8/3/2019 football Edit

NC State likely to use committee approach in run game

Jacey Zembal • TheWolfpackCentral

Writer

NC State head coach Dave Doeren expects to use a running back by committee approach in replacing Reggie Gallaspy Jr., who exhausted his eligibility in 2018.

Gallaspy rushed 228 times for 1,091 yards and 18 touchdowns in a storybook senior year, during which he played through nagging injuries. He saw action in all 13 games and proved to be a workhorse for the Wolfpack.

Sophomore running back Ricky Person Jr. rushed for 471 yards and two touchdowns last year. (Jacey Zembal/TheWolfpacker.com)

NC State finished with 483 rushing attempts and 496 passing attempts last year, which is impressive balance. A healthy Ricky Person Jr., a slimmed-down Trent Pennix and three incoming freshmen will be tasked with continuing that balance.

Doeren pointed out that Boston College star running back AJ Dillon might get 25-plus carries a game, but that most teams are using the committee approach.

“I think it’s the deepest group that I’ve had,” Doeren said. “We got five guys back there that can play.

“There are more reps happening now than there used to be, where everyone used to huddle on both sides of the football. The game was shorter and it was different. You are getting 70 to 80 plays a game on both sides of the football.”

Person, who underwent offseason surgery for a labrum injury, is 100 percent healthy and hopes to show why he was a dominant three-down running back at Wake Forest (N.C.) Heritage High his senior year.

Person gutted out nine games last year, rushing 112 times for 471 yards and two touchdowns. His injury issues during fall camp a year ago dashed any hope of being healthy during the season.

“He had a postseason repair, and we were taking time with the protocol,” Doeren said. “He had a lot of things from when he got here, from his wrist to his hamstring to his hip.

“We just wanted to get him right going into fall camp.”

Fellow recruiting classmate Pennix, who played in four games last year before redshirting, also was banged up coming out of 2018 fall camp. Pennix has lost about 12 pounds and is listed at 6-2, 224 pounds. He clocked 4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash during an NC State testing day this summer.

“So far, I haven’t been able to see that [4.4 speed], and he hasn’t gotten out on any of his runs because the defense has been in the right place,” Doeren said. “He has trained hard. I’m excited to see where that goes when we get into our special teams and some of the plays we can get him out in space, and see if it transfers.”

Freshmen Jordan Houston, Delbert Mimms III and Zonovan Knight will all get their chance to shine. Knight was one of the stars of the Kay Yow Spring Game last April and was a coveted Rivals.com four-star prospect coming out of Bailey (N.C.) Southern Nash High.

Person is listed at 6-1 and 220 pounds, but said he might be closer to 215 now. Finding a physical back between the tackles on short-yardage runs will be a key priority. It could be where the Wolfpack will miss Gallaspy the most.

“I assume it will be Ricky or Trent in that role,” Doeren said of the short-yardage carries. “We’ll see. Delbert is a thick kid, too, but you don’t want to expect that from a freshman quite yet.”

Houston was verbally committed to Maryland and Mimms was slotted for Vanderbilt before both switched to NC State leading up to National Signing Day. Mimms was a “blueshirt” and this week was the first time Doeren could publicly talk about him. Houston also has opened up some eyes during the first two days of practice.

“He’s really good out of the backfield and is a good receiver,” Doeren said. “He is impressive in every rep he gets. He’s quick, has good vision, he’s explosive and has a chip on his shoulder.”