With the 63-13 trouncing of South Alabama in the NC State football team’s final non-conference game of the regular season, here are some of the top performances from Saturday night’s victory.
Shadrach Thornton and Matt Dayes
The dynamic running back duo combined for 215 yards and five touchdowns on just 20 carries, averaging 10.75 yards per carry.
After being suspended for the first two games, Thornton has bounced back strong. Against the Jags, he tallied 111 yards and two touchdowns on just 12 carries, including a 39-yard touchdown run-in which he burst through the gap between the tackles and carried multiple defenders on his back on the way to paydirt. After two games, Thornton has 30 carries for 203 yards and three touchdowns.
Dayes garnered 104 yards and three touchdowns on merely eight carries, in addition to adding six carries for 46 yards. In his performance, Dayes became the first Wolfpack player since Joe McIntosh to rush for more than 100 yards in four straight games. He now leads the team with 76 carries for 454 yards and nine touchdowns on the year. While he has to split his touches with Thornton, both runners complement each other very well and find a variety of different ways to be productive.
Joe Thuney
It was quite the week for the graduate offensive tackle, as he was named a semi-finalist for the Campbell trophy earlier in the week and followed that up by attaining ACC offensive lineman of the week for his efforts against South Alabama.
Thuney anchored the NC State offensive line that opened up running lanes for a Wolfpack offense that totaled a whopping 330 rushing yards and a school-record seven rushing touchdowns on 41 attempts. Arguably, Thuney’s biggest play came on Thornton’s 39-yard rush in which he opened a huge hole by driving the Jags’ defensive end completely out of the play. Additionally, the line allowed just one sack all night.
Darian Roseboro
The highly touted freshman defensive end out of Lincolnton, North Carolina is one of the most athletically gifted players on the defensive line. The 6-foot-4, 285 pound tank got to showcase some of the skills late in the game Saturday night, tallying three tackles, 2.5 tackles for a loss and two sacks.
Although he has seen limited playing time this season due to the depth along the defensive line, he now shares the team lead in sacks on the season with graduate defensive end Mike Rose. Roseboro has shown signs of promise early in the season and looks to be a key player along the line for years to come.
Play of the Game
While there were plenty of plays to pick from, this one would have to go to Dayes’ 77-yard touchdown early in the first quarter. The play was not only the largest offensive play of the season for the Pack, but it came after South Alabama took an early 7-0 lead. Not only did the big play tie the game, but it destroyed any momentum the Jags had acquired on their opening drive.
Thornton’s presence allows the offense to use Dayes’ versatility in a variety of different ways. In this case, it was on a jet-sweep in which Dayes used his speed and the terrific blocking he had in front of him to accelerate around the corner and go virtually untouched for the long touchdown.
Player to Watch: Bra’Lon Cherry
Cherry has done an excellent job returning punts this season, gaining 229 yards on just 12 punt returns, including a 51-yarder at the end of the first half Saturday night. He has terrific ball-carrier vision that he uses to maximize his speed and quickness when looking for gaps in the opposing punt coverage unit.
While he splits time with fellow junior Johnathan Alston at the No. 2 wideout position opposite junior Jumichael Ramos, Cherry is fourth on the team with seven receptions for 109 yards. Look for his workload to increase as the Wolfpack will likely have to spread the ball around more as it enters the more formidable ACC competition.
