Our problems start here. No push now for 2 years. Houston gives it all and I’m a fan of his but no blocking up front.

Too many false start penalties.

Lack of protection?? We have a strong offensive line and Leary doesn’t get blasted and lost for season.

Our problems begin and end with the O line.

Any suggestions on where to watch the game in Boone?

1. When the prep schedules came out last summer, the two games I wanted to see the most — Pfafftown (N.C.) Reagan at Greensboro (N.C.) Grimsley on Aug. 26, and Charlotte (N.C.) Christian at Charlotte Providence Day, which is tonight.

The Reagan and Grimsley game was exciting until the end with junior wide receiver Alex Taylor getting the game-winning touchdown catch in a 40-34 victory. The Providence Day and Charlotte Christian could end up with over 10 high-major recruits between the two teams.

Providence Day won 48-47 in overtime last year, and walking out of the stadium, it felt like the game of the year last season. Truth be told, I wasn’t planning on going to it. I was supposed to see Belmont (N.C.) South Point and Gastonia (N.C.) Ashbrook on Oct. 15, 2021, but the latter had a COVID outbreak the morning of the game. Maybe I would have seen Providence Day or Charlotte Christian later in the season, but that wasn’t a given. The two players who were sitting on offers a year ago are still uncommitted — senior cornerback Chris Peal of Providence Day and senior athlete Grant Tucker of Charlotte Christian. So many players used last year’s game as a jump off point.

NC State running back commit Kyron Jones emerged in that game last year, running for a 75-yard touchdown right off the bat with his blazing speed.

Providence Day wide receivers Jordan Shipp and Channing Goodwin showed that they belonged on the big stage, and Goodwin caught the game-winning touchdown. Both have become major college recruiting targets since then. Same for current junior safety Brody Barnhardt, who had a big game in last year’s matchup and is a major NC State target.

Two players who were injured in last year’s game will be major recruits moving forward. Providence Day sophomore lineman David Sanders is now the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2025, and he got hurt in the second game of the season last year. Wide receiver Micah Gilbert missed the regular season matchup with a hamstring, and was essentially in his first full year of football. He has 12 scholarship offers.

Now, with quarterback Jadyn Davis entering the mix as the Rivals.com No. 8 overall player in the class of 2024, it just go spicier.

2. The early Signing Day period for football is Dec. 21-23, and the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas is Dec. 17 at Wofford University.

There could be two recruits still up in the air during that time period in the game — New Bern (N.C.) High defensive lineman Keith Sampson Jr. and Camden (S.C.) High defensive end Shymeik Jones.

The three NC State commits who were picked for the game include Charlotte Chambers wide receiver Kevin Concepcion, Rolesville (N.C.) High defensive back Tamarcus Cooley and Boone (N.C.) Watauga defensive end Isaiah Shirley. Those are three good players to work on other prospects.

With the Shrine Bowl back after the COVID era, it was going to be interesting to see who got picked this year. Some players might not have tried due to various reasons, perhaps early enrolling in college of another all-star game at the same time.

The NCISAA players in North Carolina aren’t eligible for the Shrine Bowl, so that affects NC State commits Kyron Jones and Zack Myers.

Quarterback commit Lex Thomas had surgery, so that would have eliminated him. So, sometimes the lines get blurry on whether an NC State commit was “snubbed.”

Duke ended up with four commits, and NC State and North Carolina each had three commits make the North Carolina squad.

Fifteen of the top 40 players in North Carolina by Rivals.com rankings were selected for the game. Stars could be earned that week as it is about final exam time.

3. Cooley is having a big week in general.

He was picked for the Shrine Bowl, played a major role in helping Rolesville hammer Raleigh Millbrook 35-6 last Friday, and plays at his old high school Knightdale (N.C.) High tonight.

Cooley also was fresh off of not having the best of times this month and frustrated with his role at Rolesville High.

Cooley has all the potential in the world to out-play his high school rankings. He’s a natural athlete, who took on the challenge of going where Millbrook senior wide receiver and Tennessee commit Nathan Leacock went. He shut him down for the most part.

