Twenty-two minutes of possession
Under 22 minutes. That is how long NC State held the ball in its lone outing so far, a 34-8 beating at Virginia on August 29. Winning a football game gets complicated when the other side owns it for twice as long.
Ten days have passed since. Ten days with nothing to do but watch the tape.
Richmond visits Raleigh on Friday night. Lower division, and on paper a night off. The Spiders are 2-0, though, with wins over Bucknell and Howard, their best start in five years.
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Doeren is worried about his own team, not the opponent
The head coach made that clear. “For me, these games are mostly about us, and I’m not saying that because of the opponent,” Dave Doeren said. “I’m saying it because of how we just played. We’ve got to play our football, get CJ into a rhythm and let him make plays.”
CJ Bailey is in his third year as the starter. Backup Will Wilson handles a lot of the short-yardage work and scored the Wolfpack’s only touchdown against Virginia. Eleven career scores on 49 carries says everything about the role.
There is a hole on defense too. Starting linebacker AJ Richardson is done for the year with a biceps injury. “We’ve got options and it might take a little while to see who becomes that guy,” Doeren said, naming nobody.
These Spiders have beaten an ACC team before
Richmond is not showing up for the paycheck. They knocked off Virginia in 2016. A decade later, another one would taste just as good.
Bryce Allen is the man to watch. The freshman receiver has seven catches, 143 yards and three touchdowns through two games. Tight end Sean Clarke also pulled in seven passes for 80 yards and a score in the 28-21 win at Howard. “I’m just happy to be part of a winning team,” he said.
The home numbers still lean heavily one way. Doeren is 12-1 in home openers and 32-2 against non-ACC opposition since taking the job. The programs last met in 2013, when NC State scraped a 23-21 win on a field goal in the final minute.
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