9/13/2021 football Edit

NC State Wolfpack Football: Payton Wilson, Cyrus Fagan out for season

Ryan Tice • TheWolfpackCentral

Editor

It turns out NC State football did more than just lose a game last Saturday at Mississippi State. Due to injuries suffered during the contest, the Wolfpack has also lost star linebacker Payton Wilson and Florida State safety transfer Cyrus Fagan for the season.

The news was announced by head coach Dave Doeren in his weekly press conference, but he refused to get into specifics of either injury.

"It's sad and it's heartbreaking, two guys that obviously are great players but great people," Doeren said. "They've work hard. It's the ugly part of football. The good news is both will be fine, post-surgery and recovery and have a chance to continue their careers."

NC State Wolfpack football linebacker Payton Wilson — Wilson (No. 11) led the ACC with 10.8 tackles per game last year. (Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports)

Wilson is a repeat redshirt sophomore due to last fall's free year of eligibility, when he was a first-team All-ACC performer after pacing the league in tackles per game (10.8), becoming the first from the program to do so since 2000. That was the highest per-game average for a Wolfpack defender since Earl Wolff in 2012, and Wilson ranked fourth overall in the FBS for stops.

Wilson had totaled five tackles, including the team's lone sack, in the first two games this fall, despite being limited by injuries in both contests.

Unfortunately, injuries are nothing new for the star linebacker. Wilson redshirted his first year on campus after he suffered two knee injuries — the first was in high school, and the other the summer after he enrolled at NC State. He also missed workouts this past spring following surgery on both shoulders.

In Wilson's absence, sophomore Jaylon Scott will start at weakside linebacker, while sophomore Drake Thomas will take over Wilson's team captain duties. Scott has four tackles, including one for a loss, in the first two games of the season.

Fagan, meanwhile, was in his first year at NC State, joining the Wolfpack as a graduate transfer with two years of eligibility remaining from FSU. Through two games, he ranked fourth on the squad with nine tackles, and he also pulled down one of the team's three interceptions. He started the Mississippi State game after playing as a reserve in the opener.

Sophomore Jakeen Harris, who started the opening win over South Florida, will slide back into the role with sophomore Rakeim Ashford jumping up on the depth chart behind him.

The team was informed of the news Monday during a meeting.

"I know there was genuine heartfelt emotion in there about those two guys," Doeren said. "We love those guys, and we feel for them. We know what the game and the team means to them. I think that pain, that we all suffer for them, can help us play hard for them, and I know they will.

"It's just challenging for for anyone. We're gonna all take the same mentality of this next man's opportunity, and I know Jaylon Scott will do everything he can, and Rakeim Ashford will do everything he can in Cyrus' stead. That's kind of what you have to do.

"It's part of not just football, it's part of life, you know. We all lose things that we expect to have on a day to day basis. How you step up around them? You do it as a family. That's what we have to do as a team."