N.C. State is coming off a bye week to play Virginia. A healthier Wolfpack will be taking on the second half of the season, a time that Tom O’Brien coached teams have done well. How does he do it?

“Our first year was a question of getting the right people in the lineup,” Coach O’Brien said. “We had the wrong people in the wrong spots and was able to restructure the defense and the offense. The second year, we were in a situation like we were now where we had so many injuries the first half of the year that we couldn’t get any continuity until we got to the off week and got people healthy and got back at it again.”

Unfortunately, while bumps and bruises have healed, the Pack hasn’t gotten many players back from the injury list. “So we used the off week to try to get the guys that are going to have to play the second half of the year fundamentally sound and better football players,” O’Brien said. “We are who we are, and we’re going to go play the second half of the year.”

Players who could possibly return for the game at Virginia are A.J. Ferguson (DT) and Curtis Underwood (HB).