Charles LeClaire
Oct 3, 2020; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; North Carolina State Wolfpack safety Tanner Ingle (10) breaks up a pass intended for Pittsburgh Panthers wide receiver DJ Turner (7) during the third quarter at Heinz Field. The Wolfpack won 30-29. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
After several weeks in a row of impressive performances in spite of major injuries on the defensive side of the football, the NC State defense finally gave in with its 48-21 loss to UNC-Chapel Hill.
At the beginning of the year, the Pack was projected to have senior cornerback Chris Ingram, junior corner Teshaun Smith, sophomore safety Rakeim Ashford, junior safety Tanner Ingle and redshirt freshman Khalid Martin, all of whom are out for either the season or significant time.
The team expected to be without Ingram heading into the season and had ample time to prepare for it, but the sheer amount of injuries in the secondary, even excluding Ingram, is hard to overcome. The Pack was able to show out in spite of these injuries in three straight wins, but starting second and third-stringers against one of the best receiving corps in the ACC is not a recipe for success.
NC State was doing a great job at collecting turnovers in the last two games, having multiple in outings against Duke and Virginia. However, the Pack failed to force any turnovers, and UNC quarterback Sam Howell looked relatively unphased in the second half.
Sophomore safety Jakeen Harris ended the day with 15 tackles, but that was the only inspired secondary performance of the day. The usually great linebacking corps was basically a nonfactor, allowing Javonte Williams and Michael Carter to run all over the place and combine for 266 rushing yards and four touchdowns.
Normally, when one defensive group is clicking, it can electrify the entire defense, but with UNC getting everything it wanted in the second half, the banged-up secondary could never get going.
It’s unfortunate to see the young Wolfpack secondary run out of gas like that, considering the fact that help arriving soon doesn’t seem likely. Freshman defensive back Joshua Pierre-Louis, redshirt sophomore corner Isaac Duffy and freshman corner Devan Boykin all have stepped in for Ingle, but none were unable to make a dent in UNC’s air raid.
The offense also wasn’t doing any favors for the defense, with the time of possession between UNC and NC State being ridiculously imbalanced. Chapel Hill had the ball almost twice as much as the Wolfpack, leaving the defense out to dry on numerous instances.
This is perpetuated by UNC’s 578 yards of total offense, the most allowed for the Pack all season. Dyami Brown alone finished the game with 105 receiving yards on just seven receptions.
Thankfully, the Pack has a bye week to rest up, but it remains to be seen if any reinforcements will come to the rescue. What the bye does do for the secondary is allow time for a young group to reconvene and learn from its mistakes. With an even better Miami team coming to town, this will be especially necessary.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel for the Pack after the Miami game, with three of four games against oft-struggling ACC teams. The Liberty game looks less like a pushover win now considering Liberty almost got into the AP Top-25 Poll this week, but overall should be easier goings for the Pack in just a few weeks’ time.