NC State RB Sumo-Karngbaye Shines in First Month of Season

RALEIGH, NC — The No. 12 ranked NC State Wolfpack defeated the Texas Tech Red Raiders 27-14 late Saturday night in Carter-Finley Stadium.

While Dave Doeren’s Wolfpack defense suffocated the Red Raiders for most of the night, the Wolfpack received some much-needed help from an emerging star.

Sophomore running back Demie Sumo-Karngbaye led the way for NC State with 54 rushing yards, 93 receiving yards, and two touchdowns. On a night NC State QB Devin Leary couldn’t get in sync with his receivers, Sumo-Karngbaye posted a career-high in scrimmage yards with 147 all-purpose yards. In the Wolfpack’s first two games this season, Sumo-Karngbaye collected a combined 158 scrimmage yards.

The New Jersey native’s breakout is just a year removed from only playing six games in his Freshman campaign. Majority of Sumo-Karngbaye’s reps that year were with the special teams unit. Along with starting back Jordan Houston, NC State was loaded at the position last season with NFL talents in Ricky Person and Zonovan Knight.

“Coach Doeren let me prove to myself and prove to everybody else that I’m more than capable of making touchdowns and making plays,” Sumo-Karngbaye told reporters following his two touchdown night. “There’s always room for improvement. The things I have to work on are keeping the ball. Even though we’re pretty in sync right now there are still things to improve on.”

Sumo-Karngbaye was a three-star recruit coming out of Willingboro High School in Willingboro, NJ. The 19-year-old fielded just one offer from Temple and went on several unofficial visits with other schools before receiving an offer and committing to NC State in July 2020.

Despite a quiet freshman season from Sumo-Karngbaye, Coach Doeren has always been in awe of Sumo-Karngbaye’s talent level. “He’s a naturally gifted football player. There’s a vision that comes with this game that is hard to coach sometimes and Demie is one of those who see things as a football player.”

Through just three games, Sumo-Karngbaye is second in the ACC in yards after contact with 162 after Pittsburgh’s Isreal Abanikanda. Sumo-Karngbaye is now averaging 4.63 yards of his 5.8 yards per carry after contact.

“Demie’s tough, very very competitive and he’s highly gifted and blessed with ability,” Doeren told me in his presser on Monday morning. “We’ve just got to grow him up. He’s still learning and making mistakes, but he competes really hard and he’ll continue to get better.”

With starting running back Jordan Houston banged up with an injury following their victory over Texas Tech, Sumo-Karngbaye is potentially in line for even more touches this weekend.

Demie looks to keep this pattern of productivity going this Saturday as the No. 12 ranked Wolfpack take on the UConn Huskies at 7:30 p.m. in Carter-Finley Stadium.