NC State football made the short trip to Wallace Wade Stadium to take on the No. 17 Duke Blue Devils, presenting the perfect opportunity to upset the 17th-ranked team in the country with Duke’s star quarterback Riley Leonard sidelined. However, the Blue Devils didn’t flinch without their starter, dominating the Wolfpack in a 24-3 victory.
The Pack has a lot of work to do as it heads into the bye week, and it needs improvement in many areas if it wants to salvage the season. Here are some key takeaways from the disastrous performance put on in Durham.
Penalties
The outcome of this game would’ve looked very different if NC State hadn’t committed as many penalties as it did. The Pack racked up 11 penalties for 87 yards, with nine coming in the first half.
Whenever it looked like the Wolfpack offense had any momentum, it was called for a penalty that put it in unfavorable situations like 3rd and long. Not to take away from Duke’s incredible defensive performance, but the offense kept putting itself in pass-predictable situations, and the Blue Devils defense took advantage of it.
Not only did the offense commit untimely penalties, but so did the defense. The defensive penalties and Wolfpack mistakes kept Duke’s offensive drives alive. Teams with the most discipline usually come out on top, and NC State lacked it on both sides of the ball.
Explosive plays
Explosive plays have been a thorn in the side of the Wolfpack defense all season, and it continued to rear its ugly head against Duke. Although the Blue Devils’ offense was bottled up most of the night, it was able to generate a few big plays that heavily affected the outcome of the game.
The first explosive play allowed by the defense went for a 69-yard touchdown. Duke receiver Jalon Calhoun hit sophomore cornerback Renté Hinton with a double move that left Hinton in the dust.
Not only did the defense give up an explosive touchdown through the air, but it also allowed an 83-yard touchdown run on the first drive of the second half. Senior linebacker Jaylon Scott over-pursued on the play, leaving a big gap for Duke running back Jordan Waters to run through on his way to the endzone.
To illustrate the cost of these explosive plays, 69 of Duke’s 107 passing yards came on the touchdown pass, and 83 of Duke’s 194 rushing yards came on the touchdown run. Once again, big plays let up by the defense cost the Wolfpack.
Offensive woes
Three points will almost never be enough to win a football game, and it was the least amount of points NC State has scored since 2014. The lack of production can be mainly attributed to the inconsistent receiving corps.
Freshman wide receiver Kevin Concepcion was the only bright spot of NC State’s offense, and offensive coordinator Robert Anae is doing everything to get him the ball — even using him as a running back. Concepcion received four carries for 33 yards, the second most rushing yards on the team behind sophomore quarterback MJ Morris.
Concepcion has been the best receiver on the team all season, and he continued to prove that with six catches for 63 yards. The Pack needs someone else to step up in the receiver room because Concepcion had 30 more yards than the next-best receiver.
Morris can’t be blamed for only targeting Concepcion though, because there were many costly drops throughout the game by multiple pass catchers that would have extended drives if caught.
In the trenches
Duke proved why it has the No. 1 ranked defense in the ACC with its dominant defensive line. NC State’s offensive line had trouble all game containing the Blue Devils’ front, allowing four sacks and four QB hurries.
Not only did the Duke defensive line get pressure on the quarterback, but it also held the Wolfpack offense to 112 yards on the ground. The Pack’s offensive line was consistently dominated in the trenches as Duke’s defense racked up eight tackles for loss.
NC State’s offensive line has been a weak point all year, and the Blue Devils exposed it with their tenacious defensive front.
