Wolfpack Secondary is Talented, Mature

By Matthew Osborne
SouthernPigskin.com

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While the Wolfpack secondary took its fair share of lumps a couple of years ago, that trial by fire allowed the young defensive backs to mature at an advanced rate.

Flashback just a few short years ago, and the secondary was a major area of concern for the NC State Wolfpack. With a severe lack of experience in the back four, the Wolfpack were forced to rely on a bevy of young defensive backs on the back end of their defense. As would be expected from deploying a young and inexperienced group of defensive backs, NC State’s defense was regularly burned for big yards through the air.

While the Wolfpack secondary took its fair share of lumps a couple of years ago, that trial by fire allowed the young defensive backs to mature at an advanced rate.

Last season was a coming out party for the NC State secondary, as the Wolfpack led the FBS in interceptions with 27. CB David Amerson, in particular, became a household name, registering an FBS-leading 13 interceptions on the year.

With all four starters set to return this season, the secondary should be a major area of strength for the team this fall.

All four projected starters – CB David Amerson, CB C.J. Wilson, S Earl Wolff and S Brandan Bishop – are upperclassmen, and the group has combined to start an incredible 114 games in their careers in Raleigh. In fact, Amerson is this least experienced defensive back in the starting lineup with just 22 career starts heading into his junior campaign.

The aforementioned Amerson burst onto the national scene as a sophomore last season. After failing to generate an interception as a true freshman, Amerson seemingly came out of nowhere to lead the nation in interceptions last year on his way to being named a first-team All-ACC performer.

While Amerson emerged from the woodwork to becoming ACC quarterbacks’ worst nightmare last fall, he is unlikely to catch conference signal callers unprepared in 2012. As is generally accustom with big-time corners, Amerson is likely to see the number of passes thrown his way decrease drastically during his junior season.

What that means for the NC State secondary is that senior CB C.J. Wilson will need to prepare to be tested early and often in this season’s contests. 

Of NC State’s four returning secondary starters, Wilson is the only player that failed to register three or more interceptions last season. In three years of starting duty, Wilson has amassed just three career interceptions, although all three were returned for touchdowns. He is currently projected to go undrafted following his senior season, but he will have plenty of opportunities to display his talent on the gridiron this fall.

Brandan Bishop, who will man the secondary at free safety, is the Wolfpack’s most experienced defensive back with 37 career starts. A balanced defender, Bishop totaled 99 tackles last season, while also registering five interceptions. He has a total of nine interceptions over the past two seasons.

Labeled as “the heart of the defense” by head coach Tom O’Brien, strong safety Earl Wolff is undoubtedly the vocal leader of the Wolfpack secondary. Wolff finished second on the team in tackles in 2011 (117), while also forcing three interceptions and three forced fumbles.

Although the conference as a whole has struggled mightily over the better part of the last decade, the ACC is currently home to many of the nation’s top quarterbacks.

With so many quality quarterbacks in the conference, possessing an exemplary secondary is quickly becoming a prerequisite for any ACC champion, which is what NC State is striving to become.

While there are still plenty of questions marks in the front seven of the defense, Wolfpack fans can sleep a little easier with the knowledge that they have one of the top secondaries in the country. It will be tough to replicate last year’s performance in terms of interceptions forced, but this is a veteran unit with a lot of talent that should cause problems for opposing offenses all season long.