NC State Prepares for Wake’s Home Run Hitter

One Demon Deacon will present a tough challenge for the NC State defense

Nov 18, 2017; Winston-Salem, NC, USA; A North Carolina State Wolfpack helmet lays on the sidelines during the game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at BB&T Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-Imagn Images | Jeremy Brevard-Imagn Images

Tonight, NC State faces Wake Forest to kick off conference play for the Wolfpack. It’s a new time in Winston-Salem, a new coach, 35 new transfers and a new culture being installed. With all the turnover, one thing, or in this case, a player, has remained. A true weapon for the Demon Deacons to utilize and have so far in the 2025 season. NC State fans need no reminder. 

Senior running back Demond Claiborne is ready to face off against the Wolfpack again. 

In 2024, Claiborne ran for 136 yards and two touchdowns against NC State and last week against Western Carolina. The shifty and explosive back shone again, touching the ball only 10 times, but still notching 193 yards and three touchdowns for the day. 

New Wake Forest head coach Jake Dickert certainly loved what he saw.

Two running backs that really impressed me this past weekend in college football are @WakeFB's Demond Claiborne and @ToledoFB's Chip Trayanum.

Both of these guys show great physical and mental toughness to help their teams win!

They get this week's Ground Chucky award! pic.twitter.com/acEIgE90Ju

— Jon Gruden (@BarstoolGruden) September 9, 2025

“Obviously, you can see what happens when Demond Claiborne’s out there,” Dickert said. “He’s the table setter for our offense. Obviously big plays, explosive plays, shot plays – a lot of really good things on that side of the ball.” 

Claiborne will be one of the better backs this Wolfpack defense will face all year. Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love takes the mantle for the best, but Claiborne is in that next tier under Love.

Example of Claiborne against Western Carolina 

This clip just showcases the plain explosiveness Claiborne has as a runner. Here, the Demon Deacons are running outside zone to the right. Running backs on schemes like this are taught to first read the outside foot of the play-side tackle. Here it’s No. 79; if there's no lane to the outside, Claiborne reads one gap to the left until he sees a lane. 

No hole forms on the play-side of the play, but No. 71 does a great job sealing the backside defensive end, opening a hole for Claiborne to scamper through. Western Carolina’s linebacker doesn't fill the hole very well, but regardless, look at the acceleration from Claiborne's right when he sees the hole.  

One stutter step, and boom off to the races. 

J’Mari Taylor, now Claiborne

Last week against Virginia, the Wolfpack's run defense was exposed. J’Mari Taylor ran for over 150 yards and three touchdowns. It’s a short week for NC State, leaving not a lot of time for the coaching staff to fully fix the errors NC State made against the Cavaliers. 

🗣️ J'MARI TAYLOR IS HIM!!

This 66-yard run marks his third rushing TD of the day and ties his career long.

📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/4dH8INoQdB

— Virginia Football (@UVAFootball) September 6, 2025

Head coach Dave Doeren didn’t feel like it was too much X’s and O’s, just simple mistakes. 

“The first half [against Virginia] was not good football,” Doeren said. “And it’s really two halves when you look at how we played. Gave up two explosive runs on short yardage, where we both times had an unblocked defender at the point of attack, didn’t make the tackle. And so, we got to tackle better. We got to be in our gaps. We got to leverage the football and we got to be disruptive, which we were really good in the first game.” 

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