Quarterback – A
Graduate Ryan Finley returned to form with a career day, throwing for 473 yards and completing 59.1 percent of his pass attempts. The graduate tossed three touchdowns but also threw a costly interception at the end of the game. It’s hard to fault Finley too much for the error, as an O-lineman allowed a defensive end a free rush into the backfield.
Running Backs – B
With freshman Ricky Person Jr. injured, senior Reggie Gallaspy Jr. and graduate Brady Bodine had to pick up the slack. Gallaspy rushed for 65 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries, while Bodine went for 11 yards and a touchdown on three carries. They didn’t set the world on fire but they did enough considering that the offense was behind for most of the game.
Wide Receivers – A
After looking overwhelmed against Clemson, the Wolfpack’s receiving corps came alive on Saturday, led by junior Kelvin Harmon. Harmon caught 11 passes for 247 yards, the second-best single game performance by a wide receiver in NC State history. Harmon found the end zone twice, including a 74-yard connection with Finley after he blew past his defender. Sophomore Emeka Emezie added another 89 yards on four catches, including a 67-yard touchdown.
Offensive Line – C
Although they only gave up one sack on the day, the offensive line did a poor job protecting Finley. The line allowed five tackles for loss and six quarterback hurries. With starting right tackle redshirt sophomore Justin Witt out with an injury, his backup, redshirt junior Tyrone Riley made a key mistake on the Wolfpack’s second-to-last drive. Down by only three points, Riley got beat like a drum off the snap, allowing a defensive end to land a huge shot on his quarterback. As a result, Finley couldn’t put enough power on his pass to redshirt junior Jakobi Meyers, and it was intercepted to effectively end the game.
Defensive Line – B
The defensive line had a bit of a quiet day, struggling to get to Syracuse quarterback Eric Dungey at times. When the opposing team can release the ball quickly because of a poor secondary, you can’t expect the line to have a party in the opposing team’s backfield. Still, the line managed 64 total tackles, five sacks and two quarterback hurries.
Linebackers – A-
Graduate Germaine Pratt had a career day with 16 tackles, 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble. Pratt was a one-man show on defense, garnering ACC linebacker of the week honors. Redshirt sophomore Isaiah Moore had a quiet day, only registering two tackles.
Secondary – F
It’s hard to state how badly NC State’s secondary performed on Saturday. After getting torn apart at Clemson, the Wolfpack’s last line of defense followed that up by allowing Dungey to throw for 411 yards on a 71 percent completion percentage, including an 82-yard touchdown connection. With junior starting cornerback Nick McCloud out of the game, true freshman Teshaun Smith was forced into a starting role. Until late in the fourth, Smith was the least of this unit’s worries.
A blown coverage by safety redshirt junior Jarius Morehead allowed the 82-yard touchdown pass, 5-foot-10 true freshman nickel Tanner Ingle got exposed trying to cover 6-foot 5 Jamal Custis on a 20-yard touchdown and sophomore cornerback Chris Ingram got tricked by a fake screen play on a 30 yard touchdown pass. Late in the fourth, with NC State down three points, Syracuse was at 3rd & 11 in field-goal range. Dungey’s pass to Taj Harris was too high, but the aforementioned freshman Teshaun Smith held Harris. The pass interference call gave the Orange a first down, and Syracuse promptly put the game away with a rushing touchdown.
Special Teams – A
Freshman kicker Christopher Dunn made both of his field goals, senior punter A.J. Cole III averaged over 40 yards a punt and graduate kicker Kyle Bambard had four touchbacks.
Coaching – C
A major part of coaching is adjusting to what the other team is doing. Offensive Coordinator Eliah Drinkwitz did a great job adjusting to Syracuse’s defense, after going 0-4 on third down with four punts in the first quarter, the offense went 6-11 the rest of the game and only punted once.
Defensive Coordinator Dave Huxtable struggled to adjust to Syracuse’s offensive attack. Although Ingle and redshirt senior strong safety Dexter Wright were replaced with redshirt junior nickel Stephen Griffin and junior strong safety Tim Kidd-Glass, who are both pass coverage; Dungey still had his way with the Wolfpack’s defense. There are too many breakdowns in coverage, too many bad game plans coming from the Pack’s defensive coaches. Giving up 51 points is unacceptable; Huxtable and Co. need to go back to the drawing board and rethink how to best use the players they have on defense.
