NC State offensive lineman Spike Sowells met with the media ahead of the Wolfpack's upcoming matchup versus Campbell.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Sowells’ interview.
On getting his first start of the year…
I felt great. We talk with [Al Byrd] a lot about trusting God's plan. The big thing for me is giving God the glory first. God put me in that position. [Garett Tujague] put his trust in me, and I felt that was big. Playing a true freshman to start on the offensive line is not something you see a lot, especially with a guy that's not like a 6’8” guy like Juan Gaston at Georgia. I do with what I've got, and I try my best to execute.
On what made him know he’d need to play on the interior line…
It was kind of just with the experience that [Jalen Grant] has. J.G. has been playing great, so my [thought process] was, “All right, J.G. is playing great. What other opportunities will I have to get on the field?" I feel I'm a very talented guy, and so I saw things where Coach Tujague's like, “We'll try you at guard,” and so I made the most of it. I’m just trying to execute my job.
On his "welcome to college football” moment…
My "welcome to college football” moment [came against] ECU in the third quarter when Coach Tujague looked at me, and said, “Put your helmet on." I said, "Put my helmet on? Oh…" I put my helmet, and he's like, “You're going to right guard.” I was like, “Right guard?! All right, all right." I jog out there, and I'm just sitting there, looking at packed-out Carter-Finley. I'm like, "Man, I prayed for these times.” Through the adversity I went through in high school with my injuries and things, making it to stepping on a college football field, it just felt surreal.
On how much guard he’d played before coming to NC State…
I’ve never played guard. I've only played center, left [tackle] and right tackle, so when they said guard, it really [threw me off]. I've never played guard before then.
On the weeks preparing to play guard…
It was kind of knocking off the rust a little bit. The last time I played like true, meaningful snaps was in high school, so it was them easing me into it, not throwing me out into the fire day one, just a couple reps this game, a couple reps this game, and just getting me ready for when it's time for me to really take over.
On what he learned from his game film…
There's a lot, like hand placement and how much different is the speed of the game. When you're playing 68 snaps, you're a lot tired than playing six. [During] 13-play drives, I'm out there. I'm like, “How many plays are we in right now?!” I'm just getting accustomed to that, just the longer drives and different D-linemen you face — Virginia Tech had a lot of good D-linemen who we faced against —and just getting used to playing against guys of that caliber.
On getting the offense back on track…
We've just got to get back to the fundamentals: hand placement, strain, and things of that nature. It's nothing that we don't know how to do. We've just got to execute better. The coaches put us in the perfect opportunity to do the things we need to do. We just need to execute better.
If the improvements come down to mental fortitude…
It could be. It just kind of varies. Sometimes, you'll set, and it might not have been your best set, and now if you're out of position, you got to find a way to get back in position because the biggest thing is to keep C.J. Bailey up. That's our key to success. Whenever C.J. Bailey's doing good, we're all doing good.
On team leadership keeping the team on track…
Our leaders have been doing a great job. We have our leadership council, the older guys. Even the hurt guys who are hurt [like] A.J. Richardson are still leading like they're still playing every week. Sean Brown is still leading. They're just coming in everyday, just motivating and making sure we stay on track because we know what we can do. These last two games, we fell down, but if we execute the way that we did the first three weeks, I think we can win out, honestly. I think we can win out if we do everything we're supposed to do.
If there was any indication during fall camp that he’d play guard…
It was mainly just get me accustomed to playing center. I mostly just rolled with the twos at center. When I got put in at guard was like, “Ball is ball, so guard’s not too much different. I don't have to snap the ball. I can just play fast.” I’m just playing ball how I've always done since I was a little kid.
