#PackCamp Day 8: Rain, rain, you can stay

RALEIGH, N.C. - The squad quietly made a bit of Wolfpack history today, when it practiced for the first time in the new Close-King Indoor Practice Facility. Although the team used the building frequently during the summer for workouts, today was the first day that an actual practice was held there.

"It was great," said head coach Dave Doeren after the two hour, shorts-and-shoulder-pads practice. "As soon as the rain started, we ran in here. We didn't miss a beat. We got a lot of really, really good work done. That was the time we were transitioning from indy to one-on-ones and the quarterbacks, receivers, DBs …. everyone was able to stay up and work on a dry field."

Doeren stressed the value of the Close-King to his squad. "Every minute during the whole season is priceless, but once you start classes it's even tougher, because you can't reschedule a practice. You have to make do with what you have. It's a great benefit to be able to stick to our schedule and be efficient and not put our players in a tough position where we don't get everything they need to get them ready to play."

Notes on Day 8
Freshmen Finalé: Practice ended with a couple of impressive plays by Wolfpack rookies. During team work, QB Jakobi Meyers (aka "Lil Kobi") threw a deep ball down the left sideline and WR Freddie Simmons made a great catch. On the last play of the day, freshman defensive end Tyrone Riley batted down a pass … with emphasis!

"It was fun to see those plays," Doeren continued. "Jakobi threw a nice ball and Freddie made a nice catch. And that's the second time Tyrone Riley has ended practice with a batted down ball, so he's taking advantage of his seven foot wingspan."

Doeren added that as a whole, the freshmen are starting to step up. "The first three or four days of college football, they're really nervous and have to settle in. After about a week they feel like they've been here for a while. So we're actually starting to see some skillsets emerge from players and see why we recruited the guys we did."

Top Wolves: In the team huddle following practice, Doeren praised the efforts of RB Matt Dayes and CB Troy Vincent, Jr., who had two interceptions today.

After practice he said: "Matt's been steady and he's versatile. We use him all over the field. The way that he practices is so much better than it used to be effortwise. He became a really good practice player last year and saw the results and now he's expanded that.

"Troy's been up and down with his focus and the coaches have challenged him. He took that challenge today and had a nice day."

North Carolina State University Athletics

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Jakobi Meyers

Tyrone Riley

Freddie Simmons

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