N.C. State will be without two starters from its offensive line for Saturday's trip to Miami. Right tackle Andrew Wallace and left tackle Rob Crisp will both miss the game with injuries.
Wallace, a senior, injured his left foot in last Saturday's 52-14 win over The Citadel and will miss his first game of the season. Crisp, a junior, will miss his fourth straight game with a back injury, according to the injury report released by N.C. State on Thursday morning.
Running back Tony Creecy returned to the top of the depth chart on Monday but freshman Shadrach Thornton will also play against Miami on Saturday.
Creecy missed N.C. State's 52-14 win over The Citadel last Saturday with an undisclosed injury, as did James Washington. With Mustafa Greene suspended for the second straight week, that left Thornton, a freshman, who ran for 145 yards and a pair of touchdowns in his first college game.
Thornton's second on the depth chart, behind Creecy, who has 130 yards on 31 carries in three games.
Updated: 3:42 p.m.
Running back Tony Creecy will start for N.C. State against Tennessee on Friday, and linebacker Rodman Noel will not.
Those were two of the major changes to the Wolfpack's depth chart for the season-opener in Atlanta against the Volunteers. Also notably absent from the two-deep were receiver Bryan Underwood and cornerback C.J. Wilson, whose eligibility is in question by the NCAA.
N.C. State has three veteran running backs in James Washington, Tony Creecy and Mustafa Greene. Wolfpack coach Tom O'Brien typically rotates two over the course of the game.
How the carries will be split up next Friday in Atlanta for the season opener against Tennessee is still to be determined O'Brien said Thursday.
Asked if there was any separation in the competition, O'Brien said, "not really."
N.C. State coach Tom O’Brien saw positives and negatives in the Wolfpack’s first scrimmage of the spring Saturday – which is about what he expected.
O’Brien enjoyed watching quarterback Mike Glennon throw against the first-team secondary. In 75 plays, the offense scored two touchdowns, both on passes. The defense, which had 27 interceptions last season, picked off two passes in the scrimmage.
O’Brien said Glennon and the secondary are improving.
“(The secondary) is operating at a high level, which is good for them and our quarterback,” O’Brien said. “It’s all about making each other better.”
Add another question mark to N.C. State's running back situation, if only temporarily.
Redshirt freshman Tony Creecy wore a walking boot on his right foot during "Meet the Pack" day on Saturday.
Creecy, who's expected to help fill-in for injured running back Mustafa Greene, did not provide any details about the injury, and neither did coach Tom O'Brien. Creecy did say he has been practicing.
Southern Durham wide receiver picks N.C. State.
