At least once since Dave Doeren has been the coach at NC State, the Wolfpack has tried to catch Clemson off guard with a trick play or two.
NC State is known for throwing every gadget play in the book at its opponents. In the first half of last week’s game at Wake Forest, the Wolfpack ran two flea flickers. They also have the halfback pass, the reverse pass and many other trick-plays they have run.
“That will be business as usual because they do all of that,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. “They have all of that and they call all of that, it is unbelievable. They really do.
“You can break them down. They have every gadget in the book, and it is stressful because they call it. A lot of teams go out and practice. We have all kinds of stuff we practice but we don’t always call it. We don’t always need to call it, but we got it. So, you never know. We might run that triple-double-reverse-pitch-back-throw-back pass.”
The Wolfpack (4-4, 1-3 ACC) will run it, which will have Clemson’s defense on alert Saturday when the two teams meet at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, N.C.
The Tigers (9-0, 6-0 ACC) have one of the top defenses in the country again this year, allowing just 247.2 yards per game, which ranks fourth nationally. They are just the third team since 2000 to hold each of its first nine opponents to less than 300 yards of offense and the first Clemson defense to do it since 1979.
Due to injuries, especially at the quarterback position, NC State has struggled to move the football consistently this season. The Pack is averaging just 393.8 yards per game, so Doeren will do whatever it takes to get his team in position to score. Calling a trick play every now and again keeps an aggressive defense like Clemson’s honest.
“They put a lot of stress on you because they have them all … flea-flickers, double passes, reverse, pitch-back-to-the-quarterback passes, halfback pass. They have all of that stuff,” Swinney said.
The Tigers and Wolfpack will kickoff at 7:30 p.m., on Saturday. The game will be televised nationally on ABC.
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