NC State football puts a bow on unforgettable 2020 regular season
N.C. State won one ACC game in 2019 and four games total.
The 2019 season was a forgettable one filled with injuries, one loss snowballing to the next, the end result a 4-8 campaign, just the second losing season under coach Dave Doeren.
This offseason Doeren had to make some decisions he wasn’t happy about. Some longtime coaches were let go, guys who were good people, good coaches, but he just needed a different feel with the people around him.
He wanted to preach positivity, hoping it would become contagious inside the football facility and ultimately translate into wins on the field. Right away, the offseason showed Doeren it wouldn’t be an easy task to put 2019 in the rear-view mirror. COVID struck in March, shutting down spring football after just five practices.
When N.C. State returned to camp in August, COVID reared its ugly head once again. The Wolfpack had to stop all football activities and reschedule what was supposed to be its season opener at Virginia Tech. Just when it seemed things were getting somewhat on track for the team, starting quarterback Devin Leary went down with a season-ending injury in October and all hope seemed to be lost after the team dropped the next two games, including a blowout loss at rival North Carolina.
But this team was different. This team, resilient as ever, took one shot of adversity after another, dating to spring practice, but never batted an eye. This team won four in a row to close out the regular season, including Saturday’s 23-13 win over Georgia Tech, to finish 8-3 overall, seven of those wins coming against ACC opponents, a first for N.C. State.
This team had several reasons to pack it in, but one thing about this group, they were nothing like the group from 2019. They could take it on the chin and get back up and perform.
“We stood back up,” senior wide receiver Emeka Emezie said. “Every single game we stood back up through adversity. We learned from it last year, and we brought back guys and different people stepped up in leadership roles.”
Emezie finished the game against Georgia Tech with six catches for 91 yards. Doeren singled out his performance after the game and said he could have finished with 150 yards if the Yellow Jackets weren’t holding him on so many plays.
Emezie said he took 2019 personally and so many of the guys on the roster felt the same way. Emezie caught touchdown passes from three different quarterbacks this season — Leary, Bailey Hockman and Ben Finley — and that could have easily been a challenge. But Emezie and the offense never flinched, another example of the team adjusting on the fly when another roadblock (QB injury) presented itself.
Everybody stepping up
Four of N.C. State’s wins were by a touchdown or less. Two (Duke and Georgia Tech) were 10-point wins when the team needed stops late in the fourth quarter.
Against the Yellow Jackets, the Wolfpack’s offense did not produce a touchdown in the second half, and the only points scored came from Christopher Dunn’s third field goal of the night.
But the defense flexed its muscles, keeping Georgia Tech from scoring a touchdown in the second half and getting off the field when it counted the most — late in the fourth quarter.
Sure, Doeren would probably like these wins to come a lot easier, but with the resolve this team has shown, he was fully confident they would find a way to get it down in crunch time. The 2019 squad might not have been capable of that.
“This team has grit,” Doeren said. “There’s no flinch, there’s no soft. They are hard, they are tough, they are together. Our team just finds a way to win.”
With the Yellow Jackets running wild (261 yards on the ground), the defense only gave up one touchdown to a team that came into Raleigh averaging 25.8 points per game. Other times it has been the offense scoring a game-winning touchdown (see: Pitt), or the special teams blocking a field goal (see: Liberty). The win over Georgia Tech was a perfect example of the complementary football Doeren preaches about — offense, defense and special teams.
Dunn’s three field goals were more than enough, the offense scored two touchdowns in the first half to get a comfortable lead, and the defense only surrendered one touchdown. That was a perfect example of everyone chipping in for the 2020 team.
“Everybody makes plays for us, that’s the best thing about it,” Emezie said. “We need that every single game. Everybody from special teams to the backups, to whoever it is. Everybody makes plays, so it’s not about one individual like it might have been a couple of years back, everybody makes plays. This team is such a special team because we’ve come together; we’re so close.”
In Doeren’s first year at N.C. State in 2013, he didn’t win any ACC games (0-8). The next season, the Wolfpack won three league games and eight overall, concluding the year with a bowl win.
Not much was expected from this group from the start, with a new quarterback, new coordinators and a lot of youth at positions that were areas of concern from a year ago. To go from low expectations, in a COVID year, to now having a chance to win nine games with this group, only makes the turnaround that much sweeter for Doeren.
“We love being around each other,” Doeren said. “I think that made this year really special, to see it all come together the way it did, particularly when we had to get segregated in the spring and the guys just took over with accountability. We couldn’t have done it without these young men.”
This story was originally published December 5, 2020 at 9:38 PM with the headline "NC State football puts a bow on unforgettable 2020 regular season."
