Some extra time is just what No. 24 North Carolina State needed, and now the Wolfpack will try to rebound Thursday night against struggling Virginia Tech in Raleigh, N.C.
“You have to kind of reassess each week,” NC State coach Dave Doeren said. “How can you achieve the greatest things that you can?”
The Wolfpack (5-2, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) needed to recuperate after an Oct. 15 loss at Syracuse, which all but knocked NC State out of contention in the ACC’s Atlantic Division.
With Preseason Player of the Year Devin Leary out for the season with an injury, Jack Chambers was thrust into the starting quarterback role against Syracuse.
Now, he should be more prepared, with 12 days between games.
“You can’t change a lot in three days of practice,” Doeren said. “It was nice to study what we’ve done well and things we can do differently. We do have a quarterback who can do some things and we want to utilize that.”
Doeren said there’s confidence throughout the team in what Chambers can accomplish.
“I think Jack has a lot of poise,” Doeren said. “He’s calm. … You just do your job well and play fast, you usually come out on top.”
Virginia Tech (2-5, 1-3) also needed time to regroup, and enters the game on a four-game losing streak, matching its longest wrong-way run in three decades. The Hokies have failed to reach the 20-point mark in four of their seven games.
Virginia Tech’s offense requires a boost and Kaleb Smith is showing the ability to provide that. He gained 152 receiving yards on nine catches against Pittsburgh, becoming the first Hokie in a 10-game span to post more than 100 receiving yards in a game.
“There’s enough evidence there that we can do some things to score some points,” Pry said. “We just have to put it all together.”
One approach the Hokies might take is using running backs Keshawn King (259 yards on 44 carries, 2 TDs) and Malachi Thomas (125 yards on 28 carries, 1 TD) on the field together.
“They can certainly be productive with the ball, and the idea of them being on the field at the same time has certainly been talked about,” coach Brent Pry said.
Pry said receiver Stephen Gosnell, who has been injured, is likely to play. However, cornerback Dorian Strong might be out with a hand injury.
NC State will rely on a defense that’s giving up 16.9 points per game, second best in the ACC. The Wolfpack is expecting some new wrinkles from the Hokies.
“You can see that their schemes have advanced as the season has gone on,” Doeren said. “We know they’ll come down here excited to play us.”
Virginia Tech is 5-1 against NC State since joining the ACC, with four consecutive victories by double-digit margins. This is the Hokies’ first visit to Raleigh for a Thursday night game, though they’ve performed well with a 23-11 mark on Thursday nights since 1994.
