No. 13 NC State ready for season of heightened expectations
Associated PressThe AP Top 25 college football poll is back every week throughout the season! RALEIGH, N.C. — Coach Dave Doeren knows all about North Carolina State’s title drought — more than four decades have passed since the Wolfpack last won an Atlantic Coast Conference championship. “We need to get there still.” Last year’s team fell short of reaching its first ACC title game after losing a shootout at eventual division champion Wake Forest in a November matchup of AP Top 25 teams. “Guys that have played before and the amount of work we put in last year only got us to nine wins.” LEARY’S DEVELOPMENT Leary’s growth has been key in N.C. State’s rise, starting with his play during an injury-shortened 2020 season. “While it’s still in progress, it hasn’t been done yet.” VETERAN KICKER N.C. State returns the program’s career scoring leader in graduate kicker Christopher Dunn.