In May, we originally started a countdown to NC State football's season and ACC opener against Louisville, a game that was originally scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 3.

In mid-June, the game was moved up a day to Wednesday, Sept. 2 in order to not conflict with the Kentucky Derby which was postponed from the traditional first Saturday in May to Saturday, Sept. 5 over Labor Day weekend.

In late July, the ACC scrapped its original football schedule to create a new 11-game model due to challenges presented from the coronavirus pandemic. A week later, NC State learned the dates of its new schedule which will begin Saturday, Sept. 12 in a road game against Virginia Tech.

Today, Aug. 12 marks 31 days from the Wolfpack's season opener, for now.

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

Career: Redshirt junior linebacker Vi Jones will play his first snaps in a Wolfpack jersey in 2020 after transferring from Southern California after the 2018 season and sitting out in 2019 due to NCAA transfer rules.

Jones contributed significantly as a reserve linebacker for the Trojans racking up 28 tackles in 22 games over two seasons.

As a sophomore in 2018, Jones took down 13 tackles (10 solo, three assisted) including three for loss in eight games. He had 15 tackles (nine solo, six assisted) in 14 games as a freshman in 2017.

Bio: Jones was a four-star linebacker in the 2017 class out of Westlake High in Austin, Texas.

The 6-foot-3, 225-pound outside linebacker was the No. 79 ranked overall recruit in the country. He was ranked No. 9 nationally for his position and No. 10 overall in the state of Texas.

In three seasons with the varsity football team at Westlake High, Jones tallied 238 tackles and 18 sacks. He was named an All-American by Under Armour, Prep Star, Max Preps and USA Today. He also earned first-team All-Central Texas honors as a senior.

Fun Fact: Jones' father is former East Carolina star and NFL veteran Robert Jones. Former NC State defensive coordinator Dave Huxtable coached Robert at ECU.

——

• Talk about it inside The Wolves' Den

• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolfpacker

• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolfpacker

• Like us on Facebook