Against a Pittsburgh defense that had only given up 30 total points in its first three games, an NC State offense, led by redshirt sophomore Devin Leary, put up that many points to steal a 30-29 win over a ranked Panthers team. After getting below-average grades except for the running backs last week, it was quite the opposite in game three. 

Quarterback

Thankfully, there is no need for an “s” on the end of “quarterback” this week because it looks like NC State has found its starter for good and will no longer have to second guess who lines up behind center. Leary took control of the game, completing 28 of 44 passes for 336 yards and four scores, including the game-winner to senior receiver Emeka Emezie. 

Straight out of the gate, it was obvious that offensive coordinator Tim Beck had put together a great game plan for Leary, who came out with a fire lit under him. The first drive took 17 plays but ended in a touchdown and consisted of a beautiful balance of rushing and passing. 

After the early 17-7 lead in the second quarter was squandered for a 23-17 deficit late in the fourth, Leary came up in the clutch, something NC State fans haven’t really seen recently from a program with a history of great quarterbacks. 

A seven-play drive, almost all in the air, gave the Pack a one-point lead with eight minutes remaining. However, Pittsburgh did exactly what it needed to do: put up six points on a drive that took six-plus minutes to give Leary only 1:44 on the clock. The Panthers left too much time on the clock as the Wolfpack’s starter only needed 1:21 to find Emezie on a back-shoulder throw in the front corner of the end zone. 

As football beat writer Jaylan Harrington wrote yesterday in his analysis, it might’ve been the most clutch performance since Mike Glennon’s two-minute drill to beat Florida State all the way back in 2012. 

Grade: A

Running backs

The offense needs to go through the running game. That still holds true for future success, but Leary certainly wasn’t counting on that against Pitt, which makes sense considering the Panthers had only given up 168 total rushing yards through the first three games. 

Junior Ricky Person Jr., sophomore Zonovan Knight and sophomore Jordan Houston combined for just 71 yards on the ground and added 15 receiving yards. At just over 3 yards per carry combined, it was easily the worst showing of the year, but that doesn’t mean the trio wasn’t effective. 

All three were an important part in developing that 17-7 lead, creating a balanced attack Pittsburgh had trouble predicting and stopping. Between going up 17-7 and falling behind 23-17, the play calling was pass heavy, and once the Pack fell behind late in the fourth, Leary had no choice but to drop back and try to slow down the clock. 

Grade: B- 

Wide receivers

Even after scoring 45 points against Wake Forest, no pass-catcher had more than three receptions or 45 yards, as the running game totaled 270 yards for NC State. With Leary stepping up, it was only a matter of time before the receivers found a rhythm as well and it certainly did this Saturday. 

Emezie stepped up in a huge way with seven receptions, 101 yards and two touchdowns. Not to be overshadowed too much, redshirt junior Thayer Thomas found the ball six times for 48 yards, five of which receptions came on the last two drives, including an athletic 14-yard reception on fourth-and-9 to keep the game-winning drive alive.

Redshirt sophomore Devin Carter finished second on the team with 72 yards on just three catches. Freshman Porter Rooks had his career high in receptions with three, and sophomore Keyon Lesane also got involved once. Although there is room for improvement, finally the core group showed some athleticism and explosiveness, earning a pretty good grade this week.

Grade: B+

Tight ends

Redshirt senior Cary Angeline is 6-foot-7; it is just beautiful seeing Leary look for him in the red zone as Angeline set a career high with two touchdowns and tied his career-high four catches. His 60 yards were also his third-highest total of his career. The athleticism and catching ability he has should make him one of the most reliable targets for the rest of the year. 

Redshirt senior Dylan Parham added a catch for five yards, his least active game as a catcher, snagging two for 33 yards against Wake and one for 14 yards last week in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Grade: A-

Offensive line

Maybe the offensive line wasn’t quite as solid in the rushing game this week against Pitt’s strong front, but as mentioned earlier, the rushing attack didn’t get quite the number of attempts as it had the last two weeks. It still helped with four rushing attempts over 10 yards in the game, but its most important role this week was pass protection. 

Leary was sacked two times in the game, and neither came during the last two drives where the offense had to pass a lot working from behind. Redshirt junior Bailey Hockman was sacked just once against Wake Forest, but Leary and Hockman were sacked six times combined last week. 

More impressively, Pitt is the FBS leader in sacks and had 17 sacks through the first three games, including seven in both ACC games so far against Syracuse and Louisville. This defense was no joke and the O-line provided its best pass-protection performance so far this season. 

Grade: A