Wolfpack TD Celebration: Hug a Big Guy

Social distancing goes out the window when the NC State football team scores a touchdown thanks to a tradition that calls for offensive linemen to be hugged whenever the Wolfpack gets into the end zone

As conscientious as members of the NC State football team are about slowing the spread of COVID-19, there is one social distancing protocol they frequently ignore.

And they hope to do so many more times before the season is done, as quarterback Devin Leary explains.

"The first thing we do after we score and get into the end zone is hug a big guy," he said. "Every single day the way that we start practice, I tell all the offensive line it starts with them."

Those big guys up front have been a major factor in both of the Wolfpack's wins this season.

Against Wake Forest, the quintet of center Grant Gibson, guards Joe Sculthorpe and Ickey Ekwonu and the tackle duo of Tyrone Riley and Justin Witt paved the way for a 270-yard rushing performance.

Then last week, the group -- with Bryson Speas subbing in for the inactive Witt -- gave Leary enough time to throw for 336 yards and four rounds of big guy hugs by neutralizing a Pittsburgh pass rush that came into the game among the nation's leaders with 17 sacks.

"They did a tremendous job," Leary said. 

What made their effort all the more impressive is that it came on the heels of a forgettable performance the previous week in a loss at Virginia Tech.

"After the game, we all knew we didn't play our best game," junior center Grant Gibson said. "So something we do as a team, we'll look at the film and we'll own up to it. That's what we had to do.  

"We saw we didn't play well, but after you watch the film you have to move on to the next team. We saw what we messed up on and we knew we had to fix it."

While Gibson and his linemates put in the requisite work at practice to correct their physical mistakes -- preparation that was praised by coach Dave Doeren -- a healthy dose of pride factored into their impressive resurgence Saturday.

"We took the V-Tech game to heart," Gibson said. "Our goal each week is to improve from the past week ... and we just wanted to go out there and play better as a group, because we know when we get prepped each week and do what we need to do, we're a good group of guys."

As much as the line did on its own, offensive coordinator Tim Beck also did his part to help by devising a plan to use Pitt's pass rushing aggressiveness against it.

It centered around Leary using a hard count and resulted in drawing the Panthers offside five times during the first half.

Not only did the strategy succeed in gaining extra yardage for the Wolfpack -- and on one one occasion, a third down conversion -- it also forced Pitt's defenders to wait an extra split second before coming off the ball as the game went on.

"Us changing up the cadence throughout the whole four quarters definitely holds up the defensive line," Leary said. "It helped us out a lot."

As much as the help was appreciated, Gibson said it wasn't necessary.

"I definitely think it slowed them down a little bit, but I think we came to the game prepped," he said. "We knew they were a great group of defensive linemen up front. We knew we had to come into the game and play our best game of the year."

It's a goal they accomplished. And the reward were plenty of big guy hugs to go around.

"It's great," Gibson said. "Each skill player comes and finds one of us and they give us a huge hug. That's kind of a Coach Beck thing. It means a lot to us up front. We're just doing our jobs, but we're glad they come and give us a hug every time."

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