NC State redshirt sophomore linebacker Payton Wilson is the type who is consumed by football. Thus it is easy to see how not being cleared to play last Saturday against Virginia Tech was especially hard on him.

Wilson did not even make the trip to Blacksburg. Viewing it on TV didn’t help.

“It was tough for me to watch because I knew that I could have been making plays,” Wilson said.

While Wilson felt he “could have helped a lot” on Saturday night, he also thought that one of the lessons learned from the game was that the energy level needs to be picked up.

“I wasn’t there, but it looked like we came out flat and just weren’t ready to play,” Wilson said. “Wake Forest, we came out hot, which helped us out a lot when we were making mistakes.”

Wilson is going to play Saturday at Pittsburgh, and he sees the maturation process of a young team growing up showing itself in response to what happened at Virginia Tech.

“I would say guys are ready to prove ourselves,” Wilson noted. “Everyone saw we didn’t really play that well last week, so we got a lot to make up for and show people what we really can do. I would say guys are very locked in, more so now than ever.”

Wilson’s absence was felt in Blacksburg a week after he had four tackles for loss in the season-opening win over Wake Forest. This Saturday’s game may be even more physical than the one against the Hokies, who ran for 314 yards as a team in Wilson’s absence.

NC State has only played Pittsburgh once since they joined the ACC, a 35-17 win for the Wolfpack in 2016.

“We don’t really get to see that type of style a lot, that kind of meat and potatoes and line up and run the ball and hit,” Wilson said. “It’s a little different than what we are used to, but we are excited about it.”

Wilson noted the term “meat and potatoes,” refers to how it will be “big on big,” as he described it: Pitt’s offensive line against the Wolfpack front.

“They are going to try to run it,” Wilson noted. “Everyone knows they are a tough team. We got a lot of tough guys on our side of the ball. I like to play tough. I like to hit hard. I’m really excited about it.”

Thus after missing a game, it’s going to be almost impossible to keep Wilson off the field again this coming Saturday, especially when his team will need him.

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