NC State has two players who wear the number 3. But which one is better for the Wolfpack?

It was an understandable clerical error.

N.C. State scored on a blocked punt last year at Notre Dame. The official statkeeper originally gave credit for the touchdown to Kelvin Harmon. Germaine Pratt was actually who recovered the ball in the end zone.

See, N.C. State has two players who wear the No. 3. That’s not uncommon in college football. It is when the players with the same jersey number are this good.

Harmon, a receiver, leads the ACC in receiving yards per game (106.8) and has been downright unguardable at times this season. The 6-3, 214-pound junior from Palmyra, N.J., has already had three 100-yard games.

Pratt, an outside linebacker, leads the ACC in tackles per game (9.8) and turned in one of the best performances of his career in N.C. State’s 28-23 win over Boston College on Oct. 6. The 6-3, 240-pound senior from High Point had 13 tackles, a sack and forced a key fumble in the fourth quarter.

N.C. State’s best No. 3?

Two standout players. Two No. 3s. Which one is the best?

“Ooh, that’s one they’ll probably have to fight about right there,” junior receiver Jakobi Meyers said. “That would be a little tussle in the locker room. You can’t say a name for that one.”

Actually, no one in the program surveyed this week was willing to single out the best No. 3.

“I don’t know if I can answer that question,” senior center Garrett Bradbury said. “Have you asked them yet?”

Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren deferred the question to his matching 3s.

“I’m sure they’d love to answer that question for you,” Doeren said. “That would be a fun argument for you to listen to.”

Pratt, who leads the team with 49 tackles, was already locked in game mode for Saturday’s matchup with Clemson. He wasn’t willing to get into a debate.

“I don’t know,” Pratt said. “I’ll let y’all decide it. (We’re) both unique players at our position. We do our job, each and every day.”

Very diplomatic.

Harmon, who leads the Wolfpack with 33 catches for 534 yards, had no such qualms about providing a definitive answer.

“Me,” Harmon said.

The topic has come up between the two, Harmon admitted.

“It is a thing,” Harmon said. “(We) make a big joke out of it. We are both great players. We both hold our own.”

Kelvin Harmon

Harmon made the argument that he had the number first. In 2016, Harmon chose the number for his freshman season. Pratt, who originally had the No. 31, sat out that season with a shoulder injury.

In 2017, Pratt switched positions, from safety to linebacker, and changed his number.

“I told him I was the first one to put it on,” Harmon said. “I told him I let him wear my number.”

Pratt said there is a standard for “the 3.” They take that part of a light-hearted debate fairly seriously.

Harmon was N.C. State’s top receiver last season with 1,017 yards. He was the Wolfpack’s first 1,000-yard receiver since Jerricho Cotchery in 2003.

Harmon has come back for his junior season, and what is expected to be his last college season, in superior physical shape. Harmon, and all of the receivers, put in extra work with quarterback Ryan Finley this offseason.

Their timing and uncanny rapport is obvious. In the third quarter of the 35-21 win over Virginia on Sept. 29, Finley scrambled out of trouble and instinctively found Harmon on the sideline for a 29-yard gain.

“He has great timing with Ryan,” Doeren said. “Ryan knows where to put the ball for him and he has the skill of tracking the football.”

Harmon, who has made eight catches of 20 yards or longer, has made the preposterous look routine this season. There’s almost a catch a game that prompts a “how’d he do that?” response.

“Everyone just sees the acrobatic catches he makes on Saturdays but no one sees the hours that he has put in the past two or three years,” Bradbury said.

Harmon was expected to be one of the focal points of the team. Pratt, who was a backup last season, has emerged as N.C. State’s best player and leader on defense.

Germaine Pratt

Pratt made some big plays in 2017, he scored two touchdowns — the punt block at Notre Dame and a “pick six” against Louisville — but wasn’t a consistent force.

With the loss of star defensive end Bradley Chubb, and seven other starters on defense, Pratt has stepped up his game.

Homework has been the biggest reason for Pratt’s emergence. A film junkie, Pratt can identify almost every play before the snap.

“I hear him call out every play,” junior safety Jarius Morehead said. “Then I see him run right to the play and make the tackle.”

Pratt’s speed helps. So does the familiarity with the position. He played safety his first two seasons.

“Now you’re seeing that consistency that he lacked last year at times,” Doeren said. “Now his run-game fundamentals have helped our defense a lot. He’s making a ton of plays that aren’t his to make, to be honest with you, just because of his ability to run.”

There is one way to get a definitive answer. Harmon, who is an outside receiver, suggested he could move to the slot and Pratt could guard him.

It has happened a few times already in practice and offseason workouts, Harmon said.

And the verdict?

“I won some,” Harmon said. “He won some, too.”

The debate, with no wrong answer, continues.

This story was originally published October 17, 2018 at 5:23 PM.