Pregame Podcast: NC State vs. Western Carolina 2024

what's up everybody welcome to another edition of the pack Pride podcast I'm your host Corey Smith I'm here with Michael Clark football analyst four pack Pride Michael uh we're doing a pregame podcast uh unfortunately not many people that cover Western Carolina football so it was difficult to find somebody so you've done the research a little bit on on Western Carolina we'll discuss some of Western Carolina also what we hope that NC State will accomplished from this game to give people kind of a lay of the land before we jump into things but before we truly jump into things Michael how are you doing sir doing great hope you are yes sir we are two days as we're talking two days away from college football kicking off for NC States Thursday night against Western Carolina but before we jump into all this I want to remind our listeners as always visit our iTunes Google Play Store give us a rating if you enjoy the podcast and help get the word out there to the rest of Wolfpack Nation also if you're watching on YouTube or if you're not watching it on YouTube make sure to go and like And subscribe to our our YouTube channel uh and make sure that you hit get notifications get all notifications so that when we jump on these podcasts whether it's live or uh we put one up we put videos up you can get notifications to jump on there see all the things that we're putting up we will have a live postgame podcast after the NC State versus Western Carolina game on Thursday night along with every other game also make sure to check out all the pack prize coverage throughout the rest of the football off season I still say at this point uh and basketball off season $1 for the first month or 30% off for one year I will tell people uh later this week I believe August 29th is when it starts uh there will be a promo running as well so if you're listening to this go ahead and tease that out there uh it will be a big promo for pack Pride our our season H kickoff you know right before everything gets started to get people on board as many people as we possibly can I know a lot of people kind of wait for that to jump in so it'll be a big promo for us uh so do make sure that you check that out head over to pack.com to find more about becoming a premium subscriber all right Michael so like I said we're going to talk a little bit about Western Carolina on this one uh not a ton to discuss just you know as far as the competition level uh NC State is a massive step up for Western Carolina this was a team that went seven and five last season so it is a good FCS team and one that most have ranked inside the top 25 so it is a team that's capable of you know running with NC State a little bit early on but we'll see uh how you know how well they're able hang on uh the one name that you know we do know in all this you know I want to talk about Kerwin Bell a little bit too and his experience that he brings here but Cole Gonzalez a guy that you know as a sophomore last year passed for over 2800 yards passed for 28 touchdowns and just eight interceptions so he is a you know a bigname quarterback at that level uh somebody that NC State will have to contend with early on completed over 66% of his passes last season so just your thoughts on on what NC State is going to see and Cole Gonzalez in this offense On th well an experienced quarterback you know who's made plays has proven you know and to be one of the better FCS players in the country um I know we're gonna not take anything away from Cole Gonzalez or or Western and we're going to dive into this but we're going to talk Western this game to me is more about NC State and there are going to be question marks out of this game defensively I'm sure there's some things that they're going to want to clean up as will there be offensively but it's good test because this is a kid who's played a lot of football for them uh and he's produced but I think again it has to be more about NC State kind of just imposing its will for a better part uh when it comes to the defensive side of the ball you're going to be bigger stronger faster it feels different than in previous years because we talked about this in in previous podcast Corey I I think NC State's got to R the score when it has the chance I know that um you know that that has has not been really an Mo in the past but given the perception of the ACC looking at Florida State losing in week one uh you really need to con win this one convincingly I I think you keep your foot on the gas I know your your hope is to play some of the younger guys maybe in the second half but again you need to win this game big and it starts with keeping Cole Gonzalez in check yeah in this series N state has played Western Carolina five different times they've averaged 47 points per game uh including a a game in which they rushed for 400 yards back in 1990 so I'm interested to see now this is obviously that was 36 years ago uh so it's it's much different now that's why I don't like to go off pass history when it comes to these games but uh it is a team that NC state has typically dominated for obvious reasons uh it's also the third time that they've started the season against Western Carolina uh so it's a chance for NC State to get off on the right foot obviously they you know the focus is going to be Tennessee the following week in terms of what you're trying to accomplish on the season but this is a team that does have some some decent running backs as well um Branson Adams a guy that's coming back from last season uh rushed for 539 yards last season did uh end up with f or ended up with over 280 receiving yards too so he's a guy that you know they can use in multiple different ways what do you know about The Playmakers on this team and what they bring to