NC State coach Dave Doeren opens up on fall camp position battles 

Even though Tropical Storm Debby unloaded just over four inches of rain on Raleigh last week, NC State football scrimmaged for the first time in fall camp. The Wolfpack did so indoors, but it was a key benchmark for the team’s maturation process leading into the 2024 season. 

NC State coach Dave Doeren was pleased with how his team performed in its first of two scrimmages. The Pack will scrimmage inside Carter-Finley Stadium on Thursday evening. 

“It was good to see the finish of plays,” Doeren said Wednesday. “That’s the biggest thing. Where are we at tackling? Where are we at breaking tackles? Where are we at with contact catches? … So there’s a lot of things in that first scrimmage, so hopefully tomorrow you’ll see improvement in the areas we didn’t do well in the week prior.”

While the Wolfpack was able to play at full speed with a complete referee crew on hand for the scrimmage, it was also another opportunity for the staff to take note of the various position battles in fall camp. 

A key competition that has been ongoing is at left guard, where it appears redshirt juniors Anthony Carter Jr. and Matt McCabe, a former walk-on, have appeared to separate themselves. Carter is the incumbent with 819 game snaps (11 games at left guard, two games at right guard) a year ago, while McCabe has played 34 total snaps in his Wolfpack career. 

To this point, the position battle is still too close to call.

“We’re excited about Matt McCabe, and Anthony Carter’s got a lot of game reps,” Doeren said. “Those two guys will both be able to play for us. It’s been a good competition, it’s back and forth. You don’t see a lot of drop off either way.”

Left guard is the only spot on the Pack’s offensive line that is in question going into the fall. Anthony Belton and Jacarrius Peak anchor the tackle spots, while Zeke Correll is at center and Tim McKay is at right guard. 

Like the final piece of the offensive line, NC State’s long snapper is also undetermined going into the second scrimmage of camp. Doeren believes Thursday’s game inside the Pack’s stadium will be big for the battle between redshirt freshman Aiden Arias and redshirt junior Jake Mann. 

“That’s continuing as we go,” Doeren said of the long snapper battle. “We feel like we have two really good snappers right now.”

Arias spent his freshman campaign at NC State behind Joe Shimko, who started all five seasons and won the Mannelly Award last fall. Mann, meanwhile, transferred in from Appalachian State, and is looking to earn the spot in his fourth year of college football. 

Mann was the Mountaineers’ backup long snapper in 2023, while he started all 12 games during the 2022 season. He spent his freshman year at Oklahoma and played in one game (ironically against Western Carolina, who NC State opens the season with this year). 

As the long snapper competition rages on, NC State does know who its other specialists will be this fall. Redshirt junior Caden Noonkester is back to punt, while redshirt sophomore Kanoah Vinesett will be the Pack’s starting place kicker for the first time in his career. Graduate student Collin Smith, who was briefly in the transfer portal in the offseason, will retain his spot as the starting kickoff specialist. 

In all, Doeren is happy with where the specialist group is going into the fall. 

“We like where we’re at in the specialist room,” Doeren said. “There’s high standards in that room. … We’ve had a lot of talented specialists, and they know it’s their job to continue that and not let that standard drop. They’ve done a nice job.”