Top three surprises of 2019 (so far)

With no game scheduled this week, it's a good time to take a look back at the first five games of the Wolfpack's season

Rob Kinnan/USAToday sports

With NC State taking the week off for the first of its two open dates, now is the perfect time to look back and assess first five weeks of the 2019 football season. 

Over the next few days, we'll review the top three surprises, disappointments and areas for improvement, along with the three most important players to the team's success looking ahead to the second half of the schedule.

Today, we check out the top three surprises thus far:

FABULOUS FRESHMEN

With so many holes to fill, especially on the offensive side of the ball, the Wolfpack desperately needed some young players to step up and play major roles despite their inexperience.

And they have. In a big way.

Start with the offensive backfield where the team's top two rushers are true freshmen, Zonovan "Bam" Knight (54 carries, 293 yards, three TDs) and Jordan Houston (32, 229, 2). On the receiving corps, Devin Carter has filled the position left vacant when senior C.J. Riley went down with a season-ending injury in the opening game against East Carolina while speedsters Keyon Lesane and Cecil Powell have both made early contributions. Ikey Ekwonu has been a solid back on on the offensive line.

Defensively, redshirt freshman Payton Wilson leads a trio of young linebackers that has burst onto the scene to make significant impacts, joining classmate C.J. Hart and true freshman Drake Thomas, the younger brother of sophomore receiver Thayer Thomas.

REPLACEMENT RECEIVERS

One of the biggest questions heading into the season was how the Wolfpack would replace the production lost with the departure to the NFL of 1,000-yard receivers Kelvin Harmon and Jakobi Meyers.  It's a situation that became even more of a concern when Riley suffered his season-ending knee injury while covering a punt against ECU.

But instead of being a liability, the receiving corps has continued to be a strength thanks to the leadership of junior Emeka Emezie and sophomore Thomas -- the only two returners with meaningful experience -- along with a stable of talented newcomers.

Emezie, who switched to Harmon's No. 3, leads the team with 28 catches while Thomas has 17. Graduate transfer Tabari Hines also has 17 receptions. The aforementioned Carter has shown glimpses of being a big, strong receiver who can also get downfield now that State seems to have found a quarterback capable of delivering the ball to him while freshmen Lesane and Powell, and sophomore Max Fisher have all gotten better as the season as gone on.

Another element to the passing game has been tight end Cary Angeline, who already has as many catches (nine) and more touchdowns (two) than he did all last season.

THREE MAN FRONT

Coach Dave Doeren planned on alternating between State's usual 4-2-5 alignment and the 3-3-5 scheme brought in from West Virginia by new co-defensive coordinator Tony Gibson. But a rash of injuries to defensive tackles during preseason camp, combined with more depth than expected among a young group of linebackers, has led the Wolfpack to stick with a three-man front as its primary defense.

It's a switch that has produced positive results thus far. State has allowed the second-fewest rushing yards in the ACC at just 71.8 yards per game. The Wolfpack is tied for third in the ACC in scoring defense at 20.8 points per game allowed and fifth in total defense.

And while the pass rush dropped off for a two-game stretch against West Virginia and Ball State, a more aggressive blitzing approach against Florida State helped produce eight sacks