The No. 23 NC State Wolfpack had an up-and-down showing against Duke on Saturday, Oct. 17, in what should have been a more comfortable win. Unfortunately, the Pack lost leaders on both sides of the ball due to injury, but the heroics of NC State’s dominant linebacking corps came in clutch, as it so often does, to seal the 31-20 win.
Here is a deeper look into each defensive positional group and how each graded out.
Defensive line
Against a mediocre Duke offensive line, the Wolfpack D-line stepped up and put the heat on Blue Devils quarterback Chase Brice. It wasn’t an astronomical day for the D-line, but the group finished with three sacks and a quarterback hurry in the game.
Junior defensive tackle Alim McNeill, graduate end Daniel Joseph and redshirt freshman Terrell Dawkins all finished with one sack apiece. It was good for the Pack to see Joseph and Dawkins get going because it will be important to get some outside pressure as NC State starts to see ranked ACC opponents with elite quarterbacks.
Dawkins, in particular, had a solid day as a first-year player, as he finished the day with nine tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.
Grade: B+
Linebackers
Could anyone have asked for a better game from this group? Absolutely not, as the linebacking trio of redshirt junior Isaiah Moore, redshirt sophomore Payton Wilson and sophomore Drake Thomas completely ripped apart the Blue Devils in every imaginable way. All three had 10 tackles or more, with Wilson going for a nuclear 19 tackles in a single game. For reference, Duke’s leading tackler finished the game with eight.
Wilson’s antics didn’t stop there, as he picked off Brice, not once, but twice. The 6-foot-4-inch menace combined with Moore for a sack to cap off his day. Wilson, Moore and Thomas ended up combining for a whopping 41 tackles in the game, two quarterback hurries and 3.5 tackles for loss.
The three weren’t the only linebackers to get in on the fun, as sophomore linebacker Jaylon Scott had an interception of his own, one that he returned for 17 yards. Redshirt junior Vi Jones also blocked a punt that was returned for 6 yards by redshirt junior safety Max Fisher, Jones’s second blocked punt in as many weeks.
A concern heading into this game would be how NC State would be able to handle Duke’s running back tandem of Deon Jackson and Mataeo Durant. That concern was quickly quelled by the Pack’s linebackers, as Jackson and Durant finished the game with a combined 43 yards on 27 carries, a horrible showing one game after the duo combined for 332 yards.
Brice did pick up 86 yards on the ground, but a lot of this was the byproduct of the D-line and linebackers quickly getting to Brice. All in all, the linebackers had a perfect game, something that should energize the entire defense heading into one of the biggest matchups of the year against No. 14 UNC-Chapel Hill.
Grade: A+
Secondary
Each game, this group sees another significant injury that puts somewhat of a damper on the win. Last week, it was announced that sophomore safety Rakeim Ashford would be missing the season, and this week, junior safety Tanner Ingle left the game and did not return, appearing emotional on the sideline, which is never a good sign.
With Ingle out, redshirt sophomore corner Isaac Duffy and freshman corner Devan Boykin filled in, and actually held their own. Boykin filled in for Ingle in the Pittsburgh game when Ingle had to bow out, and gave up a couple of big plays. Since then, Boykin has held his own, and Duffy did more of the same. The pair finished the day with six tackles and three pass deflections combined.
It has also been reassuring to see how NC State’s banged-up secondary has handled big receivers in back-to-back weeks. Virginia has two pass-catchers that are 6 feet, 7 inches tall, while Duke has Jake Bobo, who is nearly the same height. Bobo had a touchdown and 62 receiving yards, but he was the only receiver that the Pack allowed to get over 50 yards.
Redshirt freshman corner Shyheim Battle and sophomore corner Cecil Powell have impressed, despite facing big tests, with Battle following up his career game with a five-tackle effort. Meanwhile, junior nickelback Tyler Baker-Williams finished the day with a pass deflection while redshirt sophomore corner Malik Dunlap, sophomore safety Jakeen Harris and freshman defensive back Joshua Pierre-Louis all made their presences known.
Overall, it was a decent week for the Pack secondary, in spite of the injury to Ingle. The Wolfpack will be seeing the best passing game it has seen all year next week when it takes on the Tar Heels, and it will be massively important for the secondary to step up and hold its own.
Grade: B-