uh to Carter Finley on Thursday night to to somewhat testy State before they go up against Tennessee the following week well they lost their top running back from last year and their top two receivers they had the running back like you said just mentioned step up some uh probably going to be the toughest test to date for him I would assume and the receivers that you're hoping who were the third and fourth receivers last year to step up and maybe become the onews this year again you don't want to take anything away from this team but this feels like a game where NC State again has to impose its will I think you're going to obviously focus on stopping the run first and then you want to focus Cole you want to force Cole Gonzalez to pass even though he's proven to be a capable passer if you can make them onedimensional on Thursday it is really going to help NC State out defensively and put a lot of pressure on Western Carolina's offense I think when you're asking a team to you throw 30 to 40 even maybe 50 times against a a far superior athletic opponent uh I think the depth the size all that should catch up but again stopping the run first and then you know trying to play good defense limit the penalties I think is a big thing in this game because you really want to be playing your best football or as sharp as possible heading into the Tennessee game yeah and you mentioned it in the you know the five facts about Western Carolina as well that Blake Whitmore a Raleigh native uh kind of anchoring this offensive line for them they do have a veteran offensive line you know seniors throughout except for Brett gray a junior at the left tackle spot a guy it's you know a bit under sized for that left tackle spot so I'd be looking to see if you know a guy like travali price can kind of tee off on that build some confidence uh Brett gray got 6 foot three 300 pounds it's interesting to say that he's undersized but a 63 offensive tackle is undersized regardless of what weight he is so uh this this does have a chance for you know Inc state to get the pass rush going get some confidence before you go up against Tennessee the following week um so that's that's the other note I wanted to point out here uh the last thing I'll point out about the offense while there was while the offense was a strength of this uh Team last season and clearly a reason why they ended up getting the seven wins and turning things around last season they did lose uh their offensive coordinator and Kade Bell who actually takes over at Pittsburgh so joins the ACC as opposed to the Southern Conference so there a chance for for again for NC State to uh you know go against a team that's still kind of trying to get its bearings from an offensive standpoint despite the fact that it gets Cole Gonzalez back defensively I know you pointed out the two Corners that they have coming back uh in Samari dukes and and Ken Moore Jr as well two experienced guys Moore Moore Jr being you know part of the all freshman team for the Southern Conference last year uh and then Dukes uh being a guy that played seven games last season or played nine games seven starts last season just your thoughts on what NC State or what NC State will see from a defensive standpoint for this team well you're gonna see like like you just mentioned two experienced defensive backs uh you know not big uh sizewise so I think that's an area where NCC State really needs to take advantage on the outside uh either the revamp receiver room you got multiple receivers on the outside really your top three with Noah Rogers Wesley Grimes and Dori Collins are all 62 plus uh I think that is an area where you really can attack Western you throw Justin Jolie in Flex y y Javonte or juice fine they're 63 64 uh and even you know you go to the Freshman like Terrell Anderson Keenan Jackson where these are big big guys on the outside uh I think you really got to attack them I'd like to see some some throwing on first down passing on first down I think that is something you're going to have to do against Tennessee uh just to keep them honest and to open up the Run game the following week so it'll be interesting to see how that kind of works um and then you know what do you do as far as a slot receiver position how much do you really see of KC and really Noah Rogers and all the the top guys is another question for me and do you move Kevin around uh does he run the ball some is he out wide I I think you're going to see a pretty probably vanilla Playbook I would assume against Western Carolina the big goal is to win this I think convincingly while not showing everything you have offense and and again the biggest thing is staying healthy yeah I I I agree with you completely and that we'll get to that point in just a second in terms of what NC State wants to accomplish in this game what what we want to see from this game as well uh you mentioned the size that secondary was good last year Ken Moore Jr gu 5 foot1 uh and then Samari Dukes another guy that's 5 foot 10 CJ Williams their other cornerback and all this also 5 foot 10 so and then Jordy Lowry 5 foot 11 so each one of those guys being undersized in comparison to what NC State wants to do so uh you really get a chance to see you know again this is a as as exper or as veteran not veteran as talented as this wide receiver unit is and these Playmakers are uh there is still a lot of young players on this team that haven't really you know stepped up into this role you know a guy like Noah Rogers hasn't been the guy you know at at for at the Collegiate level uh obviously you know Wesley Grimes and and Jakari Collins have played you know more of backup roles how do they you know do as far as you know being the guys on the outside um behind Noah Rogers so we'll see if they're if they're able to step up in