NC State is coming off its most successful season rushing the football in more than two decades, which is a little astounding given how impotent the Pack was just a couple of years ago. NC State finished the year strong, and that's led to optimism, but it's not just blind hopin'.
As ESPN's David Hale noted the other day, NC State was really good in several different respects:
Last year, NC State's ground game ranked 13th nationally in yards-per-rush (5.98), first nationally in third-down conversions (66.1 percent), ninth in fewest runs stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage (14.