Jack Chambers is ready to lead NC State offense
When senior quarterback Jack Chambers decided that he was going to walk-on at NC State after being an all-conference performer at Charleston Southern, he expected to have “some kind of role” for the Wolfpack. What Chambers did not know was what exactly that would be.
Turned out, starting quarterback.
After fifth-year redshirt junior Devin Leary was lost for the season following a pectoral muscle injury that needed surgery, Chambers, who won the backup quarterback job over freshman MJ Morris and third-year redshirt freshman Ben Finley during preseason camp, was next in line.
“Devin’s situation was definitely unfortunate,” Chambers said. “But you make sure to got to be ready to go, next man up.”
In his first shot as the starter at NC State, Chambers completed 18 of 30 passes for 160 yards and rushed 19 times for 58 yards in a 24-9 loss at Syracuse.
That same Orange defense would last Saturday harass Clemson start signal-caller DJ Uiagalalei to the point he was benched. Overall, the Tigers quarterbacks completed 15 of 25 passes for 157 yards and 2 interceptions while rushing a combined 14 times for 28 yards.
One major difference between Chambers and his counterparts at Clemson was that the Tigers had a home field advantage. Chambers had to deal with deafening crowd noise in Syracuse’s sold-out dome.
For Chambers, who played a game at Georgia last season during the Bulldogs’ national title campaign, that represented an entirely new level of crowd noise.
“I’ve never experienced anything like that,” Chambers admitted. “That stadium was so loud I couldn’t hear myself thinking for a little bit.”
Fortunately for NC State and Chambers, the next three weeks should represent calmer conditions for the offense. They are all at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, starting Thursday night against Virginia Tech.
Chambers also had an off week to get further acclimated with the offense and, perhaps more importantly, develop timing and chemistry with the skill players around him.
“It’s the same offense, but we’re going to use our strengths,” Chambers noted.
The quarterback further added that with a short week after the bye, the amount of time to make drastic changes is not as much as perhaps outsiders expect.
“It’s just getting more reps,” Chambers noted. “It’s definitely helped get the timing better.”
Undoubtedly, Chambes and his fellow teammates on the NC State offense have heard the doubters. The Wolfpack have been held under 300 yards of total offense in 3 of 4 games played against Power Five competition. The lone exception was having 307 yards in the 19-17 win over Florida State.
Furthermore, in the nearly six quarters that Chambers has led the offense, NC State has yet to score a touchdown.
Virginia Tech’s defense, which ranks 50th nationally out of 131 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), will not be an easy get-right opponent for the NC State offense. The Hokies are ranked just three spots behind Texas Tech, who held the Pack to 270 total yards.
Jack Chambers, though, is looking forward to the challenge.
“They’ve got a good defense, no doubt about it,” Chambers said of the Hokies. “But we’re a good offense, and we’re just ready to show people what we’re made of.”
