After a humbling performance last week against Tennessee, NC State football’s defense picked itself up and put forth a solid rebound against Louisiana Tech. Throughout the game, there were instances in which the defense struggled to find solid ground. In the end though, it came together to help secure a victory.
To best analyze the defense, each position group is examined for their performance in Saturday’s 30-20 win in which it allowed 324 total yards from Louisiana Tech.
Defensive line
Heading into this week, NC State had work to do on the defensive line as it found little ground last week in Charlotte. One area of concern last week was the line’s inability to put pressure on the quarterback. That trend somewhat continued this week as NC State recorded one sack on the back of graduate defensive end Davin Vann. However, Bulldogs quarterback Jack Turner mostly had a comfortable pocket throughout the afternoon.
This pocket was not entirely safe. In the first drive out of halftime, NC State sent a full blitz, which included Vann hitting Turner before he could release the football. The play forced an errant throw and a crucial pick-six.
The leader on the line for the Pack was Vann and redshirt junior defensive lineman Travali Price who each recorded three tackles. Vann also came up big early in the first quarter as he forced a fumble, which ultimately led to the Pack getting on the scoreboard first.
Linebackers
After the Pack’s first two games, fans have been eagerly anticipating a potential successor of linebacker Payton Wilson to step up. This week, fans got what they wanted as redshirt junior linebacker Caden Fordham turned in perhaps the best performance of his career so far. Producing 11 total tackles, which included a tackle for a loss, Fordham proved to be a defensive stalwart in helping minimize the gains of Louisiana Tech.
Fordham, along with fellow redshirt junior linebacker Sean Brown, stamped control over the Bulldogs’ ground game. With seven tackles of his own, Brown helped limit Louisiana Tech to only 43 rushing yards. This is a vast improvement for the group, as it had allowed an average of 184.5 yards on the ground in its past two contests.
From the beginning of the game, it was apparent that NC State would make it challenging for its opponent to run the football as it collected a fumble on the first defensive drive of the game. Scooping up the ball, Fordham seized possession and helped kickstart a strong first half in which NC State only allowed 18 rushing yards. This undoubtedly created powerful momentum, as the Bulldogs never found success on the ground with its longest run of the game being a 12-yard gain near the end of the third quarter. This is an encouraging sign for NC State, as its ground defense has been a strength of the unit over the past several years.
Secondary
Despite a strong day protecting against the run, NC State did not particularly share the same results in regard to the passing game. The Bulldogs established a passing presence early in the game as Turner threw for 281 passing yards despite only completing just over half of his passes. The first half was particularly frustrating for the Pack as Turner threw for 184 passing yards. This included a huge chunk play the Bulldogs got as they completed a 71-yard touchdown pass to Tru Edwards near the conclusion of the first half.
Needing an answer in the second half, the Wolfpack secondary stepped up in a big way. In the first drive after the intermission, NC State blitzed the passer into heaving a desperation throw which fell into the arms of senior safety DK Kaufman. Seizing the opportunity, he ran the ball back 33 yards to the house to score the first touchdown of the afternoon for NC State.
This play created momentum for the squad in the second half as it only allowed 97 passing yards. Limiting Turner and the Bulldogs to only three chunk plays of more than ten yards in the half, NC State largely contained the opposition.
On top of the high-flying performance from Kaufman, senior cornerback Corey Coley and junior corner Devon Marshall each contributed as well. With a combined eight tackles between the two, they also helped break up passes as they had three combined pass breakups.