this game and and if they do again how much confidence does that kind of translate over to the following week I expect to see a lot of younger guys in this game I mean I'm sure you're probably on the same page as this you're expecting to see you know a healthy dose at least at the the back end of a CJ Bailey um maybe get a guy like Jaden Scott Duke Scott whichever one you would call him Hollywood Smothers those kinds of guys in the back field and then you know younger guys like Jonathan Paylor getting his first snaps Terrell Anderson Keenan Jackson all guys that that have a chance to kind of shine in this game late and really build some confidence just your thoughts on what you want to see from the offensive side of the football in this game yeah I think that's definitely the the goal because I mean you know we talk about the schedule and how it's manageable but you don't know until you play how many opportunities your donger players are going to have boring injuries I think that is a real question mark for NY State across the board you know obviously CJ Bley want to get him some snaps that goes without saying at the quarterback and like you said at receiver I mean it goes down the line the offensive line I think is is a substantial question mark where going into the year the depth need to get some snaps for those guys and just goes over to the defensive side of the ball the front six not a lot of depth behind the defensive line or linebackers there's no substitute uh for live reps uh I think a thing I'm really watching though is when you put the guys in is the game plan changing personally I would like to see them stay aggressive don't just you know I know you want to win and run the clock but CJ belly needs to throw some passes in this game so the young guys need to catch the ball um maybe stay aggressive and I know again you're not going to show your full arsenal of weapons and your whole Playbook but I think you need to stay in attack mode when the younger guys are in because you just don't ever know when their num is going to be called and if we've learned anything covering Inc state for a long time and really throughout college football you're really one injury away from having to play substantial snaps and unfortunately in the past couple years throughout college football it seems like when one position is hit by an injury it snowballs and it can continue and you look up and here you are with your fourth running back or your third quarterback and you're like did we get here well to kind of mitigate the effects of that the best you can you need to get some live reps and meaningful reps of of attacking the uh whether you're defense attacking or offense attacking yeah I mean look no further than the last time that NC State was building all this preseason hype and and the expectations were you know this massive back in 2022 you lose a guy like Devon lery early on in the season and and NC State was I say never able to recover they were able to figure out ways to win games but they they weren't nearly the same team uh throughout the rest of that season after losing a guy like that so again this is an important game for all of those guys that are that are behind you know the the Surefire starters now at this point you know you're not moving Grayson mall off the depth chart unless he's injured so if you get a guy like CJ Bailey an opportunity in this game against Louisiana Tech against NIU those are big opportunities for a guy like that that has you know earned some rave reviews throughout fall camp but again you have to be able to go out there and prove yourself and show your ability you know I want to go back to CJ Bailey and all this because that is the one guy that you know talking to people they're like how much do you feel like CJ Bailey is gonna play in this game and I wanted to ask you how much do you feel like CJ Bailey is gonna play in this game I don't think it's to be determined um I think it would be great if you could get him if not a half of action at least a full quarter um you would like you like to see how much would you like to see CJ Bailey in this game because we know kind of the the thought process two years ago was hey we're not g to play any of these guys I mean they they literally at least a quarter in this game there's no excuse with what's being uh talked about this year and everything that's geared toward this season but again Cory you want to see him play and again I think you know seven eight five six seven passes would be would be great uh some play action some some stuff on the Move um some situational stuff how does he you know manage the clock in certain situations again you hope you have a substantial lead and you should have a substantial league but again I think this game not to you know go back it really comes down to NC State does this team look different um and what I mean by different is a team that and and you don't know until probably a little later in the season but does this team look like a team that has the potential to win an ACC Championship and I think you'll you should see the signs of that in week one we think it can you know accomplish that uh I think a good part of one of the bigger things that you know we've talked about but probably not enough is just the PE guys that they brought in Cory or older experienced guys whether you're talking Grayson McCall uh Zeke Carell Jordan wers I got down the list DK cin on defense jod Carter down the list okay what type of urgency do these guys create on this team because right or wrong when you were an experienced proven player and even when you transfer in you're automatically kind of looked to as a leader and you kind of have to assume that role I mean look no further than Grayson McCollin Z kobia named captains you have to create a sense