Up until the 38-22 win over Florida State Saturday night, NC State had yet to win a game in 2020 without junior safety Tanner Ingle.
Ingle, who is also a team captain, finished second on the team with 68 tackles last season but has struggled to find the field this fall due to a hamstring injury.
After playing just two snaps in the season opener against Wake Forest, he returned for the Wolfpack’s three-game October win streak before leaving the Duke game in the first half. Ingle hasn’t been back in the lineup since, but he will be ready this Saturday when the Pack faces undefeated No. 21 Liberty in Carter-Finley Stadium.
“I'm excited more than anything,” Ingle said. “It's been a minute since I've played some football. I feel good. I feel back to normal, so I'm just ready to go and play.”
In a normal year, it’s possible Ingle could have rushed back, but the junior has time on his side. The NCAA’s decision to grant all fall athletes an extra year of eligibility due to the fragmented nature of a season considerably impacted by a pandemic has allowed him to ensure he didn’t return too soon and increase his risk of re-injury.
“Especially after hurting it again, I just decided to take my time with it and make sure that I was healthy before I came back,” Ingle said. “It does take a lot of pressure off me knowing that this year, I don't even have to worry about it because I'm going to get it back regardless.
"That allowed me to not worry about having to rush back and miss any more games or anything like that.”
While there’s no getting around the impact Ingle’s absence on the field makes, the captain still plays a role in the team’s spirit on game days. On top of his rehab efforts, he’s still been active in the locker room making sure he’s supporting his teammates.
“With me being not present on the field, I still have to be present as a leader,” Ingle said. “Therefore, I'm out there making sure that the young guys know what they're doing. I'll watch film with the younger kids, making sure they know their plays, making sure they know their checks.
“Apart from that, just making sure everybody keeps their head up on the sidelines. I try to do a good job of giving everybody some motivation, making sure they keep their head in the game, just the little things like that to help keep the team going.”
One person that has helped the Pack get by without its leader in the secondary on the field is junior nickel Tyler Baker-Williams, who has slid into Ingle’s spot at safety in the past two contests.
“He's a huge player for us,” Ingle said. “He could do everything. As far as seeing him move from nickel to safety and still performing just as well, it's kind of what we expect out of Tyler because we see it every day in practice. Tyler's played nickel, he's played safety, running back. He can do everything.
“Once Tyler moved to safety, he switched into our position room and started meeting with us as well. Tyler would come up to me during practice and ask questions. If I saw something mess up in practice, I'll make sure I'll correct him and make sure he knows exactly what he needs to be doing. As far as that, I was just making sure he knew all the plays and stuff. Ability-wise, Tyler's going to go out there and do what he does.”
Now with Ingle’s return imminent, the NC State defense will be as healthy as it's been since the season opener in September.
“It bodes well because it adds depth to our defense, it allows more players,” Ingle said. “Plus it's given the younger players experience as well, so it just adds a lot more depth to our defense.”
The Wolfpack has gone 1-3 without Ingle in the lineup this fall but has been successful in the last two weeks coming off of a heartbreaking loss against a top 15 team followed by a blowout win over a struggling conference rival.
Most of the success in recent weeks can be credited to the offense, who has had back-to-back games with at least 400 total yards and five touchdowns.
“As a defense, we got to do our part as a team,” Ingle said. “We got to play complementary football, so if we're not doing our part, obviously, we aren't going to win the game.
"We're just happy that our offense has been playing so well because it's been making our job a lot easier as a defense.”
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