After a blowout victory over South Florida, the NC State football team returns to Raleigh to face Presbyterian this Saturday at 6 p.m. in its last test before opening conference play.
After two less-than-stellar first-half performances, the Wolfpack (3-0) performed like a team eager to prove itself in all four quarters against the Bulls.
State’s first road test of the season turned out to be less of a test and more of a clinic as sophomore wide receiver Bra’Lon Cherry recorded three touchdowns on the day, with two rushing and one receiving.
Redshirt junior quarterback Jacoby Brissett’s performance has also been quietly improving, as he completed 20 of 29 throws for 266 yards and two touchdowns.
Overall, the Wolfpack offense racked up 589 yards of total offense in a confidence-building win to stay undefeated in its march toward Florida State on Sept. 27.
The State defense also showed improvement, yielding just a single touchdown in the first half and only 17 total points over the course of the game while conceding just 159 yards to the Bulls.
NC State Head Coach Dave Doeren will no doubt look to his defense to continue its strong play while ensuring the Brissett-led offense maintains its consistent play against the Blue Hose Saturday.
Presbyterian, an FCS school from the Big South Conference, rolls into Carter-Finley this weekend riding a two-game win streak. This is the second meeting between the two schools, the first being a 2-0 Presbyterian victory over NC State in 1930.
After a 55-3 trouncing by the hands of Doeren’s former team, Northern Illinois, the Blue Hose bounced back, easily taking care of Bluefield College and squeaking by Furman.
Inconsistency has been the theme of the Blue Hose’s offense so far, putting up 678 total yards and 69 points against Bluefield followed by a 192-yard, 10-point performance against Furman. Presbyterian’s defense is nothing to marvel at either, yielding 635 yards to Northern Illinois and only forcing two turnovers this season.
The Pack will use this opportunity to fine tune both the offense and defense, making sure Brissett and his running backs, sophomore Matt Dayes and junior Shadrach Thornton, get into a rhythm early.
Defensive Coordinator Dave Huxtable will look to shore up the defense and force Presbyterian sophomore quarterback Heys McMath into pressure situations. McMath has very little experience under his belt, so the Pack should attempt to expose his lack of both experience and composure and force turnovers.
Blue Hose sophomore receiver Daryl Wilson along with senior running back LaQua Mayes provide intriguing matchups for the Wolfpack defense as both are capable of creating explosive plays.
Another big part of the Wolfpack’s success last weekend and this coming weekend is controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Taking care of the football on offense and forcing turnovers and three-and-outs is key for the Pack this weekend.
The Wolfpack should face little to no problems this weekend; however, the team should avoid overlooking this game and fixating on next week’s showdown with number one ranked Florida State. Because of last week’s performance combined with the coming ACC showdowns, Saturday’s contest has all the makings of a trap game. Coach Doeren’s goal will be to keep the players motivated and concentrated on the task at hand.
“This is a big week for us to stay focused,” said Coach Doeren in the ACC Football Coaches Teleconference this week, “try and work on the details we need to get better at before we get into [Florida State and Clemson].”
This will be the Wolfpack’s last scheduled nonconference game of the season, as the rest are against ACC foes, beginning with Florida State and a trip to Clemson before returning home for a showdown against Boston College.
