2017 represented a breakout season for NC State football. Its 9-4 record was its best under head coach Dave Doeren, and its 6-2 ACC record brought the most conference wins for the Wolfpack since 1994.

However, when looking at the talent of last year’s team, which sent a program-record seven players, including the entire defensive line led by all-time sack and tackle-for-loss leader Bradley Chubb, fans and observers reach the logical conclusion that the Pack should have done more.

Indeed, a few plays in close losses to South Carolina, Wake Forest and Clemson cost NC State a chance at 10 to 11 regular-season wins, a berth in the ACC title game and a New Year’s Six Bowl.

However, many have also reached the conclusion that just because NC State squandered a great chance, that was THE chance, and the team missed its window to reach that higher gear and compete for an ACC title.

That’s simply not true, for a couple reasons. First of all, the Pack has an excellent chance to repeat, if not improve on, its finish from last season.

While the defense lost pieces, the offense returns what should be a dynamic passing attack. Graduate quarterback Ryan Finley enters his fifth year of college football, having elected to return after a season in which he completed 65.1 percent of his pass attempts (second ACC) for 3,518 yards (second ACC), 17 touchdowns and just six interceptions.

Finley, who was recently named the top QB prospect for the 2019 NFL Draft by ESPN’s Todd McShay, should be primed for a monster year with a trio of wideouts that could be among the best in the country in junior Kelvin Harmon, graduate Stephen Louis and redshirt junior Jakobi Meyers.

Couple that with a solid group of options out of the backfield, led by senior Reggie Gallaspy, to replace Nyheim Hines at running back, and the Wolfpack will be able to move the ball.

That’s not to say the team will be one-dimensional and the defense is bereft of talent, either. The defensive line is returning a group of experienced players that served as backups to last year’s NFL quartet, led by senior end Darian Roseboro, who has 13.5 career sacks despite not starting for the first three years of his career.

Roseboro and graduate linebacker Germaine Pratt, who finished fourth in tackles on last year’s team with 69, should help offset the losses in the front seven. The defense should be more well-rounded this year, with the secondary, which has been a problem spot for years for the Wolfpack, set to take a step forward with several players returning, including junior corner Nick McCloud and junior safeties Jarius Morehead and Tim Kidd-Glass.

Add that talented roster to an arguably easier schedule this season that does not feature Notre Dame and in which several ACC opponents are sorting out their quarterback situation, and eight or nine wins could very well be in the cards for the 2018 Wolfpack.

Not to mention, all that talk about missed windows and opportunities just adds more motivation for that returning talent.

“It’s just bulletin board material,” Meyers said. “They can say what they’ve got to say. We know who we have at the Murph; we know who we’ve got on our team. So we’re just going to keep working to be the best that we can every year. Regardless of who we have, who we lost.”

NC State is set up well to compete not just this year, but in the future as well. Doeren has been cleaning up on the recruiting trail. The incoming 2018 class is ranked 26th in the nation by 247Sports. That class, aided by the new redshirt rule that allows freshman players to play in four games without losing a year of eligibility, should gain valuable experience this year.

A group that includes linebacker Payton Wilson, quarterback Devin Leary, defensive tackle Alim McNeill and running backs Ricky Person and Trent Pennix should be ready to go after learning from the Wolfpack’s veterans this season.

And the 2019 class has a chance to be something truly special. That group is ranked 20th by 247, and will deliver a bevy of talent to Carter-Finley Stadium. The 2019 defensive line class, led by three four-stars in the top 20 nationwide at their positions, could rival the group that just graduated.

So, when factoring in the talent the Wolfpack has returning, along with the future recruits coming in, the notion that 2017 was some once-in-a-lifetime, one-time chance team for NC State is both misguided and incorrect.

“I think that’s just the whole aspect of college football,” Louis said. “Every year is going to be a new team. That’s how it goes. You have to step up. Guys have to step up in different positions. Obviously you had a lot of great players get drafted and get picked up by teams, but that’s college football. That’s how it works. We’re a program who recruits well, who develops well. For me, seeing the development that we have, I have no worries. People are going to talk on the outside. What we have going on in here is what we have. I love that about us.”