Wolfpack DBs Face Tall Task Against Tall UVa Receivers

NC State's defensive backs will have their hands full on Saturday trying to stop a super-sized Virginia receiving corps that with a pair of 6-foot-7 targets resembles a basketball frontcourt

NC State's defensive backs will face a tall task at Virginia on Saturday.

That's tall, as in 6-foot-7 wide receiver Lavel Davis Jr. and the equally super sized tight end Tony Poljan.

The two have been important offensive weapons for the Cavaliers this season and will present a depleted Wolfpack secondary with a challenge unlike any it has faced in its first three games thus far.

"Obviously when the game starts, 6-7 is 6-7," State coach Dave Doeren said. "You’ve got to do your best and time your ability to jump and be physical with guys like that at the line of scrimmage."

Davis is a true freshman who introduced himself to the ACC by earning the league's Receiver and Rookie of the Week awards in his first college game -- a performance in which he caught four passes for 101 yards and two touchdowns in a come-from-behind win against Duke.

Last week, in his first career start top-ranked Clemson, he made two catches for 58 yards.

Plojan, meanwhile, has seven receptions for 69 yards and a touchdown in the two games.

Because of the advantage Davis and Plojan have in size, 5-10 safety Tanner Ingle said that he and the other members of State's secondary will have to be smarter and more physical in defending them.

"We've been stressing our technique a lot at practice, just because with bigger bodies you have to play with better technique in order to play their hands," said Ingle, State's junior co-captain. "We've really just got to make sure we get our hands on them and slow them down at the line of scrimmage."

While UVa's big receivers will have an advantage downfield, especially in jump ball situations, the mismatches won't be as dramatic against a Wolfpack defense whose starting cornerbacks have some length themselves.

Sophomore Malik Dunlap is 6-4 and redshirt freshman Syheim Battle is 6-2. 

"It's great to have big bodies out there just to match up with the bigger receivers," Ingle said.

But as Clemson's Andrew Booth showed by outjumping Davis for an interception in the end zone last week, timing and leaping ability are just as important as size when it comes to making plays on contested balls.

"To be honest, my strength is guarding taller receivers, so it shouldn't be too challenging," Battle said. "I know their guys are talented as well as I am. I think it will work in my favor, length against length. It's all about who's the more aggressive opponent."

That aggressiveness has been a point of emphasis at practice this week.

In order to prepare for the challenge of facing a receiving corps that resembles a basketball frontcourt, Battle, Dunlap and the others have spent more time than usual going up against State's biggest receivers.

"The best trial we have is probably Devin Carter and C.J. Riley. They're really big, physical guys," Battle said of his offensive teammates, both of whom are 6-4. The Wolfpack also has its own 6-7 pass catching threat in tight end Cary Angeline.

"We get a lot of reps against those guys just to try to sinmulate what we might get in the game," Battle said. "We might get a lot of hands on, a lot of quick first step moves trying to beat us over the top, those type of things."

While Doeren said he's confident in the ability of his corners to deal with Davis' size, the real challenge will be over the middle in trying defend tight end Plojan.

Not that Ingle or the 5-10 Jakeen Harris should be surprised by the matchup.

"(That's) pretty much how it is every week for a safety," the Wolfpack coach said. "Most of the tight ends in this league are 6-foot-5, so it's kind of what you deal with. You have to be physical and try to get them off their routes and make quarterbacks make really accurate throws, not just letting people run free."

The key to doing that, Doeren said, is not allowing any of Virginia's receivers -- not just the tall ones -- to get off the lineup of scrimmage unchallenged. 

" That’s the one thing when you’re playing a longer guy," Doeren said. "There's a lot of surface area for you to get your hands on them early. We’ve got to do a good job at that."

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