Leacock was able to get a 86-yard touchdown late, but was aided by Cooley falling down on the play. It’s unknown whether Leacock’s route made Cooley slip and fall, or he just slipped and fell. Either way, Leacock finished the game with two other catches.

The state of North Carolina isn’t always conducive for great individual matchups in football. There aren’t many times where you see two high-major talents like Cooley and Leacock collide on the football field. Some highly thought of prospects will play an entire regular season and not face an opponent who has a Power Five Conference prospect.

That is what made the Cooley vs. Leacock matchup so fun because it is so rare.

Saturday’s games
No. 15 NC State at No. 18 Syracuse (3 points), 20-16
Miami (Fla.) at Virginia Tech (3 points)
No. 4 Clemson at Florida State (3 points)
North Carolina at Duke (3 points)

Non-ACC games of the week:
No. 10 Penn State at No. 5 Michigan (3 points)
No. 3 Alabama at No. 6 Tennessee (3 points)
No. 8 Oklahoma State at No. 13 Texas Christian (3 points)

The tiebreaker will be closest to NC State score.

The Utah legacy from Meridian, Idaho, is going to Utah.

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The spread opens with us getting 3.5. I have not gone back to check but I dont think we have covered the spread yet this year. Here’s hoping we do by at least 1/2 a point this Saturday. 🤞🙏🏻

HAWBR: 124
mcarmst2: 123
ASKA: 121
jtownwolf: 121
ncrebel574: 121
packpride92: 121
legend83: 121
larrystate: 119
ACR74: 118
itpacker: 118
jpacker: 118
moranskins: 118
paceast: 118
packinga: 118
Splashwolf: 118
WolfGators: 118
LVPack: 115
ncwaterboy: 115
stephenk: 115
assist: 114
Jacey Zembal: 112
sapearce: 112
TrentJone: 112
Rockville_Wolf: 111
troutscott: 111
AlanStuart: 109
first base: 109
Lawwuf: 109
mo-pack: 109
rewing91: 109
PlayersRetreat: 109
Beauwolf: 108
One putt: 108
Ro1246: 107
LBH1980: 106
Hawkeye: 103
PackinFL: 103
WPWE: 103
dawylie: 97
greath: 95
shua3052: 94
jackets27870: 93
packfan88: 93
greenstonewall: 92
C_Lupus: 92
BugZy100: 91
Syd64: 91
blarabee: 86
nodflow: 85
cornelius the greater: 83
awswolf: 72
jholland2912: 64
onlyarumor: 57
How bout th Pack: 56
PACKed House: 49
BIG D-98: 43
inCSUrance Guy: 38
RedPowerPack: 30
jimboleo: 24
Pawolf85: 23
iNCSUranceGuy: 20
Harnett Pack: 17
WolfLink: 17
wolfpack kc: 17
CAMPBUD: 14

While we’re all waiting to see what transpires with our passing game, I thought a discussion on our running backs would be worthwhile.

Houston ended up with 90 yeards, but he really took a pounding. Sumo on the other hand wound up leaving the game pretty banged up - again.

I was very impressed to see Mimms come in late and chunk out the the yardage we needed in that moment. His size to me makes him valuable if we are needing to rely on a running game that can eat up the clock and mitigate the lack of a proven passer heading into Syracuse. I think we may see a good deal more from Mimms, and look forward to seeing what he can do with more touches.

1. NC State entered the week in a good spot for Raleigh native Silas Demary Jr., who is a reclassed senior combo guard for Lincolnton (N.C.) Combine Academy. The ebbs and flows of Demary’s recruitment has been fascinating.

Demary had announced that he was going to pick his college at 3:30 p.m. Friday at his previous high school, Raleigh Millbrook High. Immediate speculation was USC and NC State. Last Sunday, it was in flip a coin territory, but by mid-week, it was hard to shake that the winds were blowing more to the Left Coast.

USC went 26-7 overall and 14-6 in the Pac-12 last year, and are now making the move to the Big Ten in the future. Former Florida Gulf Coast coach Andy Enfield has been at USC since 2013-14, and has four NCAA Tournament appearances, and they would have gone during the COVID year.

