How NC State football’s running backs could enhance the 2024 Wolfpack offense

N.C. State quarterback Brennan Armstrong scrambled in the pocket, looking for an open receiver in last December’s Pop-Tarts Bowl. When he couldn’t find one through traffic, the graduate student took off on his own and barreled through the Kansas State defense.

The Wolfpack finished with 235 rushing yards that day, its second best performance of the season. But with 204 yards coming from non-running backs, that game showed what the coaching staff already knew to be true: It needed to find depth, experience and toughness in the offseason.

Head coach Dave Doeren and offensive coordinator Robert Anae think the 2024 roster fills those needs.

The running back room features nine players, including five with college experience. A third of the running back room — Jordan Waters, Jordan Poole and Demarcus Jones — have been on a collegiate roster for at least four years.

Last year, the team started with eight running backs but ended with six after the staff moved Poole from linebacker. Jordan Houston redshirted early in the year and transferred. Michael Allen appeared in 10 games but opted out of the North Carolina contest and transferred. Micah Crowell retired from football in October.

NC State’s running back room just got smaller. Senior Jordan Houston to redshirt

Jones and Delbert Mimms, who ultimately left for Eastern Michigan, were the only two upperclassmen. Jones missed the last five weeks of the regular season due to injury and finished the season with five carries.

Anae, the second-year Wolfpack coordinator, praised the running backs for their work ethic and competitiveness.

More importantly, Anae and Doeren believe the room’s culture changed. They praised the brotherhood and leadership they’ve seen from their 2024 crew. It’s not about who gets the most carries but how to make each other, and, therefore, the team, better.

“That room is transformed with attitude,” Anae said. “The attitude of all the players is unselfish, and they’re all ready to contribute. That’s not common in running back rooms. No, it’s hardly that. It’s more like it was last year.”

Grayson McCall, the Wolfpack quarterback who transferred from Coastal Carolina this year, credited Waters for being a catalyst. The Duke transfer, who led the Blue Devils in rushing with 819 yards and 12 touchdowns last season, provides experience and guidance while saying encouraging a team-oriented approach is important.

“I got one more year, and I just want to be remembered as a great teammate,” Waters said at ACC Kickoff. “I wanted to come here, play some good ball, rush for a lot of yards; just come in and be a good person, be the best teammate I could, and be remembered as a great person.”

Oklahoma transfer Daylan Smothers, freshman Duke Scott and sophomore Kendrick Raphael received praise from their teammates and coaches, as well. N.C. State often called on Raphael last season. He notched 309 yards and one touchdown.

Raphael said everyone in the room has a role, and he’s happy to do what is necessary. It doesn’t matter if he’s running on first or third down, blocking for McCall or helping facilitate the pass game.

The Wolfpack has historically relied on passing as its primary form of offense and used the run game in a supplemental role. That could be the case once again considering McCall’s skillset and the wide receiver corps, led by last year’s ACC rookie of the year, Kevin Concepcion. But the team also appears set up for a more efficient run game this fall.

Linebacker Caden Fordham said the revamped offense, especially the receivers and backs, is testing guys on his side of the ball.

N.C. State has not finished with a rushing average above 175 yards per game since 2017.

The team’s 156.5 rushing yards per game in 2023 were the most since then, and it was led by Armstrong’s efforts. He was the only Wolfpack player in the league’s top 25, contributing 55.4 yards per game and seven touchdowns.

The program averaged 141.4 rushing yards per game in the last seven seasons, roughly 35.6% of its 397.0 yards of total offense.

The Pack’s 2023 numbers were good enough for No. 10 in the league and only had 4.3 yards per carry. However, the team scored a number of 1-yard touchdowns.

Meanwhile, McCall finished his Coastal Carolina career with 1,113 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns on top of his 10,005 passing yards and 88 TDs.

There is still uncertainty about this season’s offense and what it’ll look like, but the renewed running back room appears poised to bolster McCall and the highly-anticipated wide receiver class. Anae expects to implement plays to utilize multiple running backs.

“I am pushing that envelope to get more running backs in a formation on the field, because of who those kids are,” Anae said last week. “There seems to be more pieces to make plays out there, so the emphasis is to spread the ball and do that kind of thing with distribution.”

Fans will get their first look at the new offensive scheme when N.C. State opens the season Aug. 29 at Carter-Finley Stadium against Western Carolina.