RALEIGH, NC—Last season, Clemson came to Carter-Finley where the two teams played a thriller, and the Wolfpack was able to hold their own against a perennial College Football Playoff program. NC State may have lost by a touchdown, but Clemson was the team trying to pull out of a deficit for most of the game before outscoring the Pack 21-10 in the second half.
We all know how last season concluded, 8-4 and 6-2 in ACC play, the best season (yet) during the Dave Doeren era. Need I say more?
My point being, over the past couple of seasons, the NC State football program has taken a turn for the better. It’s fair to say that Clemson has been a measuring stick game for how this program is exponentially growing under Dave Doeren. While there have been several close games, the program hasn't quite been able to leap over that hurdle -- yet.
In 2018, the Wolfpack if off to a 5-0 start before heading to Death Valley where the program will face its biggest test of the program of the season. One of the units that will be used as an important measuring stick in this game? The offensive line.
Why is this such a big test for the program and how does the offensive line help to prove that? Because it shows the ability of NC State’s staff to recruit and develop successful players against another program that does just that. NC State offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford’s “Band of Brothers” have been a proven piece of the Wolfpack’s ability to grow when you look at individual and team statistics over the past couple seasons in addition to success on the recruiting trail.
It is safe to say, whoever wins the battle in the trenches on Saturday could very well win this game. Ledford spoke on how big of a test Saturday will be for his players.
“Clemson, they are unique," Ledford said. "Those defensive linemen, they got all those guys that are going to be very high draft choices. They play extremely hard they have got great size, great length. So as an offensive lineman, those are the games you want to be able to show that those are the guys you can go up and play against.”
Clemson’s defensive line is stacked with four possible first- or second-round draft picks and is arguably the best line in the ACC -- if not the country. Luckily for NC State’s offensive line, they are not unfamiliar with how to handle these guys.
Last season, the Band of Brothers held Clemson’s defense to just one sack, 8 TFL and zero QB hurries. The one allowed sack was better than eight out of the 12 opponents the Tigers faced last season. Among those games included a total domination in the trenches by Clemson against No. 13 Auburn where Clemson tallied 11 sacks. Others included five sacks against Louisville, five against Florida State and six against Syracuse (the Tigers' lone regular season loss).
Of that 2017 group, three linemen return for the Wolfpack against the Tigers. Terronne Prescod, Tyler Jones and Garrett Bradbury are all back and playing their best football, according to Ledford.
“They are very good pros in their approach of the game,” Ledford said. “Studying with how they just approach everything about football right now. Coming over at night watching film, being on time, doing all the little things right. Seeing them for the last three years now, I’ve loved watching their growth with it and it’s awesome seeing the way that they are playing this year, they are playing at a really high level.”
Prescod and Bradbury were both named to the Pro Football Focus Midseason All-American Team -- and Prescod was listed as the top-graded o-lineman in the country. They have lead the Band of Brothers to sit at seventh in the country with over 335 passing yards per game in addition to being ranked No. 2 in the country for allowing sacks.
In true Garrett Bradbury fashion, he humbly declined that the honor does not make him anymore confident heading into Clemson.
"That doesn't really mean anything to us. It shouldn’t at least," Bradbury said. "That’s just noise outside. Individual accolades, we don’t put a lot of buy into it because the offensive line, it’s a unique position where there are five guys doing their job. It’s hard to single out one guy as just doing a great job without the other four getting recognition."
The idea of not singling out one player and working together as one unit, has created the chemistry between these “brothers” that has clearly translated to success on the field.
“They have done a good job all season of really not paying much attention to anything on the outside,” Coach Ledford proudly stated. “They have done a good job of just worrying about the process, keeping their head down and just going to work in which I admire about the group. They have gotten a little bit better each day and each week at practice.
"It’s an honor to have the recognition that they are getting and very appreciative of all that but understand that it’s where we end up at the end of the season and the work that’s got to be put in for where we want at the end of the year.”
Despite the clear growth from the offensive line against the treacherous Clemson defensive line, it's time to prove it again on Saturday in Death Valley. Though the game has been separated by a single score over the last two seasons, Bradbury isn't worried about the history of the rivalry -- especially with what's on the line this season in Clemson.
“I mean there is a lot on the line and everyone knows that -- it’s the elephant in the room," Bradbury said. "But the more that we as a team can focus on what’s at hand just this game, this Saturday, executing our assignments from the first play to the fourth quarter the better we can lock in."
LINK TO ARTICLE ON 247SPORTS: https://247sports.com/college/north-carolina-state/Article/NC-State-Clemson-2018-offensive-defensive-line-measuring-stick-123485294/