of urgency in week one you just you're G if you're going to have a misstep in the season that's probably like I said probably gonna happen but the urgency has got to be there from the opening snap until the you know the clock hits zero and I think it's more about NC State leaving no doubt on Thursday night you know that it is a contender and you really have to prove that week in and week out and I know Dave Dorne always talks about going one and0 that's really important this year uh again but I want to see urgency from this team A lot of times you would say okay it's t it's tough to get up for a team like Western Carolina it's obviously people would consider an inferior opponent but you know there have been times in the past where these teams have been able to hang around early State needs to come out and hit them in the mouth this game needs to be 21 and nothing in the end of the first quarter there's no excuse you need to really you lock in and punish this team and then look forward to Tennessee yeah I agree with you I think it's you know reminiscent of a couple years ago USF is a little bit of a different uh you know opponent in the fact that they were a power for or you know seemingly you know a group of five team that that had some you know positive energy going into the season for this team it's an FCS team yes they're a good FCS team but it is still an FCS team like you said I agree with you I think this is a team that they need to throttle early on and again that helps you from a health standpoint too because then you can go to your second line you can go to your which I I mean if we're being honest if we're talking about it yes it's it's not a proven veteran you know group of backups and you know and a bunch of younger players that you're trying to put out there but there from a talent standpoint they're all a step up from any FCS opponent they're going to face uh going into the year so yes the second line here getting a chance to get out there what do you want to see from the defensive side of the football because we always know you know early on in these games yes you can get out to a 21 to zero lead potentially uh but some of that has to do with turnovers because you know a lot of times these scripted drives for for teams the first script the drive they find a way to score and everybody's like whoa hold on now and then NC State runs out uh and gets off to an easy lead but your thoughts on on what the defense wants to try to accomplish this coming up week well offensively like we just talked about you want to see dominant I think this kind of translates over you want to see NC State dominate up front on the offensive line defensive line same thing you want to push Western Carolina impo around up front impose your will but I think the biggest thing that I'll be watching defensively is a linebacker play uh there's pton no Payton Wilson no Drake Thomas no Isaiah Moore all those household names that you become accustomed to and having that kind of an embarrassment riches at linebacker you know what does this unit look like without them uh you know we we've heard Shawn Brown's had a great Camp you kayen foram has been good uh Devon Betty is a veteran uh they've got to they've got to make plays this defense is so geared towards linebackers making plays if you don't make plays it really doesn't matter who you're playing it's going to show up on film in a bad way so uh just they need to play Fast physical and just really I think kind of set the tone interested to see again I don't think you're going to see everything I wouldn't expect it but yeah I'd like to see State bring some pressure and I think they will um you know despite the talent differential Corey you can't give Cole Gonzalez all did throw the football I that's just not a good idea uh so how much do they they Blitz and do they does that change as the game goes on again I hope that they keep their foot on the gas and then I think you on the back end I think everybody's excited to kind of see what this secondary looks like it's the deepest secondary at least on paper andc State probably had in what maybe a decade if not further back uh I can't uh really recall and I think they're they're comfortable too deep across the board on the back end and that's even without Devon boyin who's not going to play in the opener uh you feel really good just about where things are but again you don't want to you don't want to depend so much on the back end and that's my one worry I think going into the season we know the secondary should be good but up front the depth and just the performance of maybe some guys that are stepping into new roles is g to be something to watch yeah one guy that I'm interested to watching this game just because of the way that he did struggle in his first start last year against Yukon is travali price a guy that we've heard a ton about in terms the growth that he shown this offseason one area where he said he really wanted to focus was stopping the Run uh it was something that you know he gave up to pretty I won't say gave up but he allowed you know a running back for Yukon twice last season to get to the second level you can't allow that to happen against a guy like Branson Adams who yes 59 190 he's not a big dude but he's a Shifty back and and a guy that ran for almost 600 yards last season so yes he has some he's had some success in the past he's a veteran running back for them you can't allow a guy like that to to gash you because you know what you're going to be facing over the next two weeks Pro uh or next three weeks after that uh with with Tennessee and then and Clemson those are games you can't afford to lose if you're able to kind of get some confidence again in the Run game and be able to stop the run against a guy like Branson Adams I think that would