What was hard to shake included a few things — Demary was super quiet, USC was confident and for the last two weeks, there has been an unusual amount of talk about the Trojans wanting Demary and Marietta (Ga.) Wheeler senior point guard Isaiah Collier. Demary had also signed with the same agent that convinced former NC State signee Josh Hall to bypass college for pro basketball.

Some in the industry decided that Demary was a “lock” this month for NC State, but there wasn’t any evidence of that. Partly due to the fact that Demary was still thirsty to collect new offers. Collier is the No. 4 overall player in the country and is down to USC, UCLA, Michigan and Cincinnati, but he also is committing Nov. 16. Outside of maybe the Steph Curry Camp, I’m not sure how much time Collier and Demary have been around each other. Collier was offered by NC State in June 2021.

Another wrinkle, NC State offered Bronx (N.Y.) Our Saviour Lutheran School senior point guard Ty-Laur Johnson on Sept. 24, and that definitely got the attention of the Demary camp. Johnson is ranked No. 54 overall in the country, which is four spots higher than Demary, and Memphis has now jumped in.

NC State didn’t look like they were going to offer him. They had the chance to watch him with Charlotte (N.C.) Liberty Heights during his reclassed junior season, and then with Team Curry traveling team during the April evaluation period and at the NBPA Camp on June 27-July 2. He was a fringe top 150 prospect and the questions revolved around the consistency of his jumper and how much of a point guard was he, or was he more a combo guard.

The NBPA Camp was where Demary emerged as a regional recruit. Tennessee jumped in and it looked like the Volunteers were going to land him, with St. John’s, Arizona State, VCU and Georgia also giving chase.

The Demary/Tennessee relationship fell apart when the Volunteers landed Raleigh Word of God combo guard Freddie Dilione. Tennessee wanted to land both Dilione and Demary, and it looked like they would, but then Demary ultimately decided he didn’t want to share a backcourt with Dilione.

NC State offered July 20 and then USC a few days late July 24. It became clear post-Tennessee that Demary was in “collect offers” mode. That is a far cry from “decision making” mode. Wake Forest and Alabama also jumped in, and he claimed an offer from Indiana. He really wanted a Kansas offer, but the Jayhawks didn’t pull the trigger.

The other interesting aspect once Demary got the NC State offer was that he hadn’t been to NC State during his four years of high school, despite being a local prospect. He snapped the draught with an unofficial visit to start off August, and then returned Sept. 9-11.

Some will bring up USC and NIL money. If NC State’s collectives still haven’t figured out potential NIL scenarios and the budget that is needed for it after 15-plus months, that is also telling. That said, USC has zero commits thus far and have whiffed on a good share of California prep products.

2. Where does NC State go from here if they don’t land Demary today?

That’s tricky. NC State remains in good shape with Dennis Parker of Richmond (Va.) John Marshall, with Georgetown the main competition. It was a good sign that Parker bypassed his last-minute decision to officially visit Missouri.

With the 8 p.m. kickoff this Saturday, it was hard to bring in basketball recruits from different parts of the state, knowing the game could end around 11:30 p.m.-12 a.m. The hope is that a good amount of recruits make the Thursday Night Game against Virginia Tech on Oct. 27, and the Wolfpack lucked out with home games vs. Wake Forest and Boston College before the November signing period.

NC State as previously stated, also has to be careful about saving enough official visits for the spring when the portal opens up and the Wolfpack might have to replace half the roster. Even with Demary, the Pack are going to have to land a point guard in the portal to challenge Breon Pass and L.J. Thomas.

I’ve said since last March that it has felt like NC State has had to recruit with an arm tied behind their proverbial back with athletic director Boo Corrigan’s decision to openly talk about coach Kevin Keatts’ job status, and then bringing in three new assistant coaches. Once that can of worms is opened, it’s hard to close it on the recruiting trail.

What history will show and what was predicted four years ago, the class of 2023 ended up being so guard heavy in the the state of North Carolina, between the regular members of the class and then having guys like Demary and Dilione reclass. Four years ago, it was clear that the group of Robert Dillingham (Kentucky), Aden Holloway (Auburn), Caleb Foster (Duke), Trey Green (Xavier), London Johnson (G-League), Jaylen Curry and Tremayne Parker, were going to be high-major recruits. Having nine point guards/combo guards from North Carolina is an extraordinary number.

