After a tough road loss against ECU a week before, the NC State football team shifted its momentum back in the right direction, dismantling Old Dominion 49-22 Saturday night at Carter-Finley Stadium. Here are the top performers from the victory.
The defensive line
Sophomore defensive end Darian Roseboro jumps off the scoresheet with a game-high three sacks, but this was all-around dominant team play by the Wolfpack defensive front. After combining for just two sacks in the first two games, the defensive line tallied a respectable five sacks against the Monarchs. While it allowed 117 rushing yards, 65 of those came on a breakaway by sophomore running back Jeremy Cox when the game was out of hand and most of the second-team defense was in the game.
This is arguably NC State’s most talented position group and was regarded among the top-tier defensive lines in the nation coming into the season. It showed why Saturday, putting senior quarterback David Washington under constant duress and holding dynamic junior running back Ray Lawry to just 14 yards on nine carries. If the Wolfpack defensive line can continue putting up performances of the caliber as it enters ACC competition, it will prove to be a force to be reckoned with.
“[We’re] starting to feel a lot better with the game play, definitely starting to play faster as the season comes along,” junior defensive end Kentavius Street said. “We were getting to the quarterback and hitting him a lot, we just had to get there a lot faster and that was our emphasis this week.”
Ryan Finley
In his third start with the Pack, the redshirt sophomore quarterback once again was a model of consistency, completing 24-of-28 passes for 281 yards and a career-high three touchdowns. Additionally, after three weeks, Finley has completed 76.3 percent of his passes and has an efficiency rating of 176.0, good for second and 10th in the FBS, respectively, according to NC State Athletics.
“He’s consistent, he knows what to do with the football,” head coach Dave Doeren said. “He manages the game well, he understands what Coach [Eli] Drinkwitz wants and he distributes the ball to our playmakers.”
Finley is very comfortable with the offense and is beginning to test different areas of the field, from the short passes to senior running back Matt Dayes and junior tight end Jaylen Samuels to the deep passes to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Stephen Louis.
Stephen Louis
Speaking of Louis, with Jumichael Ramos redshirting this season due to a knee injury, the Wolfpack needed someone to step up to fill his role as the No. 1 wide receiver. After two-straight solid outings, Louis appears to be that guy. He has led the team in receiving in the last two games after tallying five catches for 80 yards against ODU and three catches for 142 yards and a touchdown the previous week against ECU.
While Ramos is more of a possession receiver, Louis is more dangerous after the catch. He possesses a good blend of size and speed, and could be a dangerous matchup for opposing teams as the season goes on.
“He’s playing with a lot of confidence,” Doeren said. “He’s fast, he’s strong, he’s tough and he wants the football. He’s playing really good football right now and he’ll continue to do that because he’s very confident in what he’s doing and we’ve got plays for him in the game where he’s getting targeted and he’s taking advantage of it.”
Play of the Game
Early in the first quarter, Finley finds Dayes in the flat, who maneuvers his way down the field, making multiple defenders miss en route to a 38-yard gain. This was not only the Pack’s second longest play from scrimmage, but it set the tone as NC State got on the scoreboard on the first drive of the game and did not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the game.
Player to Watch: Justin Jones
Wolfpack fans who followed the team last season likely know of the other three starters on the defensive line. Street was the team’s top recruit from 2014, junior Bradley Chubb is a team captain and junior B.J. Hill was among the biggest snubs from the All-ACC teams last year. However, Jones has made his presence known to start the season.
Jones split time with Street as the starting defensive tackle next to Hill last season, but Street switching back to defensive end has allowed both of them to start fulltime this season. Jones tallied five tackles and a sack against the Monarchs and now ranks fourth on the team in tackles with 13 on the season. As a defensive tackle, he won’t always pile up big numbers on the score sheet, but has done a good job of disrupting the offensive line and creating opportunities for his teammates to make plays.
