For the final time this week prior to the game against N.C. State, head coach Jeff Hafley spoke with the media via Zoom on Wednesday.

While there were no injury updates given for competitive reasons - understandably so at this point, the Eagles need any advantage they can get - one gets the sense that it will be another start for Emmett Morehead.

Another start from the young QB will only add to the litany of young guys that have had to play significant time this season. While it isn’t a best case scenario spot by any means given the expectations, the current spot BC is in allows them to get a little more risky when it comes to play calling.

At 2-7 and not much to lose down the stretch, trusting the younger guys to do some things they maybe haven’t done before will be part of this process. I asked coach Hafley if play calling on both sides of the ball may be a bit different moving forward given the record and inability to get to a bowl game this season. Sort of a “why not?” mentality.

“Yeah,” Hafley said. “I’ll just speak on that from a defensive standpoint. In defensive meetings (Tuesday) as we did third down, we talked about being aggressive and trying some things that we really liked and just haven’t called to see if it works for us. I think that’s a prime example to give ya. There’s some pressures and coverages that we’ve practiced, but we haven’t dialed them up yet.

“I think now’s a time to do that to see if we do like them. So, yes, certainly.”

With so much youth now playing, Hafley talked about how much growth he’s seen from the redshirt class and this year’s freshman class, which might allow the Eagles’ play callers to get a little weird these last three games.

“If you look, I think we’ve had two classes since we’ve been here and right now those are the freshman and the redshirt freshman. Not to take anything away from the older guys at all - you guys know how I feel about them and I’ve stated that - we have a lot of redshirt freshmen and true freshmen playing right now,” said Hafley. “I would say a good majority of our team. Right now, it seems like it’s the most veteran ACC it's ever been with all these six-year kids. You look at N.C. State, these kids have all been there since like 19 or 18.

“It’s not easy, what a lot of these kids are asked to do. They take pride in it and we take pride in it. You get one of the best degrees in the country and you get a chance to play at a high level of football. I think what’s made it easier as we’ve gone along, because now they’re gaining experience - very, very valuable experience - and I think these next three games, as we continue to play those guys will be really important for the future. They’ll know what it’s like going into the offseason and gain momentum with it going forward. I think you saw steps in the last game. For some of those young guys, I’m sure they’re really excited and gaining confidence figuring out college football.”