The lesson learned is to not make the same mistake for the class of 2024, which has an extraordinary amount of wings coming up.

3. The Kyron Jones recruitment was unique and it also showed NC State kept an open mind about the Charlotte Christian prospect, paying off with him committing last Saturday.

Long-team readers know that I’ve been bullish on Jones after seeing him play Charlotte Providence Day on Oct. 15, 2021, and then saw him compete at the NCISAA Division 1 state meet at Raleigh Ravenscroft last May.

For whatever reasons, high major Division I colleges just didn’t want to offer him last year, even after running a 10.6 100-meter dash at the state meet. He seemed like a legit player at both running back or in the secondary.

Jones created his own recruitment by going to Colorado State, Iowa State and Air Force, and maybe even a swing through Indiana. The farther he got away from the state of North Carolina, the more popular he became. He’d go and camp and get offered at all those places.

Then Jones showed up at NC State’s camp on June 4, and that was a little bit of a surprise. He was disappointed that he ran a 4.5 because he had just done 4.4 at previous camps. But something clicked between NC State’s staff and Jones, and he got offered June 12. Duke followed suit and eventually he was ready to see NC State, Duke, Iowa State and UConn.

Everything pointed toward NC State, and he did his due diligence, going to see the Wolfpack at least five times since June 4, including his official visit during the Texas Tech game weekend. Then Miami (Fla.), Notre Dame, Kentucky and West Virginia all jumped in within a 24-hour period.

To Jones’ credit, he was already mentally set on NC State during that time period and didn’t waiver on his resolve, resulting in announcing his commitment. He saw the irony that the prospect that the high majors didn’t want at this time last year, was now one of the hottest recruits in the state.

Jones has the potential to gain more weight at a current 6-foot, 193 pounds, and that will help him run between the tackles, where he’s more of an outside runner now. He also doesn’t have as much tread on the tires because he’s not getting 20-plus carries a game at Charlotte Christian. He is nursing a hip pointer injury, but hopefully, he’ll be ready for next week’s showdown at Charlotte Providence Day.

Landing Jones has also re-opened the doors with Charlotte Christian. Things got a little frosty in the past, but it has thawed out now. In fact, NC State could land a tight end from the Knights as a preferred walk-on.

1. Two NC State basketball targets are making their recruiting decisions Saturday, with one having some drama to it and the other likely won’t.

I’ll start with the one that seems most likely to be another college. NC State offered Santa Clarita (Calif.) Southern California Academy senior shooting guard Braelon Green on July 26, and he immediately talked about visiting NC State. The visit was supposed to happen last week, but the Michigan native canceled the trip. He still has come out with a final three of NC State, Arizona State and Nebraska.

Green, who Rivals.com has ranked No. 65 overall in the country, has only been to Arizona State. He also was at Dream City Christian in Glendale, Ariz., last year, which is the former school of ex-NC State signee Shawn Phillips, who ended up at LSU.

Now, the Davin Cosby recruitment has been a little bit more Wolfpack friendly. The Richmond, Va., native, who is now at Raleigh Word of God, is fresh off his NC State official visit. The Rivals.com No. 84-ranked prospect also has Alabama, Wake Forest and Virginia, in his Final Four.

There have been two major train of thoughts with Cosby, with one of them being he’s down to NC State and Alabama. The other thought process is that the decision was really Alabama or Tennessee, though one source knows the Volunteers weren’t overly in the mix anymore prior to his NC State official visit.

Either way, Alabama seems to be the main competition. That would mean two former Buffalo assistant coaches and co-worker would be going at it — Alabama head coach Nate Oats and NC State assistant coach Levi Watkins.

Two areas that Alabama could have the edge, the Crimson Tide were Cosby’s first high-major offer and have been aggressive at every opportunity since early July. Alabama also has the perception of having a good NIL situation for its basketball recruits.

In terms of Alabama’s roster, freshman Rylan Griffen, a former NC State target, well-traveled sophomore transfer Nimari Burnett and junior Darius Miles, are the three wings who have eligibility remaining.

