Few expected North Carolina State to amount to much in 2010, but head coach Tom O’Brien and the Wolfpack surprised everyone by going 9-4 overall. They tied for second in the ACC Atlantic with a 5-3 conference mark, and capped off the year with a 23-7 win over West Virginia in the Champs Sports Bowl.

It was the first winning season for the Wolfpack since 2005. Looking ahead to the 2011 season, NC State will have 13 starters back, but will have to replace starting quarterback Russell Wilson, who threw for 3,563 yards and 28 touchdowns, while also rushing for 435 yards and nine scores.  Wilson was released from his scholarship and ended up signing on at Wisconsin.

Offense:

The leading candidate to take over at quarterback is junior Mike Glennon, and the success of the offense relies heavily on his shoulders. Glennon has impressed the coaches in practice, but he hasn’t started a single game in his two years at NC State.

With a new starting quarterback making his way to the field in 2011, look for the Wolfpack to put more emphasis on running the ball this year. That means sophomore Mustafa Greene could be in for a monster season. As a true freshman, Greene led the team with 597 yards. If Greene can stay healthy, he will have a great shot at topping the 1,000 yard mark.

A big concern heading into the season is the lack of experience remaining at the wide receiver position. The top two and three of the top four threats are gone, leaving senior tight end George Bryan as the top target back from last year. Seniors T.J. Graham and Jay Smith will likely join junior college transfer Tobias Palmer in the starting lineup.

Making things even harder on the offense is the fact that they will have to open the year without starting left guard Andrew Wallace, who will not be healthy enough to play until the middle of October. While NC State will miss Wallace early in the year, they do have three other starters back and will add in talented sophomore left tackle Rob Crisp into the starting five.  If this unit can stay intact until Wallace returns, they should have the best offensive line in O’Brien’s tenure.

Defense:

With the offense likely taking a step back in 2011, the Wolfpack will hope to avoid regression and rely on a defense that made some big improvements. Eight starters will return to a defense that went from giving up 31.2 ppg in 2009 to allowing just 21.3 ppg in 2010.

The front seven really stepped up their game against the run last year, holding opposing teams to just 114 yards a game. While they have to replace two starters on the defensive line and leading tackler Nate Irving, there is plenty of talent coming back. The defensive line features one of the top defensive tackles in the conference in senior J.R. Sweezy, who led team with six sacks in 2010. They also have two very talented linebackers coming back in senior middle linebacker Audie Cole and junior Terrell Manning.

The strength of the defense will likely come in their ability to shut down opposing the team's passing game. They have one of the top safeties in the conference in junior strong safety Earl Wolff, as well as two talented corners in junior C.J. Wilson and sophomore David Amerson. 

ACC Prediction: 2nd ACC Atlantic — While I don’t think the offense will be able to match last year’s numbers, you win games with your ability to shut down teams on the defensive side of the ball. I look for the Wolfpack to surprise a lot of teams with how good they are going to be on the defensive side of the ball in 2011. I’m not giving them much of a chance of competing with Florida State for the top spot, but the rest of the schedule sets up nicely for another strong season in the ACC. They get North Carolina, Clemson, and Maryland at home, and avoid playing both Virginia Tech and Miami out of the Coastal.

Check out my 2011 ACC Predictions to see how I have the rest of the league shaping up.