A close loss to Clemson gave Wolfpack fans hope that the NC State football team could do what it failed to do the week before — upset a top-10 team on the road. However, that was not remotely close to happening, as the Pack was absolutely run over on the road 54-13. Here is the good, the bad and the ugly from the loss.
Good
The third quarter
After being shut out in the first half, the Wolfpack responded with its only two touchdowns in the game in the third quarter. Additionally, the defense did not allow the Cardinals to score in the quarter, which was only the second time all year Louisville had been shut out in a quarter, the only other being the first quarter against Clemson. The Pack also forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff after the second touchdown.
Though the game was clearly out of reach, this gave NC State some life late in the game as it tried to make the score look like less of a blowout. In the quarter, it forced two punts and held Louisville to 55 yards while putting together impressive drives of 98 and 95 yards. Promising young wideouts Kelvin Harmon and Maurice Trowell each had impressive touchdowns as they put up the team’s only points on the day.
Defensive line
This is probably the best position group on the team, and it was the only group that stood out in a good way for the Wolfpack. While sophomore Lamar Jackson still had a stellar day, the big men held him to his second lowest rushing total and fewest yards-per-carry average of the season.
The line got solid pressure on Jackson as well, recording three sacks and two quarterback hits. Additionally, there were a handful of plays where he was flushed out of the pocket and either forced to scramble or throw the ball away.
Bad
Limiting Lamar Jackson through the air
Louisville’s sophomore play caller and Heisman candidate exemplifies the cliche “you can’t stop him, you can only hope to contain him.” While the Wolfpack defense did a decent job applying pressure and limiting him on the ground as previously mentioned, he still had a great game.
Jackson did the majority of his damage as a passer, exposing the NC State secondary on two passes that were 67 yards or longer. He finished with 355 yards through the air and three touchdown passes to go with 76 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Special teams
This unit wasn’t tested much, but it struggled when it was, aside from a few decent kick returns by sophomore Nyheim Hines. Louisville only punted three times, but two of them were downed inside the 5-yard line and senior Bra’Lon Cherry was forced to call a fair catch at the 5. Of two extra points attempted, sophomore A.J. Cole bobbled the snap on one, disrupting the timing and causing sophomore Kyle Bambard to miss it.
Ugly
The entire offense
A lot of the Pack’s offense involves lateral movement — whether it’s screens, swing passes or jet sweeps. This didn’t work against Louisville’s relentlessly fast defense, as these plays were blown up at the line of scrimmage. Hines’ two reverses netted -16 yards and dangerous tight end Jaylen Samuels had just one carry for no yards.
While redshirt sophomore Ryan Finley picked it up in the third quarter, he was part of the reason the team was in such a deep hole. He threw two interceptions and struggled to get anything going as he was forced to try to push the ball downfield. He bounced back in the second half as he finished with 236 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Senior running back Matt Dayes carried the ball just five times for 13 yards as he left the game early in the second quarter and didn’t return. The offense suffered without him, ending with just 14 rushing yards, the team’s lowest rushing output since 2011, according to NC State Athletics.
The first half
The Cardinals looked like they were playing Madden on rookie mode, leading the Wolfpack 44-0 at the end of the first half. NC State gained just 54 yards and two first downs in the first half. Two of the Pack’s drives ended in negative yardage, including one that started in Louisville territory in good position to score.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals scored on all but one of their drives in the first half as the defense had no answer for the dynamic offense that gained a whopping 370 yards in the first half.
Silver Lining
The worst part is over for the Wolfpack. This was arguably the toughest two-game stretch that any team in the FBS had to face this season. NC State has a good chance to bounce back as it faces the conference bottom feeder Boston College Saturday.