What are NC State advantages? Wide-open playing time, closer to his hometown of Richmond and he likes Raleigh and the Wolfpack have been emphasizing to him look at the offensive freedom that wing Terquavion Smith received as a freshman. Another aspect is that Cosby played for Team Loaded VA, and NC State’s history with that adidas-sponsored traveling team program is extensive.

Going into Cosby’s 4 p.m. announcement, I’d give a slight edge to Alabama, but NC State insiders wouldn’t be shocked if made a surprise announcement. He’s very close to his family and both his older brothers played basketball — at Shaw and Virginia Union — but it’s been clear that Cosby calls the shots and he’s a terrific and polished communicator, with the gift of making every school feel good about things.

2. Lets talk about visits.

As mentioned before, Green didn’t go through with his visit, and that could be a good thing for NC State. Fresno, Calif., point guard target A.J. Johnson of Donda Academy in Simi Valley, Calif., who is ranked No. 9 overall in the country by Rivals.com in the class of 2023, has postponed his official visit this weekend.

You know how the NCAA has rules and then changes happen and coaches have to scramble for rules that kind of “aged out?” Colleges across the country are going through something like that in a low-key manner.

The rule is that college basketball teams get 28 official visits in a two-year span that ends Aug. 2023. That seems plenty right? Well, it did. Say you want to average 14 trips each year, that still seems plenty? Well it did.

Official visits are fun and it’s a big deal whenever the Wolfpack get a player on campus. It also stings when NC State doesn’t get a commitment because here is what is happening.

• NC State had official visitors just this past spring to get players in the transfer market. The four transfers committed, but then Cedric Henderson Jr. (Arizona), Desi Rodriguez (UNLV), Landers Nolley (Cincinnati) and Bryson Mozone (Georgetown).

• Freshman point guard L.J. Thomas never did take an official visit, and that is a good thing. Neither did power forward commit Mady Traore.

• Unsigned seniors Cosby, Dennis Parker and Silas Demary Jr. have both taken official visits this fall.

So simply since last April, the Wolfpack have had 11 official visitors, with the hopes of bringing in Johnson and Bradenton (Fla.) IMG post-graduate center Braden Pierce in the future. Add in Robert Dillingham (Kentucky), Jett Howard (Michigan) and the aforementioned Phillips, and the visits start to add up.

Now, will Johnson ever get on campus? One source close to Johnson called Texas and Louisville the co-leaders, with LSU third and the G-League looming.

So why is the rule antiquated now? When the 28-visit rule was created, the transfer portal and junior official visits weren’t a factor like it is now.

The reality is that NC State will need plenty of official visits this spring. At the moment, the Wolfpack have at least five scholarships to use, but that includes Terquavion Smith, Jack Clark and D.J. Burns all returning, plus no other attrition.

Having 8-10 official visits this spring appears to be pretty pertinent at the moment. Those visits could be so needed that it might be a reality that only one super special class of 2024 prospect (perhaps Paul McNeil) could end up getting invited for an official visit. That bears watching coming up too.

3. The Wolfpack Central’s working theory is that Demary has been hunting for new options, and a big one came this week.

Indiana assistant coach Kenya Hunter watched Demary at Lincolnton (N.C.) Combine Academy this week, and the Hoosiers offered him. Hunter is NC State’s former director of operations. Alabama is his other new scholarship offer.

Demary has also signed with agent Nathan Conley of The Familie sports agency, and Conley is the agent is the agent who signed former NC State signee Josh Hall, who bypassed college. Now, Demary, who is draft eligible, but doesn’t have that type of preps to pros upside, so that is not a worry.

However, it does create an interesting subplot where Keatts and Conley have an interesting past history due to Hall, and now will be navigating the Demary recruitment.

Another interesting aspect of Demary’s past week was that Kansas came to Combine Academy and offered junior wing Rakease Passmore and haven’t offered Demary yet.

Parker does not seem to be in add offers mode, but an opportunity did spring up this week. He’ll be at Missouri this weekend, which is a mild surprise. The Tigers had never really been mentioned before.

Locking in Demary and Parker by say late January or earlier takes on even more importance because it takes the pressure off from revamping the majority of the roster next April.

