The mysterious Mustafa Greene

Two years ago, Mustafa Greene quickly became one of the more intriguing figures in the ACC for what he was doing on the field. Now his story is intriguing for its mystery and uncertainty.

Greene, whom N.C. State swiped from Irmo, led the Pack in rushing as a first-year freshman in 2010 with 597 yards. Then he broke his foot in 2011 spring practice, leading to his absence for the entirety of last season. Then, during 2012 spring practice, he was charged with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia and six traffic violations.

Just last week, Tom O'Brien told the ACC media gathering that Greene was progressing well and would fight for the starting tailback job with James Washington and Tony Creecy.

Then came yesterday, when the Pack began August camp with Greene nowhere to be found. Greene, along with backup QB Tyler Brosius and defensive tackle A.J. Ferguson, is being held out of practice for academic reasons.

“They’re still working to get themselves on the football field,” O’Brien told reporters in Raleigh. “We’ll see if they make it or not.”

On Greene specifically, O'Brien said this: “He has to continue to do what he’s supposed to, then he would be able to get out here and practice. If he doesn’t, then he won’t be here.”

Our Rivals man in Raleigh, Matt Carter of The Wolfpacker, gave his take on the situation and told his subscribers that there's much more to worry about with Brosius' situation than with Greene's.

Regarding N.C. State in general, they're an intriguing team to follow this year. I guzzled the Pack Kool-Aid three years ago, largely because of my man-crush on Russell Wilson and a few of his receivers, and that team went 5-7.

This team has huge questions at receiver, defensive line and linebacker, but O'Brien is intimating that it's easily his best since he's been in Raleigh.

The key is getting off to a good start, something the Pack hasn't done often over O'Brien's six seasons. His first year (2007) opened with losses to UCF and Boston College. In 2008, State lost its first two games against FBS competition with defeats to South Carolina (34-0) and Clemson (27-9). They began 2009 with all that hype but produced a dud at home in the opener, losing 7-3 to the Gamecocks. They started 2010 by winning their first four, including a 45-28 pasting of Georgia Tech in Atlanta, but came down to earth with three losses in the next five games. Last year they started 2-3 with the losses coming to Wake Forest (34-27), Cincinnati (44-14) and Georgia Tech (45-35).

And if you examine some of O'Brien's biggest wins in Raleigh, most have been followed immediately by galling losses (sound familiar, Clemson fans?).

Here are five questions on the Pack from The Charlotte Observer.

The Wolfpacker has a lengthy Q&A with defensive coordinator Mike Archer.

Here's more on Pack safety Tim Buckley, who transferred from Penn State.

Heather Dinich picks the Pack third in the Atlantic behind Florida State and Clemson.

LW