16 in the national rankings and then was blown out by Clemson, 41-7, on Oct. 20. That lackluster effort, after two close calls with the Tigers, ended any realistic shot at the program’s first conference title since 1979.

N.C. State recovered from the Clemson loss, and subsequent road loss at Syracuse, to reach No. 14 in the College Football Playoff ranking on Nov. 6. With the inside track at the program’s first major bowl appearance, N.C. State stumbled two days later in a primetime matchup with nemesis Wake Forest.

Without its starting quarterback, the Demon Deacons were nearly a three-touchdown underdog. Freshman quarterback Jamie Newman rallied the Deacs from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter for a win 27-23. It was only the second time since 1986 Wake Forest left Carter-Finley Stadium with a win.

“We lost some games that we didn’t want to lose,” Bradbury said.

N.C. State recovered with wins in its final three games over Louisville (52-10), North Carolina (34-28) and East Carolina (58-3). The lopsided win over ECU on Dec. 1, which was a makeup game since Hurricane Florence wiped out a September home date with West Virginia, gave the Wolfpack nine regular-season wins for only the fifth time in school history.

So while 9-3 and a spot in the Gator Bowl is still good, it’s not quite the same as 10-2 and a spot in either the Peach or Fiesta Bowl.

“Four years ago, if we were 9-3, I don’t think anybody in the building would have been like ‘Ah, I wish we could have accomplished more,’” Bradbury said. “Everyone would have been ecstatic. I think the expectations for us now — for the program, for the players, coaches and fans — is to keep raising the bar, keep setting a new standard, which is a good thing.”

Doeren, in Year 6, has raised the bar in league play. His first four teams went 9-23 in the ACC. The Wolfpack went 6-2 last year and posted a 5-3 mark this year. The 11 conference wins matches the best two-year total in school history and is the second-best mark in the league behind only Clemson (15-1).

It’s also the first time N.C. State has posted a winning record in league play since 1991 and ‘92. A bowl win would also likely push the Wolfpack back into the top 25. It finished the 2017 season at No. 23. N.C. State hasn’t posted back-to-back top-25 seasons since 1991 and ‘92.

Individually, N.C. State had six players on the All-ACC team, which was the most in the league. Harmon and junior receiver Jakobi Meyers both had 1,000-yard receiving seasons and became the first teammates to make the All-ACC team in the same season.

Quarterback Ryan Finley led the ACC in passing yards (3,789) and moved behind only Rivers to second place on the school career passing list.

Running back Reggie Gallaspy became the third different 1,000-yard rusher in as many years for the Wolfpack.

Bradbury won the Rimington Trophy, as the nation’s top center, and was a consensus All-America pick.

Freshman kicker Chris Dunn make more field goals (21) than N.C. State had in the previous two years combined (16) and significantly upgraded the special teams.

And all of this the year after N.C. State had a school-record seven players taken in the NFL draft in April.

“Look at how we have been able to change the program, as a whole,” senior defensive end Darian Roseboro said. “It was a process but we’ve come a long way.”

This story was originally published December 30, 2018 at 4:43 PM with the headline "A ‘completely different’ NC State program aims for a piece of history."