FSU commit Keith Sampson Jr. keeps door open for NC State​

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Welcome NC State Wolfpack fans to a familiar name and style, just in a new 2021 twist.

For more than 14 years, the standard at the NC State Rivals site has been high, and that will hopefully continue under The Wolfpack Central.

Are you healthy again?

Fair question. I had the genetic bad luck of having Acute Myeloid Leukemia, with numerous symptoms starting in mid-March 2020, and the diagnosis coming April 30, 2020. I began chemotherapy and took a huge pill called midostaurin or Rydapt while at Duke Hospital for 30 days in May 2020, by myself due to Covid.

I lost my hair but not my vibe and got to know the medical people there. One nurse went to NC State and told me how she partied in the Brickyard after the Wolfpack won the basketball title in 1983. Several other nurses had or did adopt rescue dogs from Saving Grace NC, another important part of my life.

I had two scary moments, plus a third that emerged as time went on. I suffered from Sepsis after an infection creeped in and that wasn’t a good situation, but I came out of it after a week in the summer of 2020. After my bone marrow transplant, I had what is called Delirium in late September/early October.

I basically have little recollection of that time period and I wasn’t anything like myself as a result. Combine that with refusing to eat and take pills, and it’s clear from what others have told me, that was rock bottom for maybe three weeks.

The next challenge involved Host vs. Graft disease, which affected my appetite and lungs. It led to losing over 70 pounds and eventually the ability to walk without the aid of a walker.

I got out of the hospital a shell of my former self right before Thanksgiving in Nov. 2020. My life changed for the better when Host vs. Graft disease went away and I was walking again. Then I became determined to walk 2-3 miles a day, whether in the neighborhood or Lake Lynn in Raleigh.

Life was returning to normal by mid-June but the work life component needed a full-time opportunity. I was ready to roll, but needed the chance. Everything came together perfectly and I targeted the CP3 Rising Stars Camp on Aug. 21-22 at the Greensboro (N.C.) Sportsplex as my chance to see where I was physically. After being on my feet for 7 1/2 hours, I knew I was good with the “new normal.” I also had started attending high school football games starting Aug. 13.

Some individuals dropped me since getting diagnosed 18 months ago, and some have been in steady contact throughout. For the latter, I am appreciative.

Is anyone from the previous staff remaining?

No. I look at it that I never wanted to leave my job, but everyone else around me did. I am committed to seeing this through and hope I have earned the added up equity to prove it. So many people supported me during my Leukemia journey, and this is just another way of being able to do so.

Any changes to your username for the message boards?

Nope. What you have always experienced in the past will continue with the same tone and style remaining. Simply don’t be mean or rude and enjoy the renamed message boards “Hands In The Dirt” for football, and “1974 & 1983” for basketball. The hoops board will change if it becomes 1974, 1983 and 20-whatever.

What will the content look like?

Hopefully, informative and interesting to NC State fans. It won’t be identical to my last stint with NC State Rivals, but many of the old stand bys will remain. The heartbeat will be recruiting for numerous reasons. A prime example of that is doing a 20th anniversary oral history of the class of 2001 men’s basketball class that helped save former coach Herb Sendek’s job and snapped a lengthy drought of reaching the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

The Wolfpack Central talked to each member of the class for 30-50 minutes, and all five were completely candid and entertaining. Doing the 40 years of NC State men’s basketball recruiting was one of my previous favorites, and a project I finished up right before starting chemotherapy at Duke Hospital. The 2001 class is great at story telling. If I was a radio guy, I would have made a fancy 99.9 FM-esque kind of podcast, but I play to my journalistic strengths.

Covering recruiting in football and men’s basketball will be fun. For some reason, few like to do both, but I always have for over 20 years. For anyone who has seen my past work, I hope that shines through.

What else has changed?

The other changes involve social media. I built it up before and will slowly do it again, but will welcome everyone’s help, plus a good word of mouth campaign in subscribing.

Follow on Twitter:

@NCStateRivals or @JaceyZembal

Subscribe for free on YouTube:

For Jacey Zembal or The Wolfpack Central

Like on Facebook:

www.facebook.com/TheWolfpackCentral

I am not sure if I’ll include Instagram in the future or not. That is still to be determined, and same for Tik Tok.