NC State football’s injuries start to pile up. Another key player is out for the season.
N.C. State is barely three weeks into the football season and the injury woes that upset its roster last year are starting to emerge.
Junior cornerback Teshaun Smith posted on his Instagram account Sunday night that he will miss the remainder of the 2020 season. He will undergo shoulder surgery and return in 2021. The school also confirmed that Smith won’t return this season.
Smith, who’s 6-3 and 186 pounds, was in for 56 plays in the season opener against Wake Forest on Sept. 19. He finished the game with three tackles.
Smith, who’s from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has played in 17 games and had five starts for the Wolfpack. He has one career interception and 28 tackles.
He was on the sideline but not in uniform this past Saturday during the Wolfpack’s 45-24 loss at Virginia Tech. Sophomore Cecil Powell (6-0, 210 pounds) started in Smith’s place. With Smith out for the year, that means more snaps for Powell, redshirt freshman Shyheim Battle (6-2, 183) and sophomore Malik Dunlap (6-4, 220). True freshman Aydan White (6-0, 170) should also be in the mix. White started on special teams against the Hokies.
“He’s a guy we’re excited about,” head coach Dave Doeren told reporters Monday during a press conference. “Being consistent every day as a freshman is a hard thing. It’s such a transition from high school to college.”
White finished high school with seven career interceptions at the Christ School in Asheville.
Other Wolfpack players hurt
The loss of Smith means a bigger hit to N.C. State’s secondary. Junior safety Tanner Ingle (5-10, 182), a team captain, was in for just two plays against Wake Forest and didn’t play against Virginia Tech due to a hamstring injury. Cornerback Chris Ingram has not played so far this season as he continues to recover from a knee injury that caused him to miss the final six games of 2019.
Smith also missed the last six games of 2019 with an injury.
It doesn’t stop there. Redshirt freshman Khalid Martin suffered a serious injury this past Saturday night against Virginia Tech. Martin (6-0, 195) collided with a teammate while making a tackle late in the game and was taken off the field in an ambulance. Martin was examined at a hospital for a possible spinal-cord injury but tests came back negative.
Martin was back with the team Monday and attended some meetings, Doeren told the media.
“That was a scary moment,” Doeren said about Martin’s injury. “Don’t know how long it’s going to be, but all the scans, all the X-rays, all the imaging, have been positive, now it’s just a matter of returning and how long that takes.”
His status for the remainder of the season is unclear. Heading to No. 24 Pittsburgh this weekend, the Wolfpack could be down four defensive backs if Ingle and Smith don’t return.
N.C. State was also without starting linebacker Payton Wilson (concussion) against Virginia Tech. Doeren said Wilson is expected to return this weekend. He’s hopeful that Ingle will be back in the lineup. Wilson and Ingle returning would mean the Wolfpack will have its top two tacklers back from a year ago. The team missed them both against the Hokies, who rushed for more than 300 yards.
“Not having Payton and Tanner hurts,” Doeren said Monday. “I think getting Payton back is a helpful part of that. Our top two tacklers are Payton and Tanner and we missed them in a run-heavy game.”
This story was originally published September 28, 2020 at 10:46 AM.
