The NC State football offense scored five straight touchdowns on five drives against the Virginia Tech Hokies and used creative play calling to achieve a quality road win against the Hokies. The Pack used a strong run game and kept the ball, dominating time of possession for a season-high of over 40 minutes to the Hokies’ 19 minutes. The red-and-white offense also posted the most points in its 35-28 win since beating Marshall 48-41 back in early October.
Quarterback
Graduate quarterback Brennan Armstrong led another strong offensive attack, leading the ACC with the best raw quarterback rating out of the conference. His tenacity helped push the Wolfpack to third best in the ACC standings.
Armstrong threw a pair of touchdown passes to freshman wideout Kevin Concepcion, and once again led the Pack in the rushing department; he had over 100 rushing yards before losing 21 yards on three plays running out the clock on the last drive. Armstrong finished the day posting 89 yards on a season-high of 21 carries as well as a pair of rushing touchdowns.
Grade: A+
Running backs
At this point in the season, it’s well known that the rushing attack runs through Armstrong and Concepcion. However, the official pair of running backs included redshirt junior Delbert Mimms III and freshman running back Kendrick Raphael, who did their part in the rushing and passing game. Both combined for 55 yards on 17 carries as well as 50 yards on three receptions.
While both of their involvements were somewhat limited throughout the game, they fed into the run-first offense and gave Armstrong another receiver to work with in passing situations.
Grade: B
Pass catchers
The play of the game occured in the third quarter when Concepcion was given the ball and faked a jet sweep, pulling up and delivering a nifty 17-yard touchdown pass to graduate tight end Trent Pennix. Along with the touchdown toss to Pennix, Concepcion had a pair of touchdown receptions — one included Armstrong threading the needle for a 28-yard touchdown hookup.
Overall, the passing game averaged 11.6 yards a reception, and the Pack notched the most receiving yards and receiving touchdowns since it beat Marshall in early October.
Grade: A+
Offensive line
The offensive line enjoyed another strong performance. The creative play calling that includes keeping Concepcion in motion and moves the defenses left to right certainly helps lift some pressure off the line.
The line gave up just a single sack, which marked the least amount of sacks allowed in the last seven matchups. The line has been a major help in allowing successful quarterback draws and giving Armstrong enough time to make good reads in the passing game. Overall, the line has seen significant improvement since Armstrong took back over the offense last week.
Grade: A
