NC State builds depth as it prepares for a unique 2020 because of coronavirus
When N.C. State coach Dave Doeren met with the media for the first time this season he talked about having to possibly play every guy on the roster.
Not because there’s just so much talent from man 1 through 120, but because of COVID-19, if there is a cluster, or someone has been in contact with a person who tested positive, there is a chance it could affect an entire position group.
Players, staff and coaches are tested weekly, and in the case that a player tests positive, that’s an automatic 14 days of quarantine. If, for example, an offensive lineman on the team tests positive, and he lives with three other offensive linemen, they would all have to take precautions, which makes the nightmare of having to play without three to four guys a reality the Wolfpack might face.
Doeren and his staff have spent a great deal of this fall camp working on their depth, making sure guys who might not have gotten reps in the past, get those snaps.
“We’ve put a lot of emphasis on that,” Doeren said. “It’s happening even as we get our work.”
Doeren singled out the offensive line. At Wednesday’s practice, the first in full pads, guys were shifted around. Sophomore left tackle Ikem Ekwonu played multiple positions at practice, Doeren said. Senior guard Joe Sculthorpe told the media that he’s played three different positions in camp so far.
“We are giving those guys the ability to get reps now,” Doeren said. “In case those things happen. We are giving them the opportunity to do that.”
And it hasn’t just been on offense. Defensively, senior defensive tackle Val Martin has played both nose guard and defensive end, same for redshirt freshman C.J. Clark and true freshman Davin Vann.
Doeren feels pretty confident it’s going to come in handy, all but certain at some point this season they will lose players not to just injuries, but COVID-19 situations.
“Some of it’s not going to be because of a positive test,” Doeren said. “You can be in a contact tracing situation with someone in your classroom even. We have to be able to move it around.”
And if it doesn’t come down to that, at least the Wolfpack will have built depth for the season and be able to use fresh players. There haven’t been any players working on both sides of the ball, sticking to their three deep at each position. Doeren said there was no need to waste those reps, but later in the Zoom meeting signaled out junior nickelback Tyler Baker-Williams as the type of player who could play some offense or return kicks if needed.
Sculthorpe said having flexibility will be key.
“I think it’s been good,” Sculthorpe said. “Seeing guys moving around and playing positions that they typically wouldn’t be seeing practice time with, just because we want to be ready. The first time a guy has to switch sides of the ball or go from guard to tackle, tackle to center, whatever the switch is, it’s not the first time during the season.”
Fall camp is usually a time to build that added depth, but Doeren admitted the coaches are spending a little extra than normal to make sure that third or fourth-string guys are up to speed.
“The guys are handling it well,” Doeren said. “It’s more right now for sure. We don’t want to get into game week and all of a sudden you have 10 guys out for whatever reason and you’ve never lined those guys up in different spots. We are giving them that now so that they aren’t freaked out by it later.”
COVID SCARES
N.C. State reported a cluster of COVID-19 linked to an off campus apartment on Tuesday. Baker-Williams said he has done a good job staying isolated at his home and in the Murphy Center when he isn’t in class.
Senior wide receiver Emeka Emezie said he’s had one in-person class this semester and then is back to the football center when he’s done, to be sure not to mix too much with the students.
Doeren said the protocols have gone well for his team and the clusters don’t bring him any concerns. He added an upswing was expected when the students returned, but the football team has continued to test and “been good.”
More than anything, it’s been the “scares” that have caused guys to miss practice time.
“A guy will have a headache and we have to hold them out until he gets retested then he is fine,” Doeren said. “There are so many things that are symptoms of COVID so every time a guy has one you pull him out, you quarantine everyone in that tracking area. We’ve had more removals, replacements a day later because we are getting our testing back really fast right now.”
N.C. State’s rival, UNC, decided to go on-line class only on Monday. Notre Dame will also do the same for two weeks.
Doeren hopes it doesn’t come to that for his school, adding there is value in learning in the classroom.
“I think in-person instruction is a powerful thing,” Doeren said. “I feel for all the students not just in our state, but the high school kids, the elementary school kids, middle school kids, I think that in-person connection from an educational standpoint, that’s going to hurt our society over time. Can you learn in a virtual setting? Yeah, you can. But I think there’s positives and negatives to all of that. I just hope everyone that’s having the issues are OK.”
86 to 3, back to 86
Emezie led the team with 56 catches for 576 yards in 2019. The Waxhaw native will have a new, old look for his senior campaign.
Last season Emezie wore jersey No. 3, switching from No. 86, the number he wore his first two seasons. For his final campaign, Emezie is going back to No. 86.
How come?
“Just mindset really,” Emezie said. “A number is a number, it’s just a change of mindset really. I just felt like I’ve been through a lot of adversity as 86, I was able to battle through things. I felt like in 3 I was really soft, I wasn’t the player I wanted to be.”
In 2018, wearing No. 86, Emezie had his best season, catching 56 passes for 616 yards and five touchdowns. He only caught two touchdowns last season in No. 3.
Emezie has played in 37 games with 23 starts and has hauled in 122 catches for 1,355 yards and eight touchdowns in three seasons.
He said in the past he put too much extra pressure on himself, especially last season as he became the No. 1 target on the team. This season, the goal is to block out the outside noise and make plays.
“I just love to bring energy for the receivers every single day,” Emezie said. “I feel like giving 100 percent is going to translate to the game.”
Doeren said he’s seen Emezie smile more this camp than he has in three years.
“At times he’s been his own worst enemy,” Doeren said. “Right now he’s been consistent and he is taking it one day at a time. He’s having fun, he’s very aggressive at practice. It’s just part of the process of growing up.”
FIRST DAY OF CONTACT
The team had a chance to knock the rust off on Wednesday, the first day of full contact. Since spring football was canceled after five practices, the team hasn’t had contact since the season ended in November.
With the first game less than a month away, there is still time to space out how much full contact goes on in practice. Doeren said they will put in the same amount of days going full contact, but they won’t do it on consecutive days that often in fall camp.
But there’s nothing like that first day after all these years of playing football.
“Being able to actually get back to playing football as opposed to spreading out and talking through things is a lot more fun,” Sculthorpe said. “I had a lot of fun and I know a lot of my teammates had a good time.”
Baker-Williams spoke on behalf of the defense being able to fly around and hit for the first time in a while.
“It felt good,” Baker-Williams said. “We haven’t had any contact in a while. It felt good to put some pads on and put some pads on somebody else.”
This story was originally published August 19, 2020 at 3:08 PM.
