On the second play of NC State's game last Saturday against No. 1 Florida State, freshman receiver Bo Hines had a sense it was unfolding well for him.

He was running a vertical route. The FSU defensive back though was going in a different direction.

"I saw him biting on the out route, and I was like, 'If he bit that hard then there is probably no one around me,'" Hines said. "It was definitely a good feeling."

The end result was Hines running free for a 54-yard touchdown to open the scoring for the Wolfpack. It was the first of what would be eight receptions for 103 yards in the game for the NCSU true freshman.

"I was just trying to help my team win the game, and if that involved me making more plays then so be it," Hines said. "We have a lot of talented receivers in our receiving group, so whenever the ball is thrown anywhere we have confidence anyone can make plays."

NCSU redshirt junior quarterback Jacoby Brissett has obviously found a lot of confidence in Hines. Hines is leading the Pack in receiving through five games with 24 receptions for 312 yards. His score against FSU was his first career touchdown.

It is a continuation from the spring game when Hines wowed spectators with 10 catches for 132 yards in the scrimmage. Hines said that he always had confidence in his abilities. For him it was about learning from older receivers how to run the routes quickly and capitalizing on opportunities when they came.

This fall has felt even better to him than the spring.

"Obviously in the spring, you play against the same guy every single day," Hines said. "They get to know your tendencies and stuff like that. When you play against someone new, you work the stuff you are good at, and it's a lot of fun.

"Obviously getting out there on the field and actually playing is different than looking at film and playing in practice."

Hines also noted that it helps when you are playing with a quarterback as confident as Brissett.

"Jacoby has always been the same level guy," Hines said. "He's been a leader since he got here, and he's always had confidence in his abilities when he stepped on this campus, and it's just continuing. Now he is showing the country what he can do.

"Any offense, when you have a confident leader at quarterback, it's going to trickle down to the other players. We really feel like we can play with anyone and win against anybody we play."