Presumably in an effort to erase the memories of a difficult 4-8 season in 2019, fifth-year senior offensive guard Joe Sculthorpe and his fellow linemen on offense made it a point this offseason to become a tighter unit.

It’s about more than team-bonding. In Sculthorpe’s eyes, it’s about an effective offensive line.

“I think offensive line is one of the unique positions on the football field where camaraderie and building chemistry as a unit really translates to better play on the field,” Sculthorpe noted.

If game one was an indication, it was a successful offseason.

NC State rushed for 270 yards as a team, a total that includes 15 yards that were lost at the end of the game on three designed kneel downs out of a shotgun formation. NC State also surrendered just one sack throughout the 45-42 win over Wake Forest.

“I thought the chemistry on the field was great with the guys on the offensive line,” Sculthorpe said. “We spent a lot of time in the offseason connecting as a unit. … I think as a position group we took that to heart.”

“We felt going into this game and going into camp that we were a lot closer as a unit, and we were playing a lot better together,” Sculthorpe added.

The coaches evidently agreed.

A couple of years ago, they started a tradition of awarding syrup bottles for any pancakes. Although that is not exclusive to offensive linemen, and Sculthorpe was quick to point that the blocking of receivers downfield played a huge role in the long runs NC State had versus Wake Forest, it’s safe to say the big guys up front may cherish the “trophy” more than anyone.

NC State head coach Dave Doeren said that there were 16 syrup bottles handed out after Saturday. Sculthorpe confirmed the bottles tend to be the cheaper brand varieties, but he’s fine with that.

““As an offensive line we don’t have stats,” Sculthorpe said. “The only stats we have are negative, like sacks, TFL, stuff like that, pressures. Our only stats we get to showcase are our negative ones or lack thereof. … Whenever we get that pancake or knockdown, you get a little bit of a highlight on that.”

This weekend, NC State is scheduled to travel to Blacksburg to play Virginia Tech. Due to COVID-19, the Hokies have yet to hit the field. Sculthorpe noted that makes it hard to evaluate them.

One may presume that given NC State’s success running the football Saturday against Wake Forest they would try to keep that up against Virginia Tech. Sculthorpe also knows that the presumption would be that as an offensive lineman he would be all in favor of that.

“I think the stereotypical answer is every offensive lineman wants to run that ball, but I think our mentality here at NC State as an offense is we want to score points. … Whatever it takes to work to get the ball into the end zone is what I want to happen,” Sculthorpe said.

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