Redshirt freshman quarterback Devin Leary made his first official start Saturday afternoon against Wake Forest, and the former two-time New Jersey Gatorade State High School Player of the Year played like someone making his first career start.

On the road against the No. 23 Demon Deacons, Leary completed 17 of 45 passes for 149 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, struggling to string together multiple completions in a row against a Wake Forest defense that was allowing over 257 yards and two touchdowns per game through the air.

Throughout the 44-10 loss, Leary mixed in good, on-target throws with some truly puzzling decisions. For every perfectly-led sideline pass, there was a near-interception or, twice, an actual interception.

Nothing comes easy for a first-time starter, but in a hostile environment against a ranked opponent, Leary’s supporting cast didn’t help him out much.

On a well-designed first-quarter flea flicker, freshman wide receiver Devin Carter stopped running just as Leary was winding up to throw deep down the left sideline. On another play in the third quarter, redshirt junior tight end Cary Angeline broke open 15 yards down the field but bent his route too far inside, and Leary’s well-thrown ball fell harmlessly incomplete near the left hashmark.

Falling into a quick 21-0 deficit, not all of which was Leary’s fault, forced NC State to play catch-up almost the entire game, and as a result, Wake Forest was able to trot out defensive schemes NC State hadn’t necessarily been expecting, knowing the Wolfpack had to throw the ball.

“He made some good throws,” said NC State head coach Dave Doeren. “He was in a difficult situation, being down 21-0. When you get up on somebody by three scores, you don’t have to defend the run the way you would in a tight game.”

But it was still painfully obvious Leary is a work in progress. He missed a handful of open throws, threw behind receivers more than a few times, and made two poor decisions on his two interceptions.

“He did some bad things, too,” Doeren said. “It’s going to be a great game for him to learn from, a tough game to learn from.”

The first interception, a deep ball thrown into double coverage, came with NC State already down 14-0 in the first quarter and in desperate need of points. Leary thought he had junior receiver Emeka Emezie breaking open down the seam, but Wake Forest defensive back Amari Henderson was running step-for-step with Emezie. What Leary didn’t see was a Wake Forest safety playing deep, and as Leary heaved the ball downfield, Emezie couldn’t fight through two defenders, and the ball was picked off by Henderson.

“We were trying to really beat one of [Wake Forest’s] coverages that we expected to see,” Leary said. “They did a great job of mixing things up throughout the game.”

On the Wolfpack’s first play of the second half, Leary’s second interception was a double whammy of part bad throw and part bad decision. Trying to hit Emezie on a comeback route down the right sideline, Leary stared down Emezie, giving Henderson, in coverage on Emezie again, time to jump the route. Adding to the bad decision, Leary left his throw too far inside and behind Emezie, and Henderson made a play on the ball for his second interception.

“I would just say [I need to work on] getting into a rhythm,” Leary said. “Playing well, making sure that everyone is on the same page, communicating well and really just getting into a good rhythm.”

It wasn’t all bad for Leary on the afternoon. Despite getting sacked a handful of times, he showed good pocket awareness and an ability to extend plays. He pushed the ball downfield and tried to make plays, a big step up from NC State’s conservative offense over the first seven games. Although the stats aren’t pretty and Monday morning’s film session won’t be too kind to him, Leary did flash what made him New Jersey’s best football player two years in a row.

NC State still has at least four games remaining this season, including next week’s home game against No. 4 Clemson. Leary is going to be given ample time to adjust to college football, and things are likely to only get better from here on out.