How transfer pass rushers Cian Slone, Sabastian Harsh paced NC State’s defense in win over ECU

NC State entered the spring portal window with a clear need of adding dynamic pass rushers to its defense led by newly-installed coordinator D.J. Eliot, whose goal is to pressure the quarterback on nearly every snap.  The Wolfpack’s shopping list had a clear requirement: a player needed to be able to win his 1-on-1 battle against an offensive linemen. NC State’s mission, after all, was to create chaos in the backfield without requiring a blitz like its former 3-3-5 scheme under Tony Gibson did. Little did the Pack know that its official visit weekend during a closed spring game scrimmage would be one of the most-critical steps of its offseason. NC State hosted three transfer portal targets — Northwestern linebacker Kenny Soares Jr., Utah State defensive end Cian Slone and Wyoming EDGE Sabastian Harsh — on the under-the-radar two-day sojourn.  Although that trio wasn’t touted as must-get targets on the outside, those inside the Murphy Center were itching to add all of them that weekend. And before any of them left Raleigh on planes back to Trumbull, Conn., Rocklin, Calif., and Scottsbluff, Neb., respectively, the Wolfpack picked up commitments from all three.  Fast forward just over four months later, and that April weekend has already proven to be integral to the Wolfpack's success. Harsh and Slone were NC State’s two most-impactful defenders in its season-opening 24-17 win over East Carolina on Thursday night at Carter-Finley Stadium, their first-ever snaps in Raleigh.