North Carolina State was down two of its top safeties in its season-opening win over Western Carolina last Thursday night. The Wolfpack expect to get one back ahead of Saturday’s top 25 matchup against Tennessee in the Duke’s Mayo Classic.
Returning starter Devan Boykin will miss the matchup with Tennessee and more games the rest of the month as he looks to recover from the torn ACL that he suffered in the Wolfpacks’ bowl loss against Kansas State.
“Devan is out for the month,” NC State head coach Dave Doeran said earlier this week. “His timeline is to be back sometime in October. Can’t really give you a date on that because every month you kind of reassess where guys are out as they get to this stage in the ACL recovery.”
Boykin is a multi-year starter for NC State and was a top defender for the Wolfpack a season ago where he totaled 54 tackles, three interceptions and one forced fumble. According to PFF, Boykin was an above average safety in the ACC a season ago where he earned a 71.3 grade over the course of the season. For reference, that grade was worse than Tennessee starter Jaylen McCollough but better than his counterpart Wesley Walker.
While Boykin won’t be available against the Vols, Ohio State transfer safety Ja’Had Carter will play against Tennessee after missing NC State’s season opener against Western Carolina.
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“Ja’Had will play. He’s ready to go,” Doeren said. “Practiced last night and like I said after the game he could have played Saturday we just felt like it was best to get him one more week to be back 100%.”
Carter spent one season at Ohio State where he played in just five games as a backup and recorded five total tackles. But before his time in Columbus, Carter was a three-year starter at Syracuse where he totaled 135 tackles, seven pass breakups and five interceptions for the Orange.
According to PFF, Carter earned a 68.7 grade including a 70.7 coverage and 68.7 tackling grade. The 6-foot-1, 215-pound safeties first game with the Wolfpack will be a challenging one as NC State faces a Tennessee offense that will likely be the best that it faces all season.
Outside of Preseason First Team All-ACC selection Aydan White, NC State has an abundance of new starters in its secondary including transfers like Carter and Auburn transfer Donovan Kaufman.
Kickoff between NC State and Tennessee is at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday night in Charlotte. Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe are on the call for ABC.
