NC State lineman Timothy McKay puts football in perspective after Virginia tragedy

Three students were killed Sunday at the University of Virginia — all football players. A former Cavaliers player has been arrested and charged.

N.C. State lineman Timothy McKay said this week he realizes how close to home that is. It could have happened here, in Raleigh. He could have been a victim, or his friends and teammates. Such tragedies sadly have become commonplace, and any place.

“My heart goes out to them,” McKay said Tuesday. “It’s just so sad. I can’t imagine that. I can’t imagine it happening here. It’s just heartbreaking, and I have them in my prayers.

“Life is short. Anything can happen. Just stay close to your people.”

The shooting in Charlottesville, Virginia, came on the day McKay, a starting offensive tackle for the Pack, and the Wolfpack team gathered at the Murphy Football Center to regroup and recover — mentally and physically — from a crushing loss to Boston College the day before at Carter-Finley Stadium.

The 21-20 defeat, ending the Wolfpack’s 16-game home winning streak, left everyone sad and some bitter. It came on Senior Day, with so many players joining their families for what many assumed would be one last home victory to celebrate. The dejection was deep Saturday night.

Then came the news from Charlottesville.

“At the end of the day we’re playing a game and they just lost their lives,” McKay said. “It’s two different kinds of levels. It’s a disappointment we lost to Boston College, but three guys lost their lives, just like that.

“We have to take every day as our last day and just go out there and have fun.”

That’s the approach and perspective McKay will keep as the 2022 regular season comes to a close with road games at Louisville and North Carolina: Take nothing for granted, play hard, cling tight to his Wolfpack family of players and coaches.

It has been a challenging season for the Pack’s offensive line. The running game has sputtered. There has been an inability to get the ball in the end zone and misfires near the end zone have been frustrating and at times costly, including Saturday against BC.

It’s mano a mano in those moments, and the Eagles’ defensive line won a second-quarter confrontation on what would be a pivotal moment in the game. A fourth-and-goal play at the BC 1 was stuffed by the Eagles as quarterback MJ Morris lost a yard.

“It’s disappointing because you’re trying to get just one yard and don’t get it done,” McKay said.

Then there was the injury to center Grant Gibson. The Pack’s most experienced lineman, Gibson had to be helped off the field and did not return to the game.

“It’s hard when you lose a three-time captain and someone as vocal as Grant, such a great leader and great person,” McKay said.

It caused a mid-game shuffling of the line as Dylan McMahon was shifted from right guard to center and Anthony Carter, a redshirt freshman, came into the game for 47 snaps.

“It’s really hard,” offensive coordinator Tim Beck said Wednesday. “I thought Dylan did a good job going in ... and having to make all the calls — protection calls, run calls. For Anthony Carter, who hadn’t played (much) for us all year, I thought he played really, really well.”

McKay expects another big test up front this week at Louisville. The Cardinals, aggressive defensively, rank second in the FBS in turnovers forced with 27.

“Their defensive ends are really good, fast, strong, with great hands, good base,” he said. “Their defense is built to stop the run. We just need to go out there and get the job done.”

McKay was 16 years old when he first enrolled at N.C. State in January 2019, an early graduate from Wakefield High. He’s now an NCSU graduate at 20, with a business administration degree, and two years of athletic eligibility remaining.

McKay had hopes of joining older brother Matt McKay at N.C. State and helping the Wolfpack contend for an ACC title. Matt McKay was the Pack’s starting quarterback early in the 2019 season before falling down the depth chart and eventually transferring to Montana State, then Elon.

“We’ve each had our own path,” Timothy McKay said.

McKay has made the most of his first four years at NCSU, graduating with a 3.47 grade-point average and being involved in such projects as ALPHA, an NIL leadership group. He was a semifinalist for the 2022 William V. Campbell Trophy, presented to the nation’s best college football player based on academic achievement, football performance and community leadership.

What McKay wants now is a winning finish to the 2022 season.

“We still have three opportunities, with Louisville, UNC and the bowl game, to end the season strong and have the seniors go out strong,” he said.

N.C. State at Louisville

When: Saturday, 3:30 p.m

Where: Cardinal Stadium, Louisville, Kentucky.

How to watch: RSN. The game was moved off the ACC Network after the cancellation of the Virginia-Coastal Carolina game, the league said Wednesday.