RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -When lineman Meares Green looks around at his teammates on North Carolina State’s offense, he doesn’t see many fellow seniors. Not that he has ever really noticed.
“Honestly, I’ve never thought about that,” Green said Monday. “It’s a very young team. Not a lot of experience, but a lot of up-and-coming players. We have a lot of new freshmen who are starting to show their faces.”
Maybe before they’re ready. Once again, inexperience and injuries have shaped up as the story of the Wolfpack’s inconsistency with the ball.
Mary – the coaches and players know they have plenty of work left to do, no matter what the scoreboard said following that victory.
While the Wolfpack finally scored their first points of the season, they know there are major strides remaining to be made – and fewer healthy players left to make them – if they want to be competitive at Clemson.
will regain his starting job at Death Valley, two weeks after a concussion when he took a knee to the head while being sacked at South Carolina.
Mary game with an injury to his right knee. Coach Tom O’Brien said running backs Jamelle Eugene (ankle) and Toney Baker (knee) are out.
As a result, the Wolfpack – who listed only three senior starters on this week’s offensive depth chart – rank 116th nationally in total offense, 109th in rushing offense and 100th in scoring offense.
Still, O’Brien managed to keep things light during his weekly news conference. When asked how he was dealing with the mounting injuries, he referred to the color of his golf shirt while quipping, “I’m wearing black now.”
“It’s part of the game – you have to move on,” O’Brien said. “As I said earlier and said many times each week, you’ve got 11 guys to get ready to play. So we’ve got a different 11, and we’ve got to do the best job we can coaching them (and) getting ready to play.”
That’s been a two-year struggle, and the Wolfpack are only in Week 3 of this season.
Wolfpack lost top returning receiver Donald Bowens to a hairline fracture in his spine and Eugene was ruled out of the first game with the ankle injury that has continued to nag him.
Things got worse when Wilson went down in the opener, and the Wolfpack – left with no big-play threats – were routed 34-0 for its second straight shutout loss dating to the 2007 season finale against Maryland.
Mary until third-string quarterback Harrison Beck entered and threw for 246 yards and two touchdowns, but immediately after the game O’Brien reinstated Wilson as the starter for the Clemson game despite lingering concern that the redshirt freshman might be gun-shy about standing tall in the pocket.
“Certainly there is, but the only way we’re going to find out is, put him in there and play,” O’Brien said.
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