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SCOUTING THE WOLFPACK

Coach: Tom O'Brien (86-59 in 12 seasons; 11-14 in two seasons at N.C. State)

2008 record: 6-7 overall, 4-4 ACC

Starters returning: 15 (7 offense, 7 defense, 1 special teams)

Starters lost: 9 (4 offense, 4 defense, 1 special teams)

Home field: Carter-Finley Stadium (57,583), Raleigh

KEY QUESTIONS FOR N.C. STATE

Who will replace injured star LB Nate Irving?

The short answer? No one. The car accident that robbed Irving of his junior season also robbed the Wolfpack of its most talented tackler. “Certainly, you’re not going to replace Nate Irving,” coach Tom O’Brien said. “We don’t have another player on our football team like him. He came out of spring practice the No. 1 rated player on our defense.” Sophomore Dwayne Maddox and freshman Terrell Manning will fill Irving’s weakside linebacker spot. But replace him? Hardly. “I’d certainly rather have Nate,” O’Brien said. “But now that we can’t, they’re going to have to carry the load and they’re going to have to step up and make plays. It’s an opportunity for both of them.”

With Irving out, is the linebacker corps the biggest question mark on defense?

No. Senior middle LB Ray Michel returns after playing all 13 games last season and leading the team with 102 tackles. Sophomores Audie Cole and Dwayne Maddox both played key reserve roles last year. The big question mark will be the secondary. The cornerbacks are C.J. Wilson, a freshman, and former walk-on Koyal George, a senior who started out as a wide receiver and has two career starts. The safeties — senior Clem Johnson and sophomore Justin Byers — have combined for 12 starts. ”I think we’re very athletic (in the secondary), and that’s what you want to be,” O’Brien said. “What we’re lacking is experience. The only thing you can do is get into football games and play.”

If Irving was N.C. State’s best defender, who’s No. 2?

The coaching staff graded DE Willie Young as the Wolfpack’s No. 2 defensive player, and with LB Irving gone, the strength of N.C. State’s defense is clearly up front. Young had 54 tackles and 61/2 sacks last season. Young is a graduate student, and the rest of the veteran line — DE Shea McKeen, DT Leroy Burgess and DT Alan-Michael Cash — are all seniors?

Who will catch All-ACC quarterback Russell Wilson’s passes?

The good news is three of N.C. State’s top four receivers from last season are back — WR Owen Spencer, WR Jarvis Williams and RB Jamelle Eugene. The bad news is, the wideouts had a so-so training camp. Wilson was intercepted three times in one practice, twice on jump-ball throws. “If we’re going to throw a deep ball, one of the things a quarterback has to ... find out (is) which one of his receivers is going to go up and get the ball. They’ve got an equal chance to go up and make a play,” O’Brien said.

2008 RESULTS (6-7)
at South Carolina — L, 0-34
William & Mary — W, 34-24
at Clemson — L, 9-27
East Carolina — W, 30-24
South Florida — L, 10-41
Boston College — L, 31-38
Florida State — L, 17-26
at Maryland — L, 24-27
at Duke — W, 27-17
Wake Forest — W, 21-17
at North Carolina — W, 41-10
Miami — W, 38-28
Rutgers (Papajohns Bowl) — L, 23-29

2009 SCHEDULE
Today: South Carolina, 7 (ESPN)
Sept. 12: Murray State, 6
Sept. 19: Gardner-Webb, 6
Sept. 26: Pittsburgh, 3:30 (ESPNU)
Oct. 3: at Wake Forest
Oct. 10: Duke
Oct. 17: at Boston College
Oct. 31: at Florida State
Nov. 7: Maryland
Nov. 14: Clemson
Nov. 21: at Virginia Tech
Nov. 28: North Carolina

All kickoff times are TBA unless noted

N.C. STATE INFO

Tickets: $35-$55 single games; $264-$329 season. Call (919) 865-1510.

Official athletics Web site: www.gopack.com

Local radio affiliates: WXRC-95.7; WRAL-101.5; WSJS-600; WKXR-1260

Coach's call-in radio show: Mondays at 7:30 p.m., WSJS-600, WKXR-1260

Coach's TV show: Sundays at 11:30 p.m., WXLV-45; Mondays at noon, Fox Sports South

DEPTH CHART
Listed by player's number, name, height, weight and class year

OFFENSE

Left tackle
70 Jake Vermiglio 6-5 315 Jr.
72 Zach Allen 6-3 314 Fr.

Left guard
73 Julian Williams 6-5 309 Gr.
64 Andrew Wallace 6-5 299 Fr.

Center
58 Ted Larsen 6-2 296 Gr.
67 Wayne Crawford 6-3 301 So.

Right guard
79 R.J. Mattes 6-6 303 Fr.
74 Andy Barbee 6-3 310 Gr.

Right tackle
50 Jeraill McCuller 6-7 325 Sr.
71 Gary Gregory 6-4 305 Jr.

Tight end
84 George Bryan 6-5 265 So.
89 Matt Kushner 6-4 262 Sr.

Wide receiver
5 Jarvis Williams 6-4 213 Jr.
15 Darrell Davis 6-4 204 Jr.

Wide receiver
13 Owen Spencer 6-3 185 Jr.
6 T.J. Graham 6-0 180 So.

Fullback
47 Taylor Gentry 6-2 242 So.
46 Harrison Ritcher 5-11 215 Jr.

Halfback
22 Toney Baker 5-10 225 Sr.
29 Jamelle Eugene 5-10 198 Sr.

Quarterback
16 Russell Wilson 5-11 201 So.
8 Mike Glennon 6-6 211 Fr.

Kicker
36 Josh Czajkowski 5-9 184 Jr.

DEFENSE

Defensive end
98 Shea McKeen 6-5 265 Sr.
94 Michael Lemon 6-4 267 Jr.

Defensive tackle
95 Leroy Burgess 6-1 290 Sr.
90 Natanu Mageo 6-3 285 Jr.

Defensive tackle
49 Alan-Michael Cash 6-1 291 Sr.
52 J.R. Sweezy 6-5 280 So.

Defensive end
97 Willie Young 6-4 250 Gr.
11 Audi Augustin 6-2 253 Jr.

Linebacker
42 Audie Cole 6-5 239 So.
26 Asante Cureton 5-11 205 Jr.

Linebacker
44 Ray Michel 6-0 229 Sr.
7 Sterling Lucas 6-2 230 So.

Linebacker
41 Dwayne Maddox 6-2 237 So.
35 Terrell Manning 6-3 220 Fr.

Cornerback
20 C.J. Wilson 5-11 177 Fr.
2 Rashard Smith 5-11 175 Fr.

Cornerback
33 Koyal George 5-11 175 Sr.
39 Gary Grant 6-0 186 Fr.

Strong safety
19 Clem Johnson 6-0 200 Sr.
27 Earl Wolff 6-0 196 Fr.

Free safety
28 Justin Byers 6-0 188 So.
31 Bobby Floyd 5-9 211 Sr.

Punter
38 Jeff Ruiz 6-2 185 Jr.