NC State preparing for possible rain vs. Virginia Tech, practicing with wet weather in mind

NC State coach Dave Doeren is no stranger to playing in wet weather. Each of the last two times Notre Dame visited Carter-Finley Stadium, rain followed, including Hurricane Matthew in 2016. 

Although the Irish won’t be in Raleigh this weekend, a just under 60 percent chance of rain with possible thunderstorms is in the forecast as Virginia Tech is set to visit the Wolfpack on Saturday night (7 p.m., The CW). With that in mind, NC State is preparing for the possible poor conditions for its third ACC game of the season.

“I’ve been around bad conditions a time or two,” Doeren said Thursday afternoon. “It depends on how bad the rain is. If it’s just normal rain, then you play ball. But if it’s torrential, then you’ve got to be able to adjust to it. Obviously the game plans on both sides can change, so you’ve just got to be ready for that. We’ll definitely be ready.”

This won’t be NC State’s first rodeo with rain this season. While the Pack hasn’t faced wet conditions in an actual game this fall, it did play its first scrimmage of fall camp on a rainy August night. The program responded well in that closed-door game, which didn’t feature a fumble in the process, a fact that led Doeren to knocking on wood this week, as it also tackled well too. 

In addition to the scrimmage experience in the rain, NC State does wet ball drills every Thursday in practice on a normal game week. That continued this week, likely with a stronger sense of urgency since the weather systems are expected to roll into the Triangle for the duration of the entire weekend. 

That combination of scrimmage experience and the routine drills appears to have NC State ready to go for another rainy night at Carter-Finley Stadium on the Wolfpack’s natural grass field. 

“The guys need confidence when conditions change,” Doeren said. “Today, it was super hot. It makes you feel good because they had a good practice. We scrimmaged well in the rain. My job is to remind them of those things and get them to focus in. 

“The coordinators and position coaches tweak things based on what happens, even if there’s a weather delay. There’s possibilities for that as well. We’ll have to have our rain plan dialed in and make sure the guys are ready for it if it happens.”

Special teams update

NC State’s special teams unit struggled in its 45-33 loss at Duke last Saturday afternoon. The Wolfpack jumped offsides on a punt return (a play NC State practiced in the week leading up, but still was penalized, which led to a Blue Devils touchdown), missed an extra point and had a 25-yard field goal blocked due to an apparent missed blocking assignment. 

It wasn’t a banner afternoon for the Wolfpack, which usually boasts a good special teams unit each year. As the team has focused on its execution at practice this week, Doeren said he liked the special teams response since the program’s first loss of the season.

“It’s been really good,” Doeren said. “Disappointed, embarrassed; they want to play better. From me to Coach Goebbel to the players, it’s linear, we all have to be better in those areas. And the guys on the field have to get better for us.”

The punt return unit’s discipline to avoid offsides penalties will likely be tested against Virginia Tech this weekend. Why, exactly? Well, the Hokies used the same hardcount that Duke did when Virginia Tech faced off with South Carolina in the season opener. The Gamecocks jumped offsides, just as the Wolfpack did last week, so the Hokies are likely to deploy that again on Saturday.

“We know they’re going to do it. It’s not a matter of if,” Doeren said. “It’s being disciplined enough to look at the football and not care how many hard counts or claps there are. Do your job. Your job is to play with technique after the ball is snapped.”

NC State believes that it will be able to leave that penalty in Durham considering it was a fixable gaffe by redshirt freshman defensive lineman Josh Alexander-Felton. The Wolfpack’s 13th-year coach was confident it won’t happen again this weekend against the Hokies. 

“They’re not intentional, they’re not trying to sabotage the team,” Doeren said. “It’s guys that are excited to play that weren’t focused enough. We’ve got to get them there. That’s our job as coaches.”