be a big key for NC State and all of this too I'm also interested to see the pass rush as you mentioned uh the front six for NC State uh and and one thing that I'm that we won't really be able to tell and maybe we'll be able to tell from you know talking to Dave Doran after the game is going to be you know the inh helmet communication this the first time this has ever been used uh they're not giving signs they don't have guys in green and yellow and purple shirts on the sidelines to give different signals so it's going to be the inh helmet communication I feel pretty confident a guy like Grayson McCall to be able to run that I'm interested to see how Kaden forom you know kind of uh deals with that this is the first time ever as a starter for him going into the season also the first time he's going to be wearing that inh helmet communication it's the first guy to ever do that for NC State so that's going to be an interesting thing to watch too and I'm sure we'll talk to Dave Jordan after the game about that and how confident they felt like that was you get kind of a you know a scrimmage I don't want to say a scrimmage but uh you get kind of a you know a test run of all this before you go into uh the following week against Tennessee and it'll be on the road and I'm what I'm sure will not be you know as hostile if they were going to Knoxville uh but it will be a pretty hostile environment because I know a lot of Tennessee fans are going to be there it's going to be tough to be able to communicate on both sides of the football uh because there will be a lot of NC State fans and a lot of Tennessee fans so uh that in inh hel of communication and getting that down is going to be huge this week anything else you're looking for in this game before we roll This up no I think the biggest thing is just setting the tone uh it need they this team you know I think they want kind of want to be different and is exciting as the expanded 12 team playoff is Cory really week in and week out NC State's got to prove itself and you've got to play well and make the most of your opportunities because you just don't know what it's going to come down to at the end of the year first of all if you want to win a conference Championship but second of all if you're trying to really compete for that playoff spot we don't want to get too far ahead I really think the who the goty the people in charge are going to look at the week results week by week they're going to say okay they played well against Western Carolina even though it's a you know FCS program they didn't play well some things that stuck out maybe you didn't defend the run I think the the further along we get in this deal the more picky uh it's going to get into like like I said last week kind of a pissing contest um because again 12 sounds like a lot Cory but if you're not a conference Champion it is not it is not a lot you're basically pay what two or three spots that you're jockeying for and that's going to be really really hard so again you can afford a misstep but you can't afford many and again I think it's about putting your best foot forward and you know living up to the hype um you know the hype is there for this offense we think it's going to be more explosive well it should be and you should start seeing it this week NC State should you know I think expose a questionable Western Carolina defense they weren't very good last year I don't anticipate them to be very good this year they may be better but physically it should be no contest and again NC States at least first 10 team is experienced explosive and you know I think deep with Playmakers so how does that look this week it needs to look really good yeah that was kind of the issue two years ago uh the the Failure to Launch uh in the first game against East Carolina granted that was on the road is that East Carolina another hostile environment like we just talked about that NC State's going to see a week two but uh you know it came down to a field goal that that East Carolina missed in order for NC State to pull out a win against a not very good East Carolina team that year so it's a you know this is an opportunity for this team to just go out win a game handily move on after the first half first quarter however long it takes to get there and then you know stay healthy and move towards uh the following game against Tennessee because this is again like I said basically calling it a test run of of everything that you've been working on this offseason against another team you've only had two scrimmages this offseason outside of you know what you had back in the spring so this is a true opportunity for this team to get right and get ready to go uh before you face off with the Tennessee team the following week Michael I appreciate you as always for jumping on man thank you so much glad to do it man we'll talk soon all right guys well thank you again to everybody for listening we'll have much more content leading up to this game as well as like I said a postgame podcast probably about an hour to an hour and a half after the game so listen to you know to uh Tony Haynes and and you know that crew and everybody uh and then jump on with us afterwards and we'll talk Matt Chanel the other one there I I started to say Gary Han I wanted to make sure I didn't say the wrong name there so again thank you to everybody pressure on him yep yeah hey again it's a test run for him too man because you know people will be listening but not as much as the following week prob the next game so it'll be fine yeah I I agree I love talking to Matt he uh he did a great job you know with our interview and I know uh people are excited to to hear what he's going to sound like so I'm sure people will tune in for that one so again thank you get ready for listening we'll talk to