NC State coordinator Tim Beck sees a challenge in Texas Tech
The NC State football fans in attendance last Saturday for the Wolfpack’s 55-3 win over Charleston Southern probably did not notice the new red LED lights installed at Carter-Finley Stadium. They were on, but the 12:30 kickoff and accompanying daylight prevented spectators from seeing their glow.
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That should change this Saturday when Texas Tech comes to Raleigh. The kickoff is at 7 p.m. Within a half hour the sun will set, and by the second half, at the latest, the bright impact of the new lighting system should be visible for all NC State fans to see.
NC State super senior linebacker Isaiah Moore is one of the few to have seen them. Moore helped with the social media reveal.
“It’s nice, man,” Moore admitted. “I can’t wait to see it. I won’t give away secrets, but I can’t wait to see it out there.”
His classmate, receiver Thayer Thomas, has also had a chance to take a look.
“I’ve walked out a couple of times at nighttime after watching film and they were testing them out and they seem really cool,” Thomas added. “I’m definitely excited to see that.”
Third-year NC State offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Tim Beck knows that new lights aside, “We are going to have a wild, crazy crowd.” Beck understands his players will be excited, but they also have a job to do.
“They are a really good, sound, physical, fast football team,” Beck said of Texas Tech.
Beck, like NC State head coach Dave Doeren, is familiar with the Red Raiders’ first-year head coach Joey McGuire. Beck and McGuire both were high school football coaches in the state of Texas in the early 2000s.
Beck counts McGuire as a “really good” friend. Beck is also confident that McGuire will his team ready to play hard.
Texas Tech thus far has produced well in 2 games on defense, holding Houston to 20 points in regulation before the Red Raiders prevailed in double overtime. Most impressively has been Texas Tech holding their first 2 opponents to just 2.0 yards per rush, eighth best in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) entering the Week 3.
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“On the 22 2-deep, they got 14 seniors and graduates,” Beck noted. “There are only 7 underclassmen on the defense.”
“They’re a big, long physical team that runs well,” Beck added.
This will be the second week in a row that Beck will call his offensive plays from the coaches’ box vs. being on the sideline. He had not been upstairs previously at NC State but had at prior stops.
“You could see things probably a little bit better and don’t have to process information and think of calls,” Beck noted. “Because you can see it and you are kind of processing as it happens.”
That said, Beck confesses to missing the one-on-one communications on the sideline with his quarterbacks and other key players on offense.
“Hearing what they need or don’t need,” Beck noted. “Sometimes that’s as important or more important than calling the next play, making sure they feel good about what’s going on.”
But Beck will have the above-field view of the new lights Saturday night from his new position. He’s more worried however about leaving the elevator after the game with a winning feeling.
“We got to certainly protect our house, playing at home,” Beck said.
