The Gamecocks open the regular season against NC State in the Belk College Kickoff at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. on Sept. 2. The Daily Gamecock sports staff caught up with Technician sports editor and football beat writer Andrew Schnittker to preview the game.
1. Can you break down NC State's quarterback situation? How will it impact the season opener against the Gamecocks?
"Redshirt junior Ryan Finley is the starter. He came in last year as a grad transfer and put up a solid, if unspectacular, season. Jalan McClendon is the more mobile QB and will get a few carries, particularly in bad weather games (see: Notre Dame during Hurricane Matthew last year), but the NC State QB job is Finley’s.
Finley had a 60.4 completion percentage last season for 3,055 yards, 18 touchdowns and eight picks. He was coming into a new team with a new offensive coordinator, so those are definitely solid numbers all things considered. However, in year two, with a year under his belt, NC State needs Finley to take another step if this team is going to live up to its potential. That means pushing the ball downfield more in particular.
Finley was ninth in the ACC last year in yards per attempt at 7.6, and he’s going to need to improve in terms of stretching the field if the Pack wants to beat teams like Louisville, Florida State and Clemson this year. He certainly has the weapons to do it, with a deep receiving core that includes Kelvin Harmon and Stephen Louis as holdovers from last year, and JuMichael Ramos and C.J. Riley returning from injury, along with a pair of versatile options in all-purpose back Jaylen Samuels and slot receiver Nyheim Hines. Finley has, by his own admission, been working on his deep ball this offseason.
Now’s the time to see that in action, and that will need to start against South Carolina. The Gamecocks have an athletic secondary, however, so he will also need to be careful with his decision making and not sling the ball downfield with reckless abandon. Finding a middle ground will be important. Harmon is excellent at going up to make contested catches, so he figures to be a big part of the game plan for this one."
2. There aren't many holes in the NC State defense. What are the keys to defending Jake Bentley and his arsenal of young offensive weapons?
"Defense is definitely the strength of this NC State team, particularly the front seven, and especially the defensive line. NC State has four starters in the trench that could very well hear their names called at the NFL draft in April. Bradley Chubb is a potential top-15 pick and one-man wrecking crew coming off the quarterback’s blindside, and he had a season last year that easily could have earned him an NFL draft spot. Chubb was tied fourth in the country in tackles for loss with 21 and 14th in sacks with 10. Kentavius Street is no slouch in the pass-rushing department either.
This NC State defense is excellent at stopping the run, ranking third in the country in rush defense last year. Justin Jones and BJ Hill clog the middle of the line, and linebackers Airius Moore and Jerod Fernandez help out in that department as well. Inside runs definitely aren’t the way to go against the Wolfpack.
In terms of defending Bentley and the Gamecocks, the one defensive question mark for this NC State team is the secondary, which lost three starters from last year. It’s going to be important for the pass rush, led by Chubb, to be strong in this game, and not give Bentley time to get set and pick his throws. If the Pack can stuff the run and force Bentley to make hurried throws by pressuring him, making life easier on its inexperienced defensive backs, that’s the recipe defensive coordinator Dave Huxtable is probably looking for in this one."
3. What will the Wolf Pack's run game look like without Matt Dayes?
"So much of the talk around what this NC State team is capable of centers on all the starters the team has returning on both sides of the ball. Losing Dayes from the running game is the glaring exception to that. He was a true three-down back and a horse for the Pack last year, ranking third in the ACC in rushing yards and second to Dalvin Cook among running backs (Lamar Jackson was second overall) with 1,166 rushing yards. You don’t plug in one guy to replace a player like Dayes; you do it by committee, and that’s exactly what the Pack will look to do.
Reggie Gallaspy, who showed promise last year, will be the traditional, between-the-tackles running back, though Dakwa Nichols should get some carries there as well. The Pack will mix in Hines and Samuels on third downs and for big plays (the patented JaySam jet sweep in the red zone is well-known to Pack fans), and coach Doeren has talked specifically about getting the speedy Hines more looks out of the backfield. With a number of options for carries, and an offensive line that returns four starters, the Pack should be just fine in the run game this year."
4. Fill in the blank: NC State will win if ___________. NC State will lose if ____________.
"NC State will win if this team plays its game and executes. There’s very much a “something to prove feel” to this group for NC State. The national media has hyped this team up a lot, and for good reason. This team showed in games against the national champions in Clemson and perennial contender in Florida State last year that it has the talent to go toe-to-toe with anyone. Unfortunately, mistakes and a lack of execution in big moments cost the team a victory in both cases. Most of the starters from last year are back, and there’s a sense of unfinished business and desire to show they can finish in those moments this year.
On paper, I think NC State is the better team here. If the pass rush can get to Bentley, the run defense picks up where it left off last year, and this is the first act of Finley taking a step forward and leading this offense to the next level, I think NC State can get [this] done.
NC State will lose if they take this game lightly, or play sloppy and make unforced errors. While NC State is the better team on paper, South Carolina is certainly no slouch, and the Pack needs to take them seriously. The Pack need only look to its in-state rivals to see what fooling around here could mean. Two years ago, an 11-1 North Carolina Tar Heels team dropped its first game of the season in this very venue against the Gamecocks, a cautionary tale for the Pack.
While the Pack played well against teams like Clemson and Florida State last year, it also brought sloppy play and mistakes that resulted in two losses in games the Pack had no business losing against East Carolina and Boston College. That’s not to compare the Gamecocks to those two teams, but if the Pack is serious about living up to its potential, this is a game it needs to win. That means focusing on the field and executing its game plan, however. Losing focus getting caught up in the national hype train, or looking ahead to bigger games down the road in ACC play could easily cost the team a victory here. Week one is not about earning a ranking, what happened last season, or what could happen later this season. It’s about getting a win against the South Carolina Gamecocks, and that’s where the Pack’s focus needs to stay."
Follow Schnittker on Twitter @aschnitt53 and read his coverage of the Wolf Pack at technicianonline.com/sports/.