CLEMSON, S.C., — For the second time in three weeks, NC State football once again found itself on the losing side of a blowout, falling in a 59-35 loss at Clemson. From the very beginning, the Wolfpack found itself on its heels in its first conference matchup of the season.
With many question marks through the first four weeks of the season, perhaps the most glaring issue has been the regression of the NC State run defense. A year removed from averaging 116.5 rushing yards allowed per game, fourth best in the ACC, the Wolfpack defense has taken a noticeable step back this season with a current mark of 167.8 rushing yards allowed per game, including two games in which it has allowed north of 200 rushing yards per game.
From the kickoff, NC State (2-2, 0-1 ACC) was exposed on its weakness throughout the first half before Clemson (2-1, 1-0 ACC) sent in its backups in the second half. After bringing up an early third down against the home team, the Pack allowed the Tigers to convert, leading to an easy 55-yard rushing touchdown from quarterback Cade Klubnik on the very next play.
The pressure on the Pack remained relentless as the next offensive drive for Clemson also saw the Tigers have their way on the ground with running back Phil Mafah. Punching a strong 34-yard gain, he did his best to move his team in range for their second touchdown, this time a 31-yard pass to receiver Antonio Williams.
“Explosive plays, guys not fitting the run properly, not tackling well,” said head coach Dave Doeren. “We got to be better than that. That’s not who we are on defense.”
With little help from the offense, the Wolfpack defense was put in difficult spots time and time again. A strip sack on freshman quarterback CJ Bailey gave the Tigers a short field, leading to its third consecutive touchdown. A second fumble, this time from sophomore wide receiver KC Concepcion, gave Clemson the opportunity to push the running attack, resulting in a 38-yard rushing touchdown from Mafah.
Mistakes from the Wolfpack continued to snowball upon each other, resulting in a 28-0 deficit in the first quarter alone.
“We’ve got to learn from that, we can’t let that happen,” said redshirt junior linebacker Caden Fordham. “Part of that’s on me and the leaders on this team. We got to step up and rally the guys.”
The Wolfpack continued to have no answer for the Clemson rushing attack through the first half as it allowed two more touchdowns on the ground. As the first half wound down, Clemson held a seemingly insurmountable lead at 45-7, achieved by the success that Clemson had through its rushing prowess.
With a grand total of 408 offensive yards in the first half, 228 of which came from the rushing attack, the problem was obvious for NC State, but the solution was difficult to find.
“It wasn’t like they put in a bunch of crazy run game,” Doeren said. “The quarterback counter out empty was a good play designed by them, otherwise it was plays we’ve seen.”
Luckily for NC State, Clemson held back after halftime in its offensive attack. The Tigers only accumulated 41 rushing yards after halftime.
In the meantime, as Clemson enjoyed success on the ground, NC State found itself in quite the opposite situation.
Coming into the game, there was a wide consensus that the Pack would need to do its best to benefit the presence of its freshman quarterback. One attempt to alleviate the stress of Bailey’s first collegiate start was to establish a solid run game to decrease the need to rely solely on the passing game. However, the first half was not kind to the Pack as it was continually stuffed at the line, gaining just 29 yards on the ground and an underwhelming 1.5 yards per attempt.
Though the Wolfpack couldn’t muster any momentum on the ground, it found significant success in its passing attack. In the first half, Bailey completed 73% of his throws for 135 yards. For the entirety of the game, Bailey continued to find success through the air as he finished with 204 yards and a touchdown.
On the stat sheet, it appeared as if the rushing component of the NC State offense turned a page in the second half. Despite NC State accumulating 154 yards on the ground after halftime, it was due in large part to the fact that Clemson began to pull their starters as the end of the game neared in favor of rest.
In the second half, NC State scored three rushing touchdowns as the Clemson defense began to shift some of the weight off of the Wolfpack. During this time, sophomore running back Kendrick Raphael helped improve the score with a third quarter touchdown run.
He also had a hand in helping contribute to another score late in the fourth quarter with a 40-yard run, the longest of any Wolfpack rusher in the contest. By the end of the game, the score sat at a 59-35 Clemson lead. With the growth of the running game, the offense began to find ways to help Bailey, but much too late.
Given the Wolfpack’s track record through its first four games of the season and its performance in its two Power Four matchups, its likely the first half was the clear indication of NC State’s rushing capacity.
NC State will not have very long to digest the woes of the game before taking on another high-level opponent. With Northern Illinois coming to town next week on Saturday, the Pack will look to have its rushing attack in full accord with its run defense in the hope of a meaningful home victory.
