The NC State football team faces off against No. 11 Miami on Friday, Nov. 6, at Carter-Finley Stadium. The game, scheduled for 7 p.m., is slated to be an important one for both teams, as Miami is trying to make an ACC Championship run while NC State is trying to keep its hopes of a winning season alive.
Miami has proved to be lethal on offense, managing to score over 30 points in four of its six games this season. To find out what exactly makes this offense click, it’s helpful to break down each position.
Quarterback D’Eriq King
A redshirt senior transfer from Houston, D’Eriq King has quickly made a name for himself amongst the Miami Hurricane faithful. He is no rookie when it comes to high expectations, however, coming out of highschool as a four-star recruit before having a dominant career at the University of Houston.
What exactly makes King so lethal? Like many other emerging superstar quarterbacks at the moment, he can make plays happen with his arm and with his feet. Boasting the FBS record for most consecutive games (16) where he scored both a passing and rushing touchdown, D’Eriq King has established himself as an elite playmaker who is bound to pop-off at any moment.
Some notable statistics from King this season include two games with over 300 passing yards, one of which was against a then-ranked No. 18 Louisville team. D’Eriq King showed off his amazing offensive prowess in that matchup, totaling 334 yards both through the air and on the ground with three touchdowns, all while completing 60% of his passes. Expect for King to make his presence known this Friday against a banged up Wolfpack defense.
Running backs
Miami seems to be in favor of a “running back by committee” system, with four separate backs seeing touches out of the backfield each week. If a lead back were to exist in this system, it would be junior Cam’Ron Harris, who has seen at least eight touches out of the backfield in every game so far, as well as a reception in all but one game this season.
Harris has cooled off since exploding in Miami’s first two games of the season, where he rushed for 134 yards, with two touchdowns against UAB, and 134 yards again with only one touchdown against Louisville. Since Sept. 19, Harris has yet to eclipse even 50 rushing yards in a game, deferring some of his carries to teammate Jaylan Knighton.
Knighton is a true freshman and complement back to Harris, seeing less carries on average weekly, but he is still there to come in whenever Harris needs a breather or something isn’t working as planned. Knighton’s best game also came against UAB, when he rushed for 59 yards on nine carries. Neither Harris or Knighton have proved to be lethal in the passing game, apart from broken coverage allowing for a 75-yard touchdown catch for Knighton.
To round out the committee, expect for freshman back Donald Chaney Jr. and redshirt junior Robert Burns to see some touches as well. However, it would be hard to expect this backfield to be a difference maker in the upcoming contest given what has been observed out of them so far.
Pass catchers
The receiving core for this Miami offense isn’t what it once was in the days of Reggie Wayne, Santana Moss and Jeremy Shockey, but that is not due to a lack of talent. As is often the case with dual-threat quarterbacks, it is hard for pass catchers to establish themselves as stars on an offense that isn’t built for them.
The trio of Mike Harley, Mark Pope and Dee Wiggins find a way to keep this team winning regardless of the lack of consistency in the targets they receive each week. Harley, a 5-foot-11 senior, leads all receivers, with 344 receiving yards on the year. Mark Pope comes in at second, with 236 yards, and Wiggins the last of the three with 154 yards.
The real threat in this Miami passing game comes in the form of junior tight-end Brevin Jordan, who was named 2020 preseason All-ACC after making the 2019 All-ACC first team. Jordan has not played since the third quarter of the Clemson game, where he injured his right shoulder. Even though he has missed two games, Jordan is still second on the team in receiving yards with 243. He is expected to return this week for Friday’s game, relieving junior Will Mallory of his TE1 duties.
Offensive line
Miami’s blocking unit started off stronger than expected, allowing zero sacks through its first three games of the season. That changed very quickly in their game against Clemson, however, where the line allowed King to be sacked five times. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney and managed to expose the Miami line’s weakness to a hard blitz, and all of Miami’s opponents since have taken advantage of it. Expect NC State’s defense to bring the house early and often, forcing King to play out of the pocket and on his back foot.
NC State (4-2, 4-2 ACC) faces off against No. 11 Miami (5-1, 4-1 ACC) on Friday, Nov. 6, at Carter-Finley Stadium at 7 p.m. NC State is hoping to come out with a win to retain its place in the upper half of the ACC standings, while Miami continues to push for a spot in the ACC Championship. The game will be televised on ESPN and can be streamed in the WatchESPN app. Make sure to follow @TechSports on Twitter to keep up to date with this game.
