In a perfect world where the college football season goes off on time, Saturday, May 30 marked 96 days till NC State’s season and ACC opener against Louisville, a Thursday night, road game that should be nationally televised, although a formal announcement on the network has yet to be made.

Each day, The Wolfpacker will do a countdown to the season with a reflection on the significance of that number to NC State.

Career: Johnson is hoping to prove to be a case in perseverance, and he may get his best opportunity yet in 2020.

A knee injury forced Johnson to redshirt in 2017, and then injuries hampered his ability to see any playing time during his rookie season in 2018. This past fall, Johnson finally saw some live action when he was able to receive a combined eight snaps between games against Clemson and Boston College.

The defensive line though has been hit by attrition this offseason. Two players graduated to the NFL — Larrell Murchison and James Smith-Williams. Three more transferred out: Xavier Lyas (Northern Arizona), Jeffrey Gunter (Coastal Carolina) and Joseph Boletepeli (unknown).

That leaves an opening for someone like Johnson (6-foot-3, 290 pounds), who if fully healthy will have a better opportunity to provide some depth in NC State's three-man front.

Background: Johnson is no stranger to adversity. He was tracking as a top recruit at Wekiva High in Apopka, Fla., before a torn ACL wiped out his junior season. He had already received offers from Central Florida and Iowa State following a strong sophomore season.

His injury changed everything, and Johnson needed a strong senior year to put him back on the radar of recruiters. He did that by being named second-team All-Central Florida by the Orlando Sentinel and first-team all-district by the Florida Athletic Coaches Association as a senior.

Western Kentucky was looking like a strong option until Purdue offered, and for a little over a week, Johnson was committed to the Boilermakers. He made a pledge there after an official visit. A week later, Johnson was at NC State for a trip and ultimately changed his mind.

Fun Fact: Up until about an hour after the signing class in 2017 was announced, Johnson was the last addition to the group. Then Murchison, who was a junior college transfer, was officially announced after Dave Doeren's press conference.

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