When Cal strolls in for its maiden ACC voyage to Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, it will face an NC State squad that is withering in uncertainty. The game comes on the heels of the firing of Head Coach Dave Doeren, a pillar of the program who led the Wolfpack for 14 seasons. His tenure had stretches of impressive achievement, and the lack of his presence this weekend will be extremely notable. The key question for the Bears is whether NC State approaches this matchup with the appropriate level of focus and intensity given the off-the-field changes. It would be unwise to suggest that the Wolfpack will simply fold, as Cal’s heroic win over SMU after the end of the Wilcox era can attest.
The defensive side of the ball has been even more tumultuous than the Doeren drama. Coordinator DJ Elliot was relieved of his duties this week, in the wake of a program-wide shakeup. Change has been so rapid that the NC State official website deleted the roster entry for Elliot already ( NC State Defense). Charlton Warren was announced as the replacement defensive coordinator. Warren was fulfilling the role of safeties coach before the upheaval, but comes with some relevant experience for the role. He was DC at Air Force and before that, Indiana.
For much of the Doeren tenure, the Wolfpack ran a 3-3-5 defense. However, the Elliot DC tenure saw a shift towards a more diversified look. NC State has struggled defensively this season, allowing almost 7 yards per play to FBS competition and surrendering nearly 33 points per game. A deep dive into the Wolfpack’s results reveals a group that ranks towards the bottom of the FBS across most traditional defensive indicators.
The sources for these struggles are not isolated to a single phase. Their pass rush hasn’t gotten home, averaging around a single sack per game. The DJ Elliot defense gave up around 5 yards per carry and approximately 270 passing yards per game. Recent trends have been even more concerning for NC State, with the firing impetus stemming from a Stanford loss in which they let Tavita Pritchard torch them for just south of 500 yards.
One area where NC State has a clear advantage over Cal is discipline. The Bears are one of the most penalized teams in the nation, while Interim Head Coach Todd Goebbel’s group has done reasonably well at limiting penalties. They have also done a sufficient job at taking the ball away compared to previous Cal opponents.
Despite the uncertainty, NC State will have a few defensive pillars to rest on this Saturday. Foremost is Pope Aguirre, a senior linebacker and Miami transfer who leads the team in tackles and turnovers. Standout freshman Elijah Satchell is another linebacker with size who leads the team in sacks. In the secondary, senior cornerback Jackson Vick and safety Ronnie Royal III are among the key threats that Cal will face.
The most pressing concern for Cal is whether they will face an entirely new defensive scheme this weekend. So much turnover may leave room open for wild experimentation, particularly given that some of the remaining coaches may well be auditioning for their future roles or even a promotion. Warren hinted to the media that incendiary alterations aren’t on the table, telling them, “We're looking for ways to fix what we have in inches. We don't have feet to chase.” (New NC State DC press ) Despite this rhetoric, one imagines that the staff in Raleigh see a Cal offense that has struggled and view it as an opportune time to shake the proverbial Etch A Sketch.
Cal has the opportunity to return to .500 in conference play and preserve hope for a bowl berth with a win. They will have an opposition that is distracted, to say the least, and face one of the weakest defenses of any conference foe. If they cannot find a way to put points on the board, particularly given the Bears’ recent defensive struggles, it will extinguish any hope of ending the season on a positive note.
hope their pass rush continues to suck so jks can go for 400 yards this weekend