NC State head coach Dave Doeren will finalize the Kay Yow Spring Game format Tuesday evening, but he has a general idea of what he is looking for Saturday.
Doeren said part of the delay on announcing the format was due to making sure he knew which position groups were affected by injuries this spring. He knows watching live football is the best form of evaluating, just for the simple fact that players can break tackles whereas the play ends in practice when “a tag” occurs.
“It really depends on our depth chart,” Doeren said. “I’m open to play some football and have some situations for the guys. It won’t be a lot of special teams.
“How much live stuff we do will be based on where we are at health-wise by the end of the week.”
Doeren, as he has done all spring, declined to say if one of his three contending quarterbacks had the lead for the position. He said some positions have some pretty good built up depth, but others still need some work during the offseason. Doeren pointed out the depth at linebacker and tight end is the best on the squad, with nickel and safety not far behind.
“We are trying to get through it at some spots and in other spots, you really want to get reps for guys,” he said. “You have to take it all into account.”
NC State’s defense will have a litany of older players to build around, starting with seniors safeties Jarius Morehead and Tim Kidd-Glass, nickel Stephen Griffin, cornerback Nick McCloud, and defensive linemen Larrell Murchison, Deonte Holden and James Smith-Williams.
Smith-Williams and Holden, with the latter studying abroad in France this spring, hopefully will provide the bookends the Wolfpack defense needs.
“It’s a reverse of where we were a year ago on the defensive line,” Doeren said. “We were young last year and guys were playing for the first time as starters. Now, you have some of those guys back as returning starters. We are flip-flopping where we are on the line of scrimmage.
“The O-line is really the younger group and the D-line is the older group.”
Morehead has become a three-year starter and has lived up to the standards one would expect from an Gibsonville (N.C.) Eastern Guilford High product, who goes to NC State. Former football standouts Torry Holt and Terrence Holt, plus the Yow sisters (NCSU athletic director Debbie, Hall of Fame women's basketball coach Kay and All-American basketball player Susan) all hailed from Eastern Guilford.
“Jarius was a good two-way player in high school and a really good person, an in-state guy,” Doeren said. “At the stage we were in as a program, you can’t say ‘No’ to a great in-state player, who can play multiple positions, especially with his character and makeup.”
Doeren maybe didn’t realize the strong connection between Eastern Guilford and NC State, but he does now. He also declined answering if Morehead would wear the No. 1 jersey this season saying “it’s not to be made public yet.”
“There are certain ares of the state that are seriously red, and that is one of them because of what we’ve had through that school,” Doeren said.
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