Storm changed NC State football players’ routine, but that’s not all bad

As a group, football coaches are creatures of habit.

They live for normal. They love routine. They don’t like to divert from their set schedule. Dave Doeren is no exception.

Hurricane Florence forced N.C. State to miss two days of practice and a home game with West Virginia last week. But the coaches, players and their families, were safe and made it through the storm.

And on Sunday, the team got back to practice and started to prep for this week’s game at Marshall.

“We made the best out of a bad situation,” Doeren said Monday at his weekly press conference.

The decision to cancel the West Virginia game came during practice last Tuesday. Doeren said he met with the players on Wednesday and gave them the option to go home to their families or stay at the hotel near the airport where the team normally stays for home games.

About a third of the players chose to wait out the storm at the hotel. The team didn’t have its usual practice on Wednesday or Thursday and there was no need for walk-through on Friday. N.C. State (2-0) also missed a chance to make national splash against the Mountaineers, who are ranked No. 12 in the country.

There was a positive to the time off, Doeren said. The coaches got a head start on game-planning for the Thundering Herd last Wednesday. The extra time off also helped with injuries.

Doeren said that receiver Jakobi Meyers, receiver Steph Louis and tight end Dylan Autenrieth are on track to play against Marshall.

“I think having that chance to kind of hit reset and catch up on our sleep, that was good for all of us,” Doeren said.

Meyers missed the Wolfpack’s 41-7 win over Georgia State on Sept. 8 with an ankle injury. Louis missed the opener with a hamstring injury and took a hard hit to his neck late in the GSU win. Autenrieth has missed the first two games with an undisclosed injury.

The Wolfpack offense will also have tight end Cary Angeline for the first time. Angeline, a transfer from Southern California, was not eligible — under transfer rules — to play in the first two games. He also would have had to sit out the West Virginia game.

Angeline (6-7, 254 pounds) gives quarterback Ryan Finley another target in a passing game that has averaged 367.5 yards per game.

Doeren was cautious about Angeline’s immediate impact on the offense.

“It’s not going to be like all of the sudden he’s out there getting 30 catches in a game,” Doeren said. “He’s going to have to work his way into playing and blocking.”

This story was originally published September 17, 2018 at 4